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26-494: One of the oldest churches of Sambia , the fortified church was built in the monastic state of the Teutonic Order between 1276 and 1294/98 or ca. 1287/88. In 1402 it was mentioned in the treasurer's book as Judynkirchen . Frescoes by the painter Peter were located in the chancel by 1394. It received a free-standing tower ca. 1400, a crucifix ca. 1520, and a weather vane in 1577. The clock tower and nave were connected by

52-537: A barrel-vaulted vestibule in 1820. Juditten became a shrine to the Virgin Mary and a medieval Christian pilgrimage site for visitors from throughout the Holy Roman Empire , especially during the era of Teutonic Order Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen (served 1393–1407). The church's frescoes depicted coats of arms (such as those of Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen ), the lives of Jesus and Mary,

78-580: Is a freshwater lagoon separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit . Its surface area is 1,619 square kilometers (625 sq mi). The Neman River ( Lithuanian : Nemunas ) supplies about 90% of its inflows; its watershed consists of about 100,450 square kilometres in Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast . In the 13th century , the area around the lagoon was part of

104-719: Is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia , on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea . The peninsula is bounded by the Curonian Lagoon to the north-east, the Vistula Lagoon in the southwest, the Pregolya River in the south, and the Deyma River in the east. As Sambia is surrounded on all sides by water, it is technically an island. Historically it formed an important part of

130-584: Is hilly in the west, with coastal bluffs and beaches, while in the east it is low-lying and flat. The sections of coast adjacent to the Curonian and Vistula Lagoons are often swampy. Due to the moderating influence of the Baltic Sea, the climate is more mild than regions of comparable latitude further east. The highest point at 111 meters, Galtgarben , is found two kilometers southeast of Kumachyovo ( German : Kumehnen ). Gvardeysk ( German : Tapiau )

156-887: Is located at the southeastern end of the peninsula where the Deyma branches off from the Pregolya, while Polessk ( German : Labiau ) is found at the northeastern end, nearby where that river enters the Curonian Lagoon. The peninsula is connected to the Curonian Spit to the north, while it is separated from the Vistula Spit by the Strait of Baltiysk next to the port city of Baltiysk ( German : Pillau ). Sambia also includes two famous seaside resorts on its northern coast, Zelenogradsk ( German : Kranz ) and Svetlogorsk ( German : Rauschen ). Amber has been found in

182-851: The Duchy of Prussia , a vassal duchy of the Kingdom of Poland, founded when Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach , the 37th Grand Master , secularized the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights in 1525. The Margraviate of Brandenburg inherited the duchy in 1618 under Polish overlordship. Because the Duchy of Prussia failed to fulfill its feudal obligations as a vassal of Poland during the Polish–Swedish wars , George William's rule in Prussia

208-821: The German Empire in the course of the unification of Germany . After World War I Sambia formed part of the East Prussian province of Weimar Germany . During World War II , the Germans operated two subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp , and the AGSSt Samland assembly center for Allied POWs in the region. The Polish resistance movement was active in the region, with its activities including espionage of German activity and distribution of Polish underground press . In 1945 after World War II,

234-631: The Hohenzollern dynasty , and visitors to Sambia's beaches were forbidden to pick up any fragments they found. Beginning in the 19th century, amber was mined on an industrial scale by the Germans before 1945 and by the Soviets / Russians thereafter at Yantarny (former German name: Palmnicken ). Reference to the Sambia Peninsula begins with Greek traveller Pytheas , referring to an amber island called "Abalus". The name probably described

260-628: The Soviet Union annexed northern East Prussia, including Sambia, while the southern part of the province became again part of Poland . Sambia became part of the Soviet Kaliningrad Oblast , named after the nearby city of Kaliningrad (historically German : Königsberg ), and the new authorities expelled its German inhabitants in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement . The Soviet Union gradually repopulated

286-692: The Thirteen Years' War , but the Teutonic Knights replaced them in 1504 and moved the art to the pilgrimage site Juditten in 1504. The church was converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism in 1526 following the establishment of the secular Duchy of Prussia the previous year; pilgrimages were allowed to continue despite the Protestant Reformation . It also contained a cathedra from 1686, a Baroque altar, and an organ from 1840. The church included epitaphs and portraits of field marshals Erhard Ernst von Röder and Hans von Lehwaldt by

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312-590: The Twelve Apostles , chivalric stories, and legendary creatures. Its larger-than-life Madonna and Child above a crescent moon was made out of colored wood by an unknown artist prior to 1454. According to Königsberg architect Friedrich Lahrs (1880–1964), the Madonna used to be located in Königsberg Cathedral 's chapel. Its pearls were stolen from its crown by Königsberg rebels in 1454 during

338-593: The Kaliningrad Oblast, including Sambia, with Russians and Belarusians . Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, much of the district was a closed military area. While today the Kursenieki , also known as Kuršininkai are a nearly extinct Baltic ethnic group living along the Curonian Spit , in 1649 Kuršininkai settlement spanned from Memel (Klaipėda) to Gdańsk , Poland, including

364-516: The Königsberg artist E. A. Knopke; both Röder and Lehwaldt were successively married to a daughter of Wilhelm Dietrich von Buddenbrock . Johann Christoph Gottsched was born in the church's rectory in 1700. Stanislaus Cauer was buried in the church's cemetery. Although the church was largely undamaged by fighting during World War II , it was plundered in April 1945, when Königsberg was taken by

390-908: The Soviets. Services continued until 1948. The roof and part of the walls collapsed in the 1960, and the building was neglected through the 1970s. It was reconsecrated in October 1985 as a Russian Orthodox church and eventually was restored to serve as the main church of St. Nicholas Orthodox Convent. 54°42′57″N 20°25′29″E  /  54.71583°N 20.42472°E  / 54.71583; 20.42472 Sambia Peninsula Sambia ( Russian : Самбийский полуостров , romanized :  Sambiysky poluostrov , lit.   'Sambian Peninsula') or Samland ( Russian : Земландский полуостров , romanized :  Zemlandsky poluostrov , lit.   'Zemlandic Peninsula') or Kaliningrad Peninsula (official name, Russian : Калининградский полуостров , Kaliningradsky poluostrov )

416-709: The ancestral lands of the Curonians and Old Prussians . Later it bordered the historical region of Lithuania Minor . At the northern end of the Spit, the Klaipėda Strait connects the lagoon to the Baltic Sea , and the place was chosen by the Teutonic Knights in 1252 to found Memelburg Castle and the city of Klaipėda . In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region to the Kingdom of Poland upon

442-605: The area as early as 6,000 years ago,according to archeology. Sambia was originally sparsely populated by the Sambians . The German Teutonic Knights conquered the region in the 13th century. The church administration was placed under the Bishopric of Samland , established in 1243. Settlers from the Holy Roman Empire began colonizing the region, and the Sambian Prussians gradually became assimilated. The peninsula

468-678: The area for over two thousand years, especially on the coast near Kaliningrad . History and legends tell of the ancient trade routes known as the Amber Road leading from the Old Prussian settlements of Kaup (in Sambia) and Truso (near Elbląg , near the mouth of the Vistula ) southwards to the Black and Adriatic seas. In Imperial Germany , the right to collect amber was restricted to

494-992: The coastline of the Sambian Peninsula. The Kuršininkai were eventually assimilated by the Germans , except along the Curonian Spit where some still live. The Kuršininkai were considered Latvians until after World War I when Latvia gained independence from the Russian Empire , a consideration based on linguistic arguments. This was the rationale for Latvian claims over the Curonian Spit, Memel , and other territories of East Prussia which would be later dropped. 54°49′58″N 20°16′09″E  /  54.83278°N 20.26917°E  / 54.83278; 20.26917 Curonian Lagoon The Curonian Lagoon (or Bay, Gulf; Prussian : Kursjanmari , Lithuanian : Kuršių marios , Russian : Куршский залив )

520-557: The historic region of Prussia . Sambia is named after the Sambians , an extinct tribe of Old Prussians . Samland is the name for the peninsula in the Germanic languages . Polish and Latin speakers call the area Sambia , while the Lithuanian name is Semba . Baedeker describes Sambia as "a fertile and partly-wooded district, with several lakes, lying to the north of Königsberg " (since 1946 Kaliningrad ). The landscape

546-528: The north passed to Lithuania (occupied by Germany in 1939–45), whereas the remainder fell to the Soviet Union following World War II . As the new interwar border, the river that flows into the Curonian Lagoon near Rusnė was chosen. The river's lower 120 km in Germany were called die Memel by Germans, while the upper part located in Lithuania was known as Nemunas River . The border also separated

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572-626: The peninsula near the small holiday resort of Nida, Lithuania . From 1939 to 1945, the Lithuanian part was occupied by Germany, and the southern part of the Spit and the Lagoon remained in Germany until 1945. This border is now the border between Lithuania and Russia, as after World War II, the southern end of the Spit and the German area south of the river became part an exclave of Russia called Kaliningrad Oblast . The nearly extinct ethnic group

598-608: The request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation . Following the peace treaty of 1466 , the lagoon became a part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights, and thus located within the Polish–Lithuanian union , later elevated to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . From the 18th century, it formed part of the Kingdom of Prussia , and from 1871 also Germany . After 1923, the Klaipėda Region in

624-605: The whole lagoon area known in Finnic as AVA (open expanse = lagoon) and -LA (place of) Historic scholars could not find the mysterious amber island because the Sambia Peninsula did not look like an island since the whole Baltic area that was depressed by the Ice Age glaciers has been rising many meters in the last thousands of years and was no longer looking like an island by the 10th century. Based on finds of prehistoric amber carvings, nomadic boat using hunter gatherers were attracted to

650-557: Was suspended in 1635 and he was replaced by the Polish king by a viceroy, Jerzy Ossoliński . However, under the Treaty of Sztumska Wieś the Duchy (and so the Sambia peninsula) was given back to George William . In 1701 Hohenzollern ruler proclaimed the Kingdom of Prussia and Sambia became part of the newly formed Province of East Prussia in 1773. In 1871, the peninsula became part of

676-440: Was the last area in which the Old Prussian language was spoken before becoming extinct at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1454, the region was incorporated by King Casimir IV Jagiellon to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation . After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War , since 1466, it formed part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Order. The peninsula became part of

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