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91-587: Baltiysk, the westernmost town in Russia , is a major base of the Russian Navy 's Baltic Fleet and is connected to St. Petersburg by ferry . Baltiysk was originally the site of an Old Prussian fishing village that was established on the coast of the Vistula Spit at some point in the 13th century. The village was named as "Pile" or "Pil" in several documents, possibly taking its name from pils

182-546: A League of Nations mandate since 1920, was occupied by the Lithuanian Armed Forces in 1923 and annexed without giving the inhabitants a choice by ballot. After Adolf Hitler's rise to power , opposition politicians were persecuted and newspapers banned. Erich Koch , who headed the East Prussian Nazi party from 1928, led the district from 1932. The Otto-Braun-House was requisitioned to become

273-626: A U-boat training facility, and on 16 April 1945, the German submarine  U-78 was sunk by Red Army artillery fire while she was docked near the electricity supply pier in Pillau port, and was the only U-boat to be ever sunk by land-based forces in World War II. As the Red Army entered East Prussia, more than 450,000 refugees were ferried from Pillau to central and western Germany, with

364-662: A municipal corporation , economic freedom as well as emancipation of the serfs and Jews . In the course of the Prussian restoration by the 1815 Congress of Vienna , the East Prussian territories were re-arranged in the Regierungsbezirke of Gumbinnen and Königsberg . From 1905, the southern districts of East Prussia formed the separate Regierungsbezirk of Allenstein . East and West Prussia were first united in personal union in 1824 and then merged in

455-797: A naval base for the Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Navy at Baltiysk, and as a result, it became a closed town with access forbidden to foreigners or those without a permit. During the Cold War it was served by the Baltiysk Air Base . The town, along with Kaliningrad, remains one of only two year-round ice-free ports along the Baltic Sea coastline available to Russia. In 2019, on a wave of anti-Western sentiment following Russia's annexation of Crimea , there were calls to change

546-582: A real union in 1829 to form the Province of Prussia . The united province was again split into separate East and West Prussian provinces in 1878. From 1824 to 1878, East Prussia was combined with West Prussia to form the Province of Prussia , after which they were reestablished as separate provinces. Along with the rest of the Kingdom of Prussia, East Prussia became part of the German Empire during

637-542: A republic . Most of the former Prussian provinces of West Prussia and Posen , territories annexed by Prussia in the 18th century Partitions of Poland , were ceded to the Second Polish Republic according to the Treaty of Versailles . East Prussia became an exclave , being separated from mainland Germany. The Klaipėda Region was also separated from the province. Because most of West Prussia became part of

728-553: A much smaller homonymous Olsztyn Voivodeship, the bulk of Elbląg Voivodeship and a significant part of the Suwałki Voivodeship . The remaining pre-war population was treated as Germanized Poles and a policy of re- Polonization was pursued throughout the country Most of these " Autochthons " chose to emigrate to West Germany from the 1950s through 1980s (between 1970 and 1988 55,227 persons from Warmia and Masuria moved to Western Germany). Local toponyms were Polonised by

819-649: A vassal duchy of Poland, and a blockhouse was constructed in 1537, followed by a system of storehouses in 1543, and the earliest fortifications in 1550. During the Thirty Years' War , the harbor was occupied by Sweden in the aftermath of their victory over the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and King Gustavus Adolphus landed there with his reinforcements in May 1626. After the Truce of Altmark in 1629,

910-844: Is a list of the extreme points and extreme elevations in Russia . The northernmost and easternmost points of Russia coincide with those of Eurasia (both for the mainland and including the islands). The extreme points of the Soviet Union were identical, except that the southernmost point of the Soviet Union was Kushka in Turkmenistan , and the extreme elevation was the Communism Peak in Tajikistan , at 7,495 metres (24,590 ft). The other extreme points of Russia are

1001-771: The town of district significance of Baltiysk . As a municipal division , the town of district significance of Baltiysk is incorporated within Baltiysky Municipal District as Baltiyskoye Urban Settlement . The town is located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separating the Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay. Baltiysk has a temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb borders on Dfb ). Winters are cold to mild, while summers are warm. In July and August,

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1092-710: The Curonian Spit to Memel . The French Grande Armée troops immediately took up pursuit but were delayed in the Battle of Eylau on 9 February 1807 by an East Prussian contingent under General Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq . Napoleon had to stay at the Finckenstein Palace , but in May, after a siege of 75 days, his troops led by Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre were able to capture the city of Danzig , which had been tenaciously defended by General Count Friedrich Adolf von Kalkreuth . On 14 June, Napoleon ended

1183-781: The German People's Party politician Max von Bahrfeldt were all severely injured. Members of the Reichsbanner were assaulted while the local Reichsbanner Chairman of Lötzen , Kurt Kotzan , was murdered on 6 August 1932. In the March 1933 German federal election , the last contested pre-war German election, the local population of East Prussia voted overwhelmingly for the Adolf Hitler 's Nazi Party . Through publicly funded emergency relief programs concentrating on agricultural land-improvement projects and road construction,

1274-562: The Holocaust . In 1939 the Regierungsbezirk Zichenau was annexed by Germany and incorporated into East Prussia. Parts of it were transferred to other regions, e.g. Suwałki Region to Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen and Soldau (Działdowo) to Regierungsbezirk Allenstein . Despite Nazi propaganda presenting all of the regions annexed as possessing significant German populations that wanted reunification with Germany,

1365-557: The Kingdom of Prussia . The designation " Kingdom of Prussia " was gradually applied to the various lands of Brandenburg-Prussia. To differentiate it from the larger entity, the former Duchy of Prussia became known as Altpreußen ("Old Prussia"), the province of Prussia, or "East Prussia". Approximately one-third of East Prussia's population died in the Great Northern War plague outbreak and famine of 1709–1711, including

1456-673: The Lithuanian SSR ) and the People's Republic of Poland (the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship ). The capital city Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946. The German and the Masurian population of the province was largely evacuated during the war or expelled shortly afterwards in the expulsion of Germans after World War II . An estimated 300,000 died either in wartime bombing raids, in the battles to defend

1547-519: The Napoleonic Wars , although no outstanding events took place during the rest of the 19th century. Records of a Scottish "colony" established in Pillau in 1815 appeared in an 1890 publication, although their authenticity is questionable. The lighthouse was built up to a height of 31.38 meters (103.0 ft) and the entire fortress was updated and rebuilt by the Prussians in 1871. In 1886,

1638-658: The Nazi German government, which wanted to erase all aspects of Polish culture and Polish language in Warmia and Masuria . The Jews who remained in East Prussia in 1942 were shipped to concentration camps, including Theresienstadt in occupied Czechoslovakia , Kaiserwald in occupied Latvia , and camps in Minsk in occupied Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic . Those who remained were later deported and killed in

1729-614: The Nazis changed about one-third of the toponyms of the area , eliminating, Germanizing, or simplifying a number of Old Prussian , as well as those Polish or Lithuanian names originating from colonists and refugees to Prussia during and after the Protestant Reformation . More than 1,500 places were ordered to be renamed by 16 July 1938 following a decree issued by Gauleiter and Oberpräsident Erich Koch and initiated by Adolf Hitler . Many who would not cooperate with

1820-595: The Old Prussian language word for fort . It was eventually conquered by the Teutonic Knights , with the name evolving into the German form of Pillau. In 1497, a storm surge dug a new gat in front of the village, and another large storm created the navigable Strait of Baltiysk through the gat on September 10, 1510. This fostered the growth of Pillau into an important port of the Duchy of Prussia ,

1911-649: The Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War , whereby the united armies of Poland and Lithuania , defeated the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. In 1440 the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation was founded, and various cities and nobles of the region joined it. In 1454 upon the Confederation's request King Casimir IV of Poland signed the act of incorporation of the entire region to Poland. The Teutonic Knights' defeat

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2002-669: The Potsdam Conference , pending a final peace conference with Germany. Since a peace conference never took place, the region was effectively ceded by Germany. Southern East Prussia was placed under Polish administration, while northern East Prussia was divided between the Soviet republics of Russia (the Kaliningrad Oblast ) and Lithuania (the constituent counties of the Klaipėda Region ). The city of Königsberg

2093-465: The Ruhr Area and Berlin (see Ostflucht ). The population of the province in 1900 was 1,996,626 people, with a religious makeup of 1,698,465 Protestants , 269,196 Roman Catholics , and 13,877 Jews . The Low Prussian dialect predominated in East Prussia, although High Prussian was spoken in Warmia . The numbers of Masurians , Kursenieki and Prussian Lithuanians decreased over time due to

2184-706: The Second Polish Republic as the Polish Corridor , the formerly West Prussian Marienwerder region became part of East Prussia as the administrative district ( Regierungsbezirk ) of West Prussia. Also, the Działdowo district in the Allenstein region became part of the Second Polish Republic. The Seedienst Ostpreußen (Sea Service East Prussia) was established to provide an independent transport service to East Prussia. On 11 July 1920, amidst

2275-673: The Seven Years' War before withdrawing in 1762 and did not make Poland an offer of territorial exchange. In the 1772 First Partition of Poland , the Prussian king Frederick the Great annexed neighboring Royal Prussia , i.e., the Polish voivodeships of Pomerania ( Gdańsk Pomerania or Pomerelia ), Malbork , Chełmno and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia , thereby connecting his Prussian and Farther Pomeranian lands and cutting

2366-552: The War of the Fourth Coalition with his victory at the Battle of Friedland . Frederick William and Queen Louise met with Napoleon for peace negotiations, and on 9 July the Prussian king signed the Treaty of Tilsit . The succeeding Prussian reforms instigated by Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein and Karl August von Hardenberg included the implementation of an Oberlandesgericht appellation court at Königsberg,

2457-838: The Western Front according to the Schlieffen Plan . Despite early success and the capture of the towns of Rastenburg and Gumbinnen , in the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 and the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes in 1915, the Russians were decisively defeated and forced to retreat. The Russians were followed by the German Army advancing into Russian territory. After the Russian army's first invasion

2548-470: The unification of Germany in 1871. From 1885 to 1890 Berlin 's population grew by 20%, Brandenburg and the Rhineland gained 8.5%, Westphalia 10%, while East Prussia lost 0.07% and West Prussia 0.86%. This stagnancy in population despite a high birth surplus in eastern Germany was because many people from the East Prussian countryside moved westward to seek work in the expanding industrial centres of

2639-604: The "Erich Koch Plan" for East Prussia allegedly made the province free of unemployment : on 16 August 1933 Koch reported to Hitler that unemployment had been banished entirely from the province, a feat that gained admiration throughout the Reich . In actuality, the Erich Koch Plan had been a staged propaganda event organized by Walther Funk and the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda to promote

2730-400: The 13th century and created a monastic state to administer the conquered Old Prussians . Local Old-Prussian (north) and Polish (south) toponyms were gradually Germanised. The Knights' expansionist policies, including occupation of Polish Pomerania with Gdańsk/Danzig and western Lithuania, brought them into conflict with the Kingdom of Poland and embroiled them in several wars, culminating in

2821-630: The 13th century, the region of Prussia was part of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights . After the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466 it became a part of the Kingdom of Poland , either directly ( Warmia ) or as a fief (remainder). In 1525, with the Prussian Homage , the territory became the Duchy of Prussia , a vassal duchy of Poland. The Old Prussian language had become extinct by the 17th or early 18th century. Because

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2912-661: The German civilian population until the Eastern Front approached the East Prussian border in 1944. The population had been systematically misinformed by Endsieg Nazi propaganda about the real state of military affairs. As a result, many civilians fleeing westward were overtaken by retreating Wehrmacht units and the rapidly advancing Red Army . Reports of Soviet atrocities in the Nemmersdorf massacre of October 1944 and organized rape spread fear and desperation among

3003-484: The German inhabitants, which then consisted primarily of women, children and old men, did manage to escape the Red Army as part of the largest exodus of people in human history: "A population which had stood at 2.2 million in 1940 was reduced to 193,000 at the end of May 1945." Following Nazi Germany 's defeat in World War II in 1945, East Prussia was partitioned between Poland and the Soviet Union according to

3094-525: The Great , the Tsar of Russia , visited Pillau on three occasions, the first being in 1697 in connection with his Grand Embassy to Western Europe . A statue of Peter the Great currently stands next to the lighthouse. After Pillau was granted town privileges in 1725, the Baroque -style town hall was constructed and inaugurated in May 1745 but was destroyed at the end of World War II. Russian forces occupied

3185-515: The Nazi Party's work creation policies, with East Prussia chosen because it already had relatively low unemployment due to its agrarian economy. Koch's industrialization plans provoked conflict with Richard Walther Darré , who held the office of the Reich Peasant Leader ( Reichsbauernführer ) and Minister of Agriculture. Darré, a neopaganist rural romantic, wanted to enforce his vision of an agricultural East Prussia. When his "Land" representatives challenged Koch's plans, Koch arrested them. In 1938

3276-454: The Polish Commission for the Determination of Place Names , though in most cases it was a restoration of historic Polish names. During the Polish post-war census of December 1950, data about the pre-war places of residence of the inhabitants as of August 1939 was collected. In case of children born between September 1939 and December 1950, their origin was reported based on the pre-war places of residence of their mothers. Thanks to this data it

3367-443: The Polish Kingdom, by joining forces with the Swedes and subsequent treaties of Wehlau , Labiau , and Oliva , Elector and Duke Frederick William succeeded in revoking the king of Poland's sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia in 1660. There was strong opposition to the separation of the region from Poland, especially in Königsberg (Polish: Królewiec ). A confederation was formed in the city to maintain Poland's sovereignty over

3458-517: The Province of East Prussia was joined with West Prussia to form the Province of Prussia . The Polish and Lithuanian populations were subjected to Germanisation policies, and later to outright persecution. The Kingdom of Prussia became the leading state of the German Empire after its creation in 1871. However, the Treaty of Versailles following World War I granted West Prussia to Poland and made East Prussia an exclave of Weimar Germany (the so-called Polish Corridor separated East Prussia from

3549-454: The Prussians in 1670, renovated in 1870, and currently holding a naval museum; the ruins of the 13th-century Lochstadt Castle; a maze of 19th-century naval fortifications; the Naval Cathedral of St. George (1866); the 32-meter (105 ft) Expressionist observation tower (1932); the Gothic Revival building of the Baltic Fleet Museum (1903); and an elegant lighthouse, dating from 1813 to 1816. A stone cross, erected in 1830 to commemorate

3640-561: The Reich's statistics of late 1939 show that only 31,000 out of 994,092 people in this territory were ethnic Germans. In the annexed pre-war Polish territory, the Polish population was subjected to various crimes , including mass arrests, roundups , deportations to forced labour and concentration camps (including teenagers), executions, massacres (also as part of the Intelligenzaktion and Aktion T4 ) and expulsions . The Jews were confined in ghettos and afterwards deported either deported to extermination camps or massacred in

3731-419: The Swedes retained Pillau and set out upgrading its fortifications, constructing a star fort which remains one of the town's landmarks. In 1635, the citizens of Pillau paid the ransom of 10,000 thalers , whereupon Swedish forces handed over the settlement to the Elector of Brandenburg . By the end of the 17th century, Pillau had expanded considerably, and a lighthouse and a stone church were built. Peter

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3822-406: The Teutonic Knights. 1466 and 1525 arrangements by kings of Poland were not verified by the Holy Roman Empire , as well as the previous gains of the Teutonic Knights , were not verified. The Teutonic Order lost eastern Prussia when Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach converted to Lutheranism and secularized the Prussian branch of the Teutonic Order in 1525. Albert established himself as

3913-453: The ancestral lands of the Baltic Old Prussians were enclosed within East Prussia. During the 13th century , the native Prussians were conquered by the crusading Teutonic Knights . After the conquest the indigenous Balts were gradually converted to Christianity . Because of Germanization and colonisation over the following centuries, Germans became the dominant ethnic group, while Poles and Lithuanians formed sizeable minorities. From

4004-419: The area, initially organised as the Masurian District , later replaced by the Olsztyn Voivodeship in 1947, with a few counties incorporated into Białystok Voivodeship and to Gdańsk Voivodeship . The latter counted in 1950 689,000 inhabitants, 22.6% of them coming from areas annexed by the Soviet Union, 10% Ukrainians, and 18.5% of them pre-war inhabitants. It was dissolved in 1975 to form three smaller units:

4095-478: The backdrop of the Polish-Soviet War in which the Second Polish Republic appeared to be on the brink of defeat, the East Prussian plebiscite in eastern West Prussia and southern East Prussia was held under Allied supervision to determine if the areas should join Poland or remain in the Weimar Germany Province of East Prussia. 96.7% of the people voted to remain within Germany (97.89% in the East Prussian plebiscite district). The Klaipėda Territory (Memelland),

4186-441: The border between Kaliningrad Oblast and Lithuania . The Klaipėda Region ( German : Memelland ) was a portion of the province to the north of the Neman river. Adjacent to the Curonian Lagoon and the lower reaches of the Neman river could be found the Elchniederung  [ de ] , a vast partially-drained bog , much of it below sea-level. Further south, the region becomes more hilly, with fewer bogs and more lakes. To

4277-430: The central portion of the province. In the southernmost regions, the rivers flow to the south, emptying into the Narew and Vistula rivers. The highest elevation of East Prussia at 312 meters above sea level was Dylewska Góra ( German : Kernsdorfer Höhe ), found in the southwest near the border with West Prussia. At the instigation of Duke Konrad I of Masovia , the Teutonic Knights took possession of Prussia in

4368-508: The cession on 30 September 1772, whereafter Frederick officially went on to call himself a King "of" Prussia. The former Ducal Prussian districts of Eylau (Iława), Marienwerder, Riesenburg (Prabuty) and Schönberg (Szymbark) passed to West Prussia. Until the Prussian reforms of 1808, the administration in East Prussia was transferred to the General War and Finance Directorate in Berlin , represented by two local chamber departments: On 31 January 1773, King Frederick II announced that

4459-589: The cities of Ciechanów , Ostrołęka , Płock and Suwałki . Hitler's top-secret Eastern front headquarters during the war, the Wolf's Lair , was located in the village of Gierłoż . The Polish resistance was active in the province, both in the annexed pre-war territory of Poland, and in the pre-war territory of East Prussia, with activities in the latter including distribution of Polish underground press , sabotage actions, executions of Nazis, theft of German weapons, ammunition and equipment, and organization of transports of POWs who escaped German POW camps via

4550-451: The city and region. The Brandenburg Elector and his army, however, entered the city and abducted and imprisoned the leader of the city's anti-Elector opposition Hieronymus Roth . In 1663, the city burghers, forced by Elector Frederick William, swore an oath of allegiance to him, however, in the same ceremony they still also pledged allegiance to Poland. The absolutist elector also subdued the noble estates of Prussia. Although Brandenburg

4641-465: The civilians. Thousands lost their lives during the sinkings (by Soviet submarine) of the evacuation ships Wilhelm Gustloff , the Goya , and the General von Steuben . Königsberg surrendered on 9 April 1945, following the desperate four-day Battle of Königsberg . An estimated 300,000 died either in wartime bombing raids, in the battles to defend the province, or through mistreatment by the Red Army or from hunger, cold and disease. However, most of

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4732-407: The duchy was outside of the core Holy Roman Empire , the prince-electors of Brandenburg were able to proclaim themselves King beginning in 1701. After the annexation of most of western Royal Prussia in the First Partition of Poland in 1772, eastern (ducal) Prussia was connected by land with the rest of the Prussian state and was reorganized as a province the following year. Between 1829 and 1878,

4823-453: The east, near the modern Polish-Russian border, was the Romincka Forest ( German : Rominter Heide ), a famous hunting-ground for Prussian nobility. On the eastern end of the forest is Lake Vištytis ( German : Wystiter See ), and to the south are the Szeskie Hills  [ pl ] ( German : Seesker Höhen ). The Angrapa river ( German : Angerapp ), a tributary of the Pregel, flows out Lake Mamry ( German : Mauersee ) on

4914-427: The feeble-minded Albert Frederick . The Administrator of Prussia, the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order Maximilian III , son of emperor Maximilian II died in 1618. When Maximilian died, Albert's line died out, and the Duchy of Prussia passed to the Electors of Brandenburg, forming Brandenburg-Prussia . Taking advantage of the Swedish invasion of Poland in 1655 , and instead of fulfilling his vassal's duties towards

5005-403: The first duke of the Duchy of Prussia and a vassal of the Polish crown by the Prussian Homage . Walter von Cronberg , the next Grand Master, was enfeoffed with the title to Prussia after the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, but the Order never regained possession of the territory. In 1569 the Hohenzollern prince-electors of the Margraviate of Brandenburg became co-regents with Albert's son,

5096-467: The headquarters of the SA, which used the house to imprison and torture its opponents. Walter Schütz , a communist member of the Reichstag , was murdered here. This period was characterized by efforts to collectivize the local agriculture and ruthlessness in dealing with his critics inside and outside the Nazi Party . He also had long-term plans for mass-scale industrialization of the largely agricultural province. These actions made him unpopular among

5187-407: The largest city of East Prussia , and the goods would then be transported from Pillau to Königsberg by other means. Constructed at a huge cost of thirteen million marks, the canal allowed vessels of a 21 feet (6.4 m) draught to moor alongside the city or to sail directly to Königsberg without stopping at Pillau, causing a serious decline to the town's economy. During World War II , Pillau had

5278-442: The last speakers of Old Prussian . The plague, probably brought by foreign troops during the Great Northern War , killed 250,000 East Prussians, especially in the province's eastern regions. Crown Prince Frederick William I led the rebuilding of East Prussia, founding numerous towns. In 1724, Frederick William I prohibited Poles , Samogitians and Jews from settling in Lithuania Minor, and initiated German colonization to change

5369-414: The local peasants. In 1932 the local paramilitary SA had already started to terrorise their political opponents. On the night of 31 July 1932 there was a bomb attack on the headquarters of the Social Democrats in Königsberg, the Otto-Braun-House . The Communist politician Gustav Sauf was killed; the executive editor of the Social Democratic newspaper "Königsberger Volkszeitung" , Otto Wyrgatsch ; and

5460-443: The majority of the civilian population fled westwards, while several thousand remaining civilians were deported to Russia. Treatment of civilians by both armies was mostly disciplined, although 74 civilians were killed by Russian troops in the Abschwangen massacre . The region had to be rebuilt because of damage caused by the war. With the forced abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II in the German Revolution of 1918–1919 , Germany became

5551-496: The newly annexed lands were to be known as the Province of West Prussia , while the former Duchy of Prussia and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia became the Province of East Prussia . After the disastrous defeat of the Royal Prussian Army at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806, Napoleon occupied Berlin and had the officials of the Prussian General Directorate swear an oath of allegiance to him, while King Frederick William III and his consort Louise fled via Königsberg and

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5642-438: The northeast in ( Lithuania Minor ). The Old Prussian ethnic group became completely Germanized over time and the Old Prussian language died out in the 18th century. At the German entry into World War I , East Prussia became a theatre of war when the Russian Empire invaded the country. The Imperial Russian Army encountered at first little resistance because the bulk of the Imperial German Army had been directed towards

5733-434: The northeast. Most German East Prussians, Masurians, Kursieniki, and Lietuvininkai were Lutheran, while the population of Warmia was mainly Roman Catholic due to the history of its bishopric. The East Prussian Jewish Congregation declined from about 9,000 in 1933 to 3,000 in 1939, as most fled from Nazi rule. During World War II , the Polish ethnic minorities of Catholic Warmians and Lutheran Masurians were persecuted by

5824-427: The northern end of the Masurian Lake District . The largest lake in the province was Śniardwy ( German : Spirdingsee ), at 113.8 square kilometers in area. The headwaters of the Pregel's numerous tributaries were found in southern East Prussia, with the longest, the Łyna ( German : Alle ), extending almost to the southern border with Congress Poland , winding its course northward through southern Warmia and

5915-407: The northwesternmost coastal parts approached an oceanic climate . In the northwest, the province bordered the Baltic Sea , with the Vistula Spit and Curonian Spit separating the sea itself from the Vistula Lagoon and Curonian Lagoon , respectively. The Sambia Peninsula ( German : Samland ) juts into the Baltic Sea between these two lagoons. Most of the rivers of East Prussia emptied into

6006-423: The ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia to neutral Sweden . East Prussia was only slightly affected by the war until January 1945, when it was devastated during the East Prussian Offensive . Most of its inhabitants became refugees in bitterly cold weather during the Evacuation of East Prussia . In 1944 the medieval city of Königsberg , which had never been severely damaged by warfare in its 700 years of existence,

6097-427: The process of Germanization . The Polish-speaking population concentrated in the south of the province ( Masuria and Warmia) and all German geographic atlases at the start of 20th century showed the southern part of East Prussia as Polish with the number of Polish-speakers estimated at the time to be 300,000. Kursenieki inhabited the areas around the Curonian lagoon, while Lithuanian-speaking Prussians concentrated in

6188-399: The province, through mistreatment by the Red Army, or from hunger, cold and disease. The landscape of East Prussia consisted of gently rolling plains and small hills, with flatter terrain in the north and more hills in the south. The province had a humid continental climate which was most pronounced in Lithuania Minor and at higher elevations in the south in the region of Masuria , while

6279-471: The province. Pre-war Polish citizens made up the majority of forced laborers in the province, with their numbers gradually increasing, but due to the influx of forced laborers of other nationalities, their overall percentage declined from 90% in 1940 to 62% in 1944. Most Polish forced laborers in the province were deported from the pre-war Polish territories annexed into the province by Germany, with German labor offices recruiting forced laborers established in

6370-411: The region's ethnic composition. Thousands of Protestants expelled from the Archbishopric of Salzburg were allowed to settle in depleted East Prussia. In 1756 Russia decided to go to war with the Kingdom of Prussia and annex the territory, which was then to be offered to Poland as part of a territorial exchange desired by Russia, however, ultimately Russia only occupied the region for four years during

6461-558: The region. Germany operated the Soldau and Hohenbruch  [ de ] concentration camps, mostly for Poles, multiple subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp and several prisoner-of-war camps , including Stalag I-A , Stalag I-B , Stalag I-C, Stalag I-D, Stalag I-E, Stalag I-F , Stalag Luft VI , Oflag 52, Oflag 53, Oflag 60, Oflag 63 and Oflag 68 with multiple subcamps, for Polish, Belgian, French , British, Serbian, Soviet, Italian , American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, South African, Czech and other Allied POWs in

6552-595: The rest of Germany), while the Memel Territory , part of the Lithuania Minor region, was detached and annexed by Lithuania in 1923. Following Nazi Germany 's defeat in World War II in 1945, war-torn East Prussia was divided at Joseph Stalin 's insistence between the Soviet Union (the Kaliningrad Oblast became part of the Russian SFSR , and the constituent counties of the Klaipėda Region in

6643-604: The rest of Poland from the Baltic coast. The territory of Warmia was incorporated into the lands of former Ducal Prussia, which, by administrative deed of 31 January 1772 were named East Prussia . The former Polish Pomerelian lands beyond the Vistula River together with Malbork and Chełmno Land formed the Province of West Prussia with its capital at Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) in 1773. The Polish Partition Sejm ratified

6734-523: The rulers of Nazi Germany were sent to concentration camps and held prisoner there until their death or liberation. After the 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania , the Klaipėda region was integrated again into East Prussia. After the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany opening World War II, the borders of East Prussia were revised. Regierungsbezirk Westpreußen became part of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia , while Regierungsbezirk Zichenau ( Ciechanów )

6825-723: The same as those of the Soviet Union. From 1799 until 1867 the easternmost point of the Russian Empire was located in North America , on the border between Russian Alaska and British North America , which superimposed on the then International Date Line . The westernmost point of the Empire was located at Ruda Komorska in Congress Poland from 1815 until its occupation by German and Austro-Hungarian troops in 1915. Kushka in present-day Turkmenistan had been

6916-667: The southernmost point of the Empire since 1885. Again, until the Alaska Purchase , the peak of Bolshaya was the extreme point of elevation in the Empire, at 6,194 m above sea level. Including islands and exclaves Contiguous mainland only Towns and cities Permanent settlements according to the path of the International Date Line , although being located in the Western Hemisphere . East Prussia East Prussia

7007-468: The summer of 1945. Many more were prevented from returning, and the German population of East Prussia was almost completely expelled by the communist regimes. During the war and for some time thereafter 45 camps were established for about 200,000-250,000 forced labourers, the vast majority of whom were deported to the Soviet Union, including the Gulag camp system. The largest camp with about 48,000 inmates

7098-598: The supposed spot of St.  Adalbert of Prague 's martyrdom, was destroyed by the Soviets and restored a millennium after the event, in 1997. There is a seaside monument of Empress Elizabeth of Russia , erected postwar by the Russian sculptor Georgy Frangulyan. Baltiysk is twinned with: On 28 February 2022, the Polish city of Elbląg ended its partnership with Baltiysk as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine . List of extreme points of Russia This

7189-470: The town during the Seven Years' War and built a small Orthodox church there, with the event commemorated by the equestrian statue of Empress Elizabeth , unveiled in 2004. In the late 18th century, the present-day southern part of the town, the part located on the Vistula Spit , was annexed by Prussia in the Partitions of Poland . In June 1807, Pillau was stormed by Napoleon 's Grande Armée during

7280-553: The town eventually being captured by Soviets on 25 April 1945. After the war, Pillau was included in the northern part of East Prussia passed to the Soviet Union that became Kaliningrad Oblast , and the German inhabitants were expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . During the Russification campaign, the town's name was changed to Baltiysk in 1946. In 1952, the Soviet authorities inaugurated

7371-409: The town had a population of 3,434, apart from the fortress garrison. The importance of Pillau declined from 15 November 1901, when a shipping canal was opened linking the Vistula Lagoon near Zimmerbude (now Svetly ) to Königsberg . Pillau's economy was heavily based on large shipping vessels being forced to dock in the town due to the shallow depth of the lagoon near Königsberg, the capital and

7462-513: The town's German-era coat of arms, which features a sturgeon wearing the crown of King Frederick William I of Prussia . The historic arms had been granted to the town, then known as Pillau, in 1725. Within the framework of administrative divisions , Baltiysk serves as the administrative center of Baltiysky District . As an administrative division, it is, together with two rural localities , incorporated within Baltiysky District as

7553-659: The two lagoons; the Pregolya ( German : Pregel ), Pasłęka ( German : Passarge ), and Prokhladnaya ( German : Frisching ) into the Vistula Lagoon, and the Neman ( German : Memel ) and Minija ( German : Minge ) into the Curonian Lagoon. In the northeast of the province, the river Šešupė ( German : Scheschuppe ), a left-tributary of the Neman, formed the border with the Russian Empire , and today forms

7644-480: The warmest season, high temperatures average 21 °C (70 °F) and low temperatures average 15 °C (59 °F). In January and February, the coldest season, high temperatures average 3 °C (37 °F) with low temperatures averaging −2 °C (28 °F). Historical buildings in and around the town include the pentagonal Pillau Citadel  [ de ] , founded by the Swedes in 1626, completed by

7735-493: Was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic 's Free State of Prussia , until 1945. Its capital city was Königsberg (present-day Kaliningrad ). East Prussia was the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast . The bulk of

7826-806: Was a part of the Holy Roman Empire , the Prussian lands were not within the Holy Roman Empire and were with the administration by the Teutonic Order grandmasters under jurisdiction of the Emperor. In return for supporting Emperor Leopold I in the War of the Spanish Succession , Elector Frederick III was allowed to crown himself " King in Prussia " in 1701. The new kingdom ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty became known as

7917-720: Was added to East Prussia. Originally part of the Zichenau region, the Sudauen ( Suwałki ) district in Sudovia was later transferred to the Gumbinnen region. In 1939 East Prussia had 2.49 million inhabitants, 85% of them ethnic Germans, the others Poles in the south who, according to Polish estimates numbered in the interwar period around 300,000-350,000, the Latvian speaking Kursenieki , and Lietuvininkai who spoke Lithuanian in

8008-399: Was almost completely destroyed by two RAF Bomber Command raids – the first on the night of 26/27 August 1944, with the second one three nights later, overnight on 29/30 August 1944. Winston Churchill ( The Second World War , Book XII) had erroneously believed it to be "a modernized heavily defended fortress " and ordered its destruction. Gauleiter Erich Koch delayed the evacuation of

8099-565: Was established at Deutsch Eylau (Iława). Orphaned children who were left behind in the zone occupied by the Soviet Union were referred to as Wolf children . Representatives of the Polish government officially took over the civilian administration of the southern part of East Prussia on 23 May 1945. Subsequently, Polish expatriates from Polish lands annexed by the Soviet Union as well as Ukrainians and Lemkos from southern Poland, expelled in Operation Vistula , were settled in

8190-490: Was formalised in the Second Peace of Toruń in 1466 ending the Thirteen Years' War . The restoration of Pomerania/ Pomerelia to Poland was confirmed, and Warmia also was confirmed part of Poland, with both co-forming the larger Polish provinces of Royal Prussia and Greater Poland . The remainder of historic Prussia also became a part of "one and indivisible" Kingdom of Poland as a fief and protectorate held by

8281-494: Was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946. Most of the German population of the province had left during the evacuation at the end of the war, but several hundreds of thousands died during the years 1944–46 and the remainder were subsequently expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . Shortly after the end of the war in May 1945, Germans who had fled in early 1945 tried to return to their homes in East Prussia. An estimated number of 800,000 Germans were living in East Prussia during

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