Šilutė is a city in the western part of Lithuania, Klaipėda
region, Pajūris lowland, Klaipėda county, near the Curonian Lagoon
and 8 km from Rusnė island. The city is located 50 km south of
Klaipėda. Šilutė is the center of the municipality and ward of the
Pamari region, Šilutė district, and is the directorate of the
Nemunas Delta Regional Park. The Šyša River flows through the city,
where there is a harbor for small boats. Urban planning monument.
There are 2 senior citizens in the city - Šilutė and Šilutė
Naujakurių.
In the center of the city is the Šilutė
Evangelical Lutheran Church (the height of the tower reaches 50
meters, the tower has 3 bells and a city clock that strikes the time
every 15 minutes. It is the largest in Lithuania: the diameter of
its dial is 2.5 m, the large hand is 1.10, the small hand is 0.80 m
long. In the center of the city there is also the Soldiers'
Cemetery. The Church of the Holy Cross of Šilute (built in 1854) is
located near the railway, and the Evangelical Baptist Church of
Šilute is nearby. Also in the city there is the Chapel of Archangel
Michael of Šilute, the community of old people and Šilute The New
Apostolic Church. There was a tuberculosis hospital in the city,
there is a culture house in the western part of the city, near Šyša
there are the preserved palaces of the Hugo Šojaus mansion (Šilutė
Museum), the district's central hospital and polyclinic, a nursing
home for the elderly, a post office, and a city park.
The Šilutė Museum inherited archeology and cartography collections of
Hugo Šojaus and a particularly valuable ethnographic collection. The
museum has 18th century. Lithuanian furniture, fabrics, clothes, various
household items. Šilutė (Macikai) is the birthplace of the famous German
writer Herman Zuderman. A monument with a bas-relief of the writer was
rebuilt in the parking lot of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
In
the Soviet years, there were four secondary schools (three Lithuanian
and one Russian) and a cinema in the city. Now the city has a museum,
five churches, two hotels, many cafes, bars and restaurants.
The official city day is the last Saturday of May (the city's
birthday). This marks the date when 1511 the first tavern was
established here. The celebration takes place at the Culture and
Entertainment Center.
Spring holidays are very important for
Šilute, which attract a lot of guests from Lithuania and abroad: many
guests come from Germany.
Many of the old buildings in the city of Šilutė were built during the
pre-war period. Most of the buildings were built in the 19th century. at
the end of the 20th century at the beginning Šilutė's old buildings
provide a characteristic breath of the Klaipėda region. The main old
buildings in the town of Šilute are:
Shojas Manor (Šilutė Museum),
1818
Tourism School (former prison), 1848
Šilute railway station,
1875.
Šilute railway bridge over Šyša, 1875.
Post Office, 1905
Fire station, 1911
Yellow Bridge, 1914
Šilute 1st high school
building, 1924.
In addition to the above-mentioned buildings,
there are many old inhabited and uninhabited structures in Šilute, some
of which have been demolished - the "Germanijas" hotel. The "Germanija"
hotel was quite luxurious and after the fire in 1929 rebuilt, but in
1945 burned again. Now the municipality of Šilute city and district is
located in this place.
The villages from which the present city was formed were called Šilokarčema (mentioned from 1511), Verdaine (from the 13th century) and Žibai (mentioned from 1540). in 1511 To Jonas Talats, the Komtur of Klaipėda confirmed the right to establish a tavern (tavern) here and to manage the surrounding forests and meadows between Klaipėda and Tilžė, near Šyša. People called the tavern Šilokarčema (German: Heidekrug = Heide - "heath" + Krug - "tavern"), because the tavern was built in a remote place, a heath. Soon, several more taverns appeared, around which fishermen, merchants and craftsmen began to gather (one of them was owned by the great-grandfather of the famous philosopher Immanuel Kant, Richard Kant). in 1923 the new settlement, formed from the three mentioned villages, was given the name Šilute, taking into account the beginning of the name of the main one of those villages.
The city is located in the former territory of the Skalvi tribe. The
lands around Šilute and further to the north and east were called
Lamata. During the time of the Teutonic Order (14th century - 1525), the
road from Tilžė to Klaipėda ran through these lands in the territory of
the Šilutė precinct.
The Middle Ages
1511 a tavern was
founded, around which the settlement of Šilokarčema was formed. 16th
century Ave. Verdaine was restored in 1540. 27 families lived there. in
1566 Verdaine Evangelical Lutheran Church was built. in 1588 Verdainė
parish school with a library was established. 1540 Žibai settlement was
founded, where craftsmen lived. From the 16th century in the second half
of the 20th century, Šilokarčema (German: Heydekrug) became famous for
its weekly market, where fishermen, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants
gathered not only from the surrounding areas, but also from Žemaitija,
the Curonian Spit, Rusnė, etc.
New times
17th century manors
are established in Barzdūnai, Macikai, Verdainė, etc. 17th century Scots
who fled from religious persecution settled in Šilokarcema and Verdaine.
A bitter is established in the brewery.
in 1684 Rusne priest
Mykolas Gaidys built a homestead on the outskirts of Verdaine, which
became the beginning of Gaideliai village. 1525-1701 The territory of
Šilutė precinct belonged to the Duchy of Prussia. During the war,
1628-1635, it was ruled by the Swedes, 1701-1871. - Kingdom of Prussia.
18th century The composition of the population in the territory of
Šilutė borough changed - the old residents, whose basis consisted of
Lithuanians, died or died out during the Northern War and the plague
epidemic at the beginning of the century, later - the Seven Years' War
(1756-1763), and their places were filled by Germans, Austrians, etc. .
The Tilžė - Klaipėda highway (1846-1850), the Klaipėda-Tilžė railway
(1872-1875), roads to Rusnė and other larger settlements were built.
Bitters are established near the roads: in Gnybalai, Grabupiai,
Jonaičiai, etc. 19th century the population was exhausted by famine,
epidemics, floods. 1871-1920 The territory of Silutė precinct belonged
to the German Empire.
1910 Žibai, Cintjoniškiai, Verdainė are
connected to Šilokarčema settlement. in 1912 1435 mm wide railway was
built for Šilutė-Kulėš, which belonged to the Insterburg narrow-gauge
railway company (although the railway was broad gauge). in 1945 it was
dismantled.
1918-1921 The Šilute County Council issued its own
banknotes of 25, 50, 75 pfennigs and 1 mark, which were used in Šilute
County until 1922. February 21
in 1918 A German high school was
established in Šilokarcema. 20th century Ave. The territory of the
Šilute ward was mainly Lithuanian, although some villages were perceived
as Lithuanian: in 1905 Only 44% lived in Kirlikai, 37% in Barzdūnai, 32%
in Liaučiai, etc. Lithuanian.
Separation of Šilute from Germany
1920-1923 During the French rule, Lithuanians gathered in Šilokarčema,
seeking to join Klaipėda region to Greater Lithuania. in 1922 At the end
of the year, a branch of the Main Rescue Committee of Little Lithuania
was established in Šilokarčema, later the members of the Rescue
Committee moved to Šilokarčema, who in 1923 January 9 published a
manifesto that the Klaipėda directory and other administrative bodies
were to be dissolved, and the new directory was taking over all power.
in 1923 January 10 in the evening, the rebels occupied Šilokarčiam. in
1923 January 19 it took place in the Lithuanian cult of the Main Rescue
Committee of Little Lithuania, Klaipėda region. etc. congress of
organizations (120 people), which adopted a declaration on the accession
of Klaipėda region to Lithuania with autonomous rights.
in 1923
the new administration of Klaipėda region changed the name of
Šilokarčema settlement to Šilutė. Until 1939 many important institutions
operated, new streets and roads were built, local industry was created
(candy, brush, lemonade, soap, etc. factories). in 1927 a Lithuanian
high school was established. A power plant was built (1924), an
Evangelical Lutheran church (1926, architect K. Gutknecht), German
(1930), Lithuanian (1938) high schools, etc. buildings. in 1936 a
distillery was established. in 1938 There were 17 industrial companies
in Šilute, employing 295 workers.
Second World War
in 1939
March 23 After the annexation of Klaipėda region by the Third Reich,
Lithuanian schools and other Lithuanian institutions were closed. The
Vydūnas high school was moved to Žemaičiai Naumiestis. 1939-1945 The
territory of Šilutė precinct belonged to Gumbinė district. in 1941
Šilutė received the rights of a city and at that time about 5,400
inhabitants lived in the city. A prisoner of war camp established by the
Germans operated in Macikai (1939-1944). It was the Luft 6 camp for
prisoners of war of the military air force, where British, US military
pilots were imprisoned. in 1945 At the beginning of the year, the Soviet
repressive structures took over Šilute prison.
After World War II
After the Second World War, the composition of
the population of the territory of Šilute ward changed fundamentally.
Germans and some Lithuanians who lived before the war moved to the West
as the front approached, and some of the rest were deported. Newcomers
from various parts of Lithuania and the Soviet Union settled in empty
houses. Only 7 of the 4,500 inhabitants (in 1939) remained in the town
of Šilute (mid-October 1944), and in 1959 already lived 8969
inhabitants. in 1955 After the Federal Republic of Germany signed an
agreement with the USSR on the departure of former German citizens to
West Germany, many residents who lived in the territory of the Šilute
ward took advantage of it.
1944-1947 Šilutė again becomes the
center of the county, and since 1950 - in the center of the district. in
1946 August 3 became a city under the county. Industry is being rebuilt
and created in the city. Schools are established, hospitals, cultural
and administrative institutions are opened. In the rural part of the
precinct, the Jonaičiai neighborhood, several collective farms, were
established, on the basis of which the Jonaičiau council farm and the
Šilutė council farm-technical school were later established. A
prisoner-of-war camp was established in Macikai (1944-1946), and later
it was replaced by the Šilutė camp (1946-1955) of the Department of
Correctional Labor Camps of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the
USSR. Main schools, paramedics-midwives points, communication
departments, culture houses, libraries, food stores were established in
the central settlements of farms (Laučiai, Pagryniai). in 1968 a
department store was built (architect A. Patalauskas), 1987 – new
cultural center (architect I. Kraniauskas). in 1989 Orthodox parish of
Archangel Michael of Šilute was founded.
in 1995 the current coat
of arms of Šilute is confirmed. in 2011 was chosen as the cultural
capital of Lithuania. in 2013 Šilutė Evangelical Lutheran Parish
celebrated its 100th anniversary. Many guests from Lithuania and Germany
came to the city during the celebration.
Origin of the name
The villages from which the present city was formed were called
Šilokarčema (mentioned from 1511), Verdaine (from the 13th century) and
Žibai (mentioned from 1540). 1511 To Jonas Talats, the Komtur of
Klaipėda confirmed the right to establish a tavern (tavern) here and to
manage the surrounding forests and meadows between Klaipėda and Tilžė,
near Šyša. People called the tavern Šilokarčema (German: Heidekrug =
Heide - "heath" + Krug - "tavern"), because the tavern was built in a
remote place, a heath. Soon, several more taverns appeared, around which
fishermen, merchants and craftsmen began to gather (one of them was
owned by Richard Kant, the great-grandfather of the famous philosopher
Emmanuel Kant).
in 1923 the new settlement, formed from the three
mentioned villages, was given the name Šilute, taking into account the
beginning of the name of the main one of those villages.
The city of Šilutė is located in the coastal lowland, in southwestern
Lithuania, where about 20 thousand inhabitants live. The region is
little industrialized. The river Šyša flows through the city. Nemunas
flows nearby, near Rusnė. There are collective gardens in the southeast,
west and northwest of the city. Most of the industry and most of the
companies are concentrated in the northern part of the city.
Šilute has a typical maritime climate, with quite a lot of
precipitation. Several Lithuanian climate records are recorded here:
in 1978 August. had the highest monthly rainfall (291.1 mm)
in 1981
the highest annual rainfall was determined (1109.2 mm)
in 1994 July.
no precipitation at all (0.0 mm)
In the eastern part of the city
there is the Klaipėda-Tilžė railway and the Šilute railway station. A
passenger train runs on the Klaipėda–Šilutė route. The station area is
connected to the southern part of the city by the Šilute railway bridge.
The Šyša River flows through the city, where the port of Šilute small
ships is located. It is 13 km away from the Curonian Lagoon. From the
port you can reach the river network of the Nemunas delta, the Curonian
Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. The most important roads: 206 Šilutė–Rusnė,
141 Kaunas–Jurbarkas–Šilutė–Klaipėda and 165 Šilalė–Šilutė.
20th century in the first half, there was a brickyard in Armalėnai
(clay was brought by railway from a quarry located 700 m away). in 1907
A gas factory was built in Verdainė, which operated until 1939, where
coal was processed into combustible gas, which was used for lighting
streets, apartments and other household purposes in Šilokarcema. Until
1939 many important institutions operated, new streets and roads were
built, local industry was created (candy, brush, lemonade, soap, etc.
factories).
The oldest company is "Šilutės Rambynas", operating
since 1842. and making cheese and butter. "Šilutės baldai" (founded in
1890) sells more than 90% of its production to foreign countries.
"Šilutės durpės" (operating since 1882) exports 50 thousand cubic meters
of peat each year.
Currently, people of various faiths live in the municipality of
Šilutė district. Most of them profess Catholicism (81.09%), followed by
Evangelical Lutherans (4.45%), Orthodox (0.95%) and others (1.2%).
Churches:
Šilutė Evangelical Lutheran Church
Silutė
evangelical cemetery chapel
Šilutė St. Church of the Cross
Šilutė
Evangelical Baptist Church
Šilute New Apostolic Church
Church of
Michael the Archangel in Silutė
In the neighboring Verdaina, there was already a church in the Middle
Ages, where since 1588 led by evangelical pastors. in 1913 the parish of
Šilute was founded and the construction of the church of Šilute started,
but the beginning of the First World War stopped the construction and it
was resumed only in 1924. The church was completed in 1926. The walls
and ceiling of the church are decorated with frescoes by the artist
Richard Pfeifer (German: Richard Pfeiffer). 120 human figures in
original size are depicted on the 80 m² altar vault. Above, above the
altar in front of the Lamb of God, Adam and Eve kneel, and from the left
and right are depicted people from the history of the Church. Among
them: the reformers Martin Luther and Jean Calvin and Paul Gerchardt,
Luke Cranach the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg
Friedrich Handel, Augustus Hermann Franke, Nicholas Ludwig von
Zinzendorf, Friedrich von Bodelschwing, Matthias Claudius, Amalie
Sieveking, Hugo Šoj and many others.
The old evangelical cemetery
is located behind the Šilute railway station. They are still used today.
in 2009 restored in 2013 consecrated cemetery chapel.
Until 1945
Šilutė was the center of the ecclesiastical county, which included 9
parishes. Since 1920 until 1939 the parish belonged to the Klaipėda
region, which entered the ecclesiastical province of East Prussia, which
was part of the Union Old Prussian Evangelical Church.
The Baptist chapel has not survived to this day. The modern Šilute
Evangelical Baptist Church is located near the Šilute bus station in a
residential building.
The New Apostolic Church was founded in
1902. In the kitchen. The modern church was built in 1997. city
center.
The Church of Archangel Michael in Šilute is located in the premises of the Šilute Youth and Adult Education Center.
In 1903, in the part of the town of Šilutė in Žibai. St. was built
and has survived to this day. Church of the Cross. The church has
neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque features, a rectangular plan, a single
tower, with a projecting porch. Above the front pediment of the church
is an openwork two-story turret. The current roof is covered with red
painted tin, it used to be Dutch tiles. There are two stained glass
windows in the presbytery.
Šilutė is the center of the Šilutė
deanery of the Telšiai Diocese of the Lithuanian Catholic Church.
The first Jews moved to Šilokarčem (Šilutė) in 1819. from West
Prussia. Their number grew over time. in 1855 89 Jews lived in Šilute
County. There were 36 of them in Šilokarčema itself, and 6 in Žibai. The
first Jewish cemetery in the city was established in 1844, and the
second in 1869. in 1858 A separate Jewish community was formed in
Šilokarcema. Israel Schatz became the first rabbi of the village, and in
1863 a small synagogue was built. The number of Jews in the city
increased especially after 1870, most Jews came from Greater Lithuania.
Most of them became Prussian citizens. Those who did not receive
citizenship, in 1885 were deported.
In 1923, when the Klaipėda
region was annexed to Lithuania, a large number of Jews left for East
Prussia. When Klaipėda region in 1939 was annexed to the Third Reich,
most of the Jews moved to the neighboring towns of Lithuania. Some of
them managed to emigrate. The synagogue and the cemetery were destroyed
in 1939. in 1941 The SS unit of Šilokarčema established a Jewish labor
camp in the city. Jews from the surrounding towns of Lithuania,
especially Švėkšna, Žemaičiai Naumiestis, Vainutas and Kvėdarna, were
forcibly imprisoned there. About 400 Jews imprisoned there had to build
roads and work in the peat bog. in 1943 the camp was abolished. The
surviving prisoners were transferred to Auschwitz. in 1964 a trial took
place in the Aurich District Court to solve this crime, and in 1965 and
the German Supreme Court. The defendants Werner Scheu and Karl Struve
were sentenced to life imprisonment. According to 2011 of the Lithuanian
Department of Statistics data, not a single person professing Judaism
lived in the municipality of Šilutė district.
Reinhard Dullien (1902–1982), lawyer.
Rudolf Gop (1913–1983),
artist, teacher.
Cornell Borchers (1925–2014), actress.
Dietrich
von Hein (1925–2007), physician, veterinarian.
Erich Berschkeit
(1926–2002), German politician of the Social Democratic Party of
Germany.
Herman Zuderman (1857–1928), German writer and playwright.
Hugo Šojus (1845–1937), German and Šilutė region cultural and public
figure, patron of the city of Šilutė, collector and publisher of
Lithuanian folklore of Little Lithuania and founder of the first museum
in Klaipėda region[45][46].
Katharina Szelinski-Singer, (1918–2010 in
Nausėdais near Šilute), German sculptor.
Doris Nefedov ("Alexandra")
(1942-1969), German singer, guitarist, composer.
Rimas Girskis
(1949–2010), basketball player, coach.
Remigijus Valiulis
(1958–2023), athlete, Olympic champion.
Darius Sirtautas (b. 1970),
basketball player.
Raimondas Rumšas (b. 1972), cyclist.
Mindaugas
Timinskas (b. 1974), basketball player.
Deividas Dulkys (b. 1988),
basketball player.
The oldest school in Šilute - 1588. Verdainė parish church school was
established. The village of Šilokarčema then belonged to the parish of
Verdaine. Friedrich Wilhelm III 19th century. declared at the beginning
that bilingualism makes governance difficult, so it is necessary to
Germanize Lithuanians. in 1844 A private girls' school operated in
Šilute in 1864. Boys High School. In a German school, a Lithuanian
student was trained to speak German. He was instilled with hatred for
everything Lithuanian - language, history, culture, traditions, with
each generation fewer and fewer Lithuanians spoke their native language
and considered themselves Lithuanians. The situation changed after World
War I, when in 1923 Klaipėda region is annexed to Lithuania.
In
Šilute, the first high school named after Herder was founded in 1918. on
April 16, which was taught in German. The restoration of the Lithuanian
school began in 1928, when several Lithuanians decided to educate their
children privately. At first, the first 4 students met in the apartment
of A. and J. Jonušaičius. in 1928 this school was taken under its
patronage by the Klaipėda Regional School Association. Šilutė's first
gymnasium was founded in 1928, and Šilutė's Vydūnas gymnasium in 1930.
This date is considered the beginning of the Lithuanian school in
Šilute. Premises are for rent in the Herder gymnasium, building no. in
M. Jankaus street, later in Redveikis house in Revival Avenue, and in
1938 settled in the new building built for the gymnasium, dab. Šilutė
Vydūnas Gymnasium. in 1939 March 22 After Germany claimed the territory
of Klaipėda, the gymnasium moved to Žemaičiai Naumiestis.
At the
end of the war, in 1944 The Lithuanian state Šilutė First Gymnasium,
later named Šilutė 1st Secondary School, began work in the building of
the Herder Gymnasium.
During the Soviet years, there were four
high schools in the city (three Lithuanian and one Russian).
Now
the following educational institutions and a library are operating in
Šilute:
2 high schools:
Šilute first gymnasium
Šilutė Vydūnas
Gymnasium
2 main schools:
Šilutė Martynas Jankaus Primary
School
Silutė Pamaria Primary School
2 primary schools:
Šilute Žibai Primary School
Šilute Newcomers Primary School
Other educational institutions:
Šilutė Youth and Adult Education
Center
Šilute Tourism and Service Business School
Šilutė
Agricultural School (Pagrynyi district)
Fridrich Bajoraitis Public
Library
Played in the National Basketball League in 1990. the city basketball
team "Šilutė" was founded. Several sports clubs, a sports school, a judo
club, an aero club, and other sports organizations operate in the city.
There are many athletes from Šilute. Among them are basketball players
Rimas Girskis, Darius Sirtautas, Mindaugas Timinskas, Deividas Dulkys,
cyclist Raimondas Rumšas, and others.
Football
The following
football clubs are or were located in Šilute:
FK Silute
SM
Silute-2
SK Vorwärts Šilute