Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast
For other places with the same name, see
Sovetsk.
Sovetsk (Russian: Сове́тск), known by its historical German name of Tilsit in East Prussia (Lithuanian: Tilžė; Polish: Tylża) before 1946, is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River. Population: 41,709 (2010 Census preliminary results);[1] 43,224 (2002 Census);[2] 41,881 (1989 Census).[4]
History of Tilsit
Tilsit, which received civic rights in 1552, grew up around a castle of the Teutonic Knights, known as the Schalauner Haus, founded in 1288. The Treaties of Tilsit were signed here in July 1807, the preliminaries of which were settled by the emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France on a raft moored in the Neman River. This treaty, which created the Kingdom of Westphalia and the Duchy of Warsaw, completed Napoleon's humiliation of the Kingdom of Prussia, when it was deprived of one half of its dominions.
This short-lived peace-treaty is also remarkable for quite another reason. Three days before its signing, Prussian queen Louise (1776–1810) tried to persuade Napoleon in a private conversation to ease his hard conditions on Prussia. Although without any result, Louise's effort greatly endeared her to the Prussian people.
Until 1945, a marble tablet marked the house in which King Frederick William III of Prussia and Queen Louise resided. Also, in the former Schenkendorf Platz was a monument to the poet Max von Schenkendorf (1783–1817) a native of Tilsit. During the 19th century when the Lithuanian language was banned within the Russian Empire, Tilsit was an important centre for printing Lithuanian books which then were smuggled by Knygnešiai to the Russian-controlled part of Lithuania. In general, Tilsit thrived and was an important Prussian town. By 1900 it had electric tramways and 34,500 inhabitants; a direct railway line linked it to Königsberg and Labiau and steamers docked there daily. The Act of Tilsit was signed here by leaders of the Lietuvininks in 1918.
During the time of Nazi Germany, Tilsit was a Militärischer Vorbereich of the Königsberg Militärischer Bereich, which was part of Wehrkreis I. Adolf Hitler visited the town just before World War II, and there is a picture of him on the bridge over the Neman River.
Tilsit was occupied by the Red Army on January 20, 1945, and was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945. The remaining Germans who had not evacuated were subsequently expelled and replaced with Soviet citizens. The town was renamed Sovetsk by the new communist rulers in 1945, in honour of the Soviet system of rule.
Modern Sovetsk has tried to take advantage of Tilsit's rich traditions of cheese production (Tilsit cheese), but the new name Sovetsky has not caught on.
Since April 2007, government restrictions on visits to border areas have been tightened and travel to the Sovetsk and Bagrationovsk areas is only allowed with special permission
Architecture
Many of the town's buildings were destroyed during World War II. However, the old town centre still includes several German buildings, including those of Jugendstil design. The Queen Louise Bridge, now connecting the town to Panemunė/Übermemel in Lithuania, retains an arch; all that is left of a more complex pre-war bridge structure.
International relations
Twin towns/sister cities
Sovetsk is twinned with:
Notable residents
- Max von Schenkendorf (1783–1817), poet and author
- Franz Meyen (1804–1840), botanist
- Hans Victor von Unruh (1806–1886), politician and technician
- Ludwig Karl James Aegidi (1825–1901), publicist and politician
- Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt (1849–1922), the inspiration for Der Hauptmann von Köpenick
- Gustaf Kossinna or Kossina (1858–1931), archaeologist
- Johanna Wolff (1858–1943), author
- Emil Wiechert (1861–1928), geophysicist
- Raphael Friedeberg (1863–1940), physician and politician
- Max Gülstorff (1882–1947), actor
- Carl Brinkmann (1885–1954), sociologist and economist
- Frank Wisbar (1899–1967) director
- Karl Hermann Martell (1906–1966), actor
- Joachim Sadrozinski (1907–1944), officer and resistance fighter
- Johannes Bobrowski (1917–1965), writer
- Gunter Wyszecki (1925 – 22 June 1985), mathematician
- Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 1930), actor, honorary citizen since 8 December 2011[6]
- Sabine Bethmann (born 1931), actress
- Kristel Neidhart (born 1933), writer
- John Kay (born 1944), lead singer of the popular late 1960s rock band Steppenwolf
- Edgar Froese (born 1944), the founder and leader of the electronic music group Tangerine Dream
Historical population
- 1880: 21,400
- 1900: 34,539
- 1910: 39,013
- 1925: 50,834
- 1933: 57,286
- 1939: 59,105
- 1946: 6,500
- 2002: 41,000
- 2004: 43,300
References
- ^ a b Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2011). "Предварительные итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года (Preliminary results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/results-inform.php. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
- ^ a b Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/1_TOM_01_04.xls. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
- ^ Правительство Российской Федерации. Постановление №725 от 31 августа 2011 г. «О составе территорий, образующих каждую часовую зону, и порядке исчисления времени в часовых зонах, а также о признании утратившими силу отдельных Постановлений Правительства Российской Федерации». Вступил в силу по истечении 7 дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Российская Газета", №197, 6 сентября 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Resolution #725 of August 31, 2011 On the Composition of the Territories Included into Each Time Zone and on the Procedures of Timekeeping in the Time Zones, as Well as on Abrogation of Several Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation. Effective as of after 7 days following the day of the official publication).
- ^ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров. (All Union Population Census of 1989. Present population of union and autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and okrugs, krais, oblasts, districts, urban settlements, and villages serving as district administrative centers.)" (in Russian). Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года (All-Union Population Census of 1989). Demoscope Weekly (website of the Institute of Demographics of the State University—Higher School of Economics. 1989. http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus89_reg.php. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
- ^ Bełchatów town council (2010 [last update]). "Portal Bełchatów". belchatow.pl. http://www.belchatow.pl/portal.php?aid=1158607934450ef43e80428. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ Armin Mueller-Stahl Ehrenbürger seiner Heimatstadt Berliner Zeitung, 8 December 2011 (German)
- Northern Germany by Karl Baedeker, 14th revised edition, London, 1904, p. 178.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links