Domnovo (russian: До́мново; german: Domnau; pl, Domnowo; lt, Dumnava) is a

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

(a settlement) in

Pravdinsky District Pravdinsky District (russian: Пра́вдинский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the fifteen in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the south of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrativ ...

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 admin ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, located near the

Poland–Russia border The modern Poland–Russia border is a nearly straight-line division between the Republic of Poland (a European Union member) and the Russian Federation (a CIS member) exclave Kaliningrad Oblast, a region not connected to the Russian mainland ...

, about southeast of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

, the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

, and west of

Pravdinsk Pravdinsk (, prior to 1946 known by its German name, ', pl, Frydląd, lt, Romuva), is a town and the administrative center of Pravdinsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is on the Lava River and is east of Bagrationovsk and sou ...

, the administrative center of the district. Population: 820 ( 2010 Census).Kaliningradstat
2010 Census Results

History

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

settlers arrived in the area probably during the 13th century and 1300 the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

erected a castle ''(

Ordensburg ''Ordensburg'' (plural ''Ordensburgen'') is a German term meaning "castles/fortresses of (military) orders", and is used specifically for such fortified structures built by crusading German military orders during the Middle Ages. Medieval Or ...

)'' to protect a crossroad here. The town, a so-called lischke, grew up around the castle. A church and a school existed at least from 1319, and from 1437 the town had

town 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 ...

. In 1440 the town joined the anti-Teutonic

Prussian Confederation The Prussian Confederation (german: Preußischer Bund, pl, Związek Pruski) was an organization formed on 21 February 1440 at Kwidzyn (then officially ''Marienwerder'') by a group of 53 nobles and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia (region), Prussi ...

, at the request of which Polish King

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

signed the act of incorporation of the region to the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

in 1454. During the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, the castle was largely destroyed probably already in 1458, but still partially inhabited in 1474 and in the 19th century its cellar vaults were discovered adjacent to the town church. After the war, per the

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...

signed in

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

in 1466, the town became a part of Poland as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

held by the Teutonic Knights.Górski, pp. 96-97, 214-215 In 1469 the town became the

of the knight Konrad von Egloffstein, who built a palace on an island in a lake south of the town. The palace was rebuilt during the 16th century and again in 1778. Caspar Hennenberger served as a priest in the town from 1554 to 1560. The town suffered destruction from fires on several occasions: in 1520, 1571, 1659, 1681 and 1776. From the 18th century, the town was part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

, and in 1871 it became part of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, within which it was administratively located in ''Landkreis Bartenstein'' (

Bartoszyce Bartoszyce (pronounced , german: Bartenstein, ; lt, Barštynas) is a town on the Łyna River in northern Poland, with 22,597 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Bartoszyce County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. G ...

county) in the Province of East Prussia. In 1875, the town had a population of 2,167. Nine annual fairs were held in the town in the late 19th century. A railway connection was built to the town in 1902. Around 60 percent of the town was destroyed in fighting during

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 ...

(later rebuilt). After

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 opposing ...

the region was placed under Soviet administration according to the post-war Potsdam Agreement.

Notable residents

* (1579-1641) *

Georg Weissel Georg Weissel (1590 – 1 August 1635) was a German Lutheranism, Lutheran minister and hymn writer. Born in Domnovo, Domnau in Ducal Prussia, a vassal of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Weissel studied theology and music at the University o ...

(1590-1635), poet * Arnold Lyongrün (1871-1935), artist *

Walter Krupinski Walter Krupinski (11 November 1920 – 7 October 2000) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace in World War II and a senior West German Air Force officer during the Cold War. He was one of the highest-scoring pilots in the war, credited with 197 ...

(1920-2000),

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

general

References

Rural localities in Kaliningrad Oblast Castles of the Teutonic Knights {{KaliningradOblast-geo-stub