Šilutė (, previously ''Šilokarčiama'', german: link=no, Heydekrug), is a city in the south of the Klaipėda County, Lithuania. The city was part of the

Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...

and ethnographic

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnographic re ...

. Šilutė was the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

capital of Šilutė County and is currently the capital of Šilutė District Municipality.

Name

Šilutė's origin dates to an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

(Krug, locally ''karčema'') catering to travelers and their horses which was located halfway between Memel (Klaipėda) and

Tilsit Sovetsk (russian: Сове́тск; german: Tilsit; Old Prussian: ''Tilzi''; lt, Tilžė; pl, Tylża) is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River which forms the border with Lithuania. Geography Sov ...

(Tilžė). The German name of ''Heydekrug'' referred to a ''Krug'' (an archaic word for inn) in the ''Heide'' (

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

). The inn was known for being in the region where most people spoke the Memelland-Samogitian dialect ''Šilokarčema''.

History

Hugo Šojaus dvaro įėjimas su veranda iš kiemo

A famous fish market was opened in Šilutė almost 500 years ago, when Georg Tallat purchased the inn together with the land and fishing rights in 1511. The town was a gathering place for peasants from nearby Samogitia and Curonian and Prussian fishermen from

Rusnė Rusnė (german: Ruß) is a border town in Šilutė district, Lithuania, located on the Rusnė Island in the Nemunas Delta, 9 km south-west from Šilutė. History Rusnė was first mentioned in historical sources in the 14th century. In 1419 ...

, , Nida, and . Next to the inn a church of Werden (Verdainė) was built in 1550. Heydekrug often sought

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

, but was opposed by Memel and Tilsit in 1721 and 1725. In 1722 Heydekrug became a district center and in 1818 the capital of Landkreis Heydekrug. The settlement was amalgamated with the villages of Werden (Verdainė), Szibben (Žibai), and Cynthionischken (Cintjoniškiai) in 1910, although it still did not receive city rights. Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the town became part of Lithuania when it acquired the

in 1923.

Šilutės Fridricho Bajoraičio viešoji biblioteka

The town was reclaimed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1939 when it reacquired the Memel Territory. In 1941 the town finally received city rights. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Stalag Luft VI

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

was located near Heydekrug; it was the northernmost

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

camp within the confines of the German Reich. There remain many old buildings in Šilutė: an old post office (1905), a fire station (1911), a court building and prison (1848), a bridge across the Sziesze (Šyša) (1914), an estate of H. Scheu (1818), an old market square, a harbor, railway station and a bridge (1875), and the

Vydūnas Wilhelm Storost, artistic name Vilius Storostas-Vydūnas (22 March 1868 – 20 February 1953), mostly known as Vydūnas, was a Prussian-Lithuanian teacher, poet, humanist, philosopher and Lithuanian writer, a leader of the Prussian Lithuani ...

gymnasium.

Economy

The town, which is a regional center, has a well-developed infrastructure. There is an amateur theatre, a museum, three churches, a few hotels, and many cafés, restaurants, and bars. There are large industrial enterprises in Šilutė as well: Šilutės Rambynas (1842), producing butter and cheese, is one of the oldest factories in the area; Šilutės Baldai (1890); and Šilutės Durpės (1882) which exports approximately 50,000 m³ of

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

. Newly founded enterprises are also prospering: Šilutės Girnos (combined fodder); Žibai; Grabupėliai (meat processing); and EKSA, a subsidiary of the alcohol producer Stumbras. To speed up capital investments, the region council has established land tax bonuses for investors.

Twin towns – sister cities

Šilutė is twinned with: *

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city and a district of Antalya Province on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, east of the city of Antalya. As of Turkey's 2010 census, the city had a population of ...

, Turkey * Ashmyany, Belarus *

Barysaw Barysaw ( be, Барысаў, ) or Borisov (russian: Борисов, ) is a city in Belarus near the Berezina River in the Minsk Region 74 km north-east from Minsk. Its population is around 145,000. History Barysaw is first mentioned in t ...

, Belarus * Cittaducale, Italy *

Emmerich am Rhein Emmerich am Rhein ( Low Rhenish and nl, Emmerik) is a city and municipality in the northwest of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city has a harbour and a quay at the Rhine. In terms of local government organization, it is ...

, Germany * Gdańsk County, Poland *

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and administr ...

, Russia *

Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg ( ; csb, Kòlbrzég; german: Kolberg, ), ; csb, Kòlbrzég , is a port city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast o ...

, Poland *

Ljungby Ljungby () is the central locality of Ljungby Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden, with 15,785 inhabitants in 2015. Ljungby was instituted in 1829 as a ''köping'', or ''market town'', and did not become a municipality of its own when the fir ...

, Sweden *

Malbork Malbork; ; * la, Mariaeburgum, ''Mariae castrum'', ''Marianopolis'', ''Civitas Beatae Virginis'' * Kashubian: ''Malbórg'' * Old Prussian: ''Algemin'' is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has a ...

, Poland * Ostróda (rural gmina), Poland * Pruszcz Gdański, Poland * Saldus, Latvia * Skadovsk, Ukraine *

Slavsk Slavsk (russian: link=no, Славск; german: Heinrichswalde; lt, Gastos; pl, Jędrzychowo) is a town and the administrative center of Slavsky District in the Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Kaliningrad. Population figures: ...

, Russia *

Tarutyne Tarutyne ( uk, Тарутине; bg, Тарутино, ; ro, Tarutino, Ancecrac; ) is an urban-type settlement in southwestern Ukraine. It is the seat of Bolhrad Raion (raion, district) of Odesa Oblast and is in the historical region of Budjak i ...

, Ukraine * Vellinge, Sweden

Notable people

Hermann Sudermann Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. Life Early career Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai and Šilutė, i ...

(1857–1928), dramatist and novelist *

(Wilhelm Storost) (1868 in Jonaten – 1953) Prussian-Lithuanian teacher, poet, humanist and philosopher *

Katharina Szelinski-Singer Katharina Szelinski-Singer, born as Katharina Singer (24 May 1918 in Neusassen, nearby Šilutė, Heydekrug, Klaipėda Region, Memelland – 20 December 2010 in Berlin) was a German sculptor. She lived in Berlin from 1945 until her death. Ka ...

(1918–2010), sculptor *

Cornell Borchers Gerlind Cornell Borchers (16 March 1925 – 12 May 2014) was a Lithuanian-German actress and singer, active in the late 1940s and 1950s. She is best remembered for her roles opposite Montgomery Clift in ''The Big Lift'' (1950) and Errol Flynn and ...

(1925–2014), actress *

Herbert Schernus Herbert Schernus (born 9 March 1927 – 15 March 1994) was a German choral conductor, the second music director of the Kölner Rundfunkchor from 1962 to 1989. Schernus was born in Wießen, Kreis Heydekrug, now Vyžiai, Lithuania. He studied cond ...

(1927 in Wießen – 1994) German choral conductor *

Hans-Georg Reimann Hans-Georg Reimann (born 24 August 1941 in Starrischken, Municipality Heydekrug) is a former East German race walker, who started for the SC Dynamo Berlin and the GDR and won two Olympic medals in 20 km racewalking. He finished ...

(born 1941 in Starrischken) former East German race walker * Doris Nefedov maiden name Treitz (1942–1969), German singer under the stage name "

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

" *

Raimondas Rumšas Raimondas Rumšas (born 14 January 1972) is a Lithuanian former professional road bicycle racer. He came third in the 2002 Tour de France but was implicated in a doping scandal. Doping On the day of Rumšas' third-place finish in the 2002 Tour ...

(born 1972), cyclist, 3rd place in 2002 Tour de France *

Mindaugas Timinskas Mindaugas Timinskas (born March 28, 1974) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and basketball coach. He represented the senior Lithuanian national basketball team. College career Born in Šilutė, Lithuanian SSR, Timinskas play ...

(born 1974), basketball player *

Deividas Dulkys Deividas Dulkys (born 12 March 1988) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player currently working as an assistant coach for the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League. He played as a swingman. College career Dulkys moved to the U.S. in 2 ...

(born 1988), basketball player * Evaldas Petrauskas (born 1992), boxer. 3rd place in

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

References

External links

Municipal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silute Cities in Klaipėda County Cities in Lithuania Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania