Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast
Coordinates: 55°09′16″N 20°51′10″E / 55.15444°N 20.85278°E
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Rybachy, (Russian: Рыба́чий; German: Rossitten; Lithuanian: Rasytė) is a rural settlement in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast, the northern part of former East Prussia. From the high Middle Ages to 1945, Rybachy was named Rossitten, a German settlement on the Curonian Spit, part of Prussia and then of Germany until the end of World War II. It was transferred, along with the rest of northern East Prussia, to the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the war. Rybachy translates as "Fishers' (settlement)", and appropriately employment centers on the fishing boats which dock at the pier on the Curonian Lagoon of the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 960 (2002 Census). It is the former site of the Rossitten Bird Observatory (1901-1944), and the site of the Rybachy Biological Station, founded in 1956 by Lev Belopolsky, which continues research on bird migration.
In 2006, Rybachy was demoted from classification as an urban-type settlement to a rural settlement.
Sightseeing
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The church
The red brick former Lutheran church was built in 1873 when the village was still part of Germany. It is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Rybachy. After the Second World War it was used for wheat storage. Only in 1992 was the church handed to the Russian Orthodox Church to be renovated. It is named after St Sergey of Radonezh and is in use once more as a church, now catering to the Orthodox community. In front of the church is a metal cross cast in 1992 by Eduardas Jonusas, an artist from the neighbouring Lithuanian town of Nida. This cross was erected in memory of the former German citizens of Rossitten.
The old cemetery
Amidst the forest about 500 m south of the village you can find the old cemetery which has existed since the Middle Ages. The Second World War left it heavily damaged and it was not properly looked after for a long time.
Some restoration work has been carried and it is possible to visit the newly restored gravestones of two famous locals: Johannes Thienemann (1863-1938), the German ornithologist who founded the Rossitten Bird Observatory; and Franz Epha, the legendary dune inspector who was able to stop the huge sand dunes from moving by stabilising them with plants. His pioneering work saved many villages from being buried under the shifting sands.