The Grauden was a jungle between
Pregola and
Neman
The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or MemelTo bankside nations of the present: Lithuanian: be, Нёман, , ; russian: Неман, ''Neman''; past: ger, Memel (where touching Prussia only, otherwise Nieman); lv, Nemuna; et, Neemen; pl, Niemen; ...
. At its edge is the town
Graudenz.
The forest consisted of oaks, alders, birches and dense, thorny underbrush. It was traversed by the courses of the Ossat, Schillup, Budup and Arge.
Johannes Voigt writes in ''Geschichte Preussens, von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Untergang der Herrschaft des Deutschen Ordens'' (''History of Prussia: from the earliest times to the downfall of the Teutonic Order''), volume 4, page 38, that at the beginning of the year 1289 Meinhard von Querfurt, Country Master of Prussia of 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 ...
, gathered all the military force of the country. "On 11 January he moved with the army under great difficulties on the unblazed trails of the bleak forest wilderness which at that time was called the Grauden to
Schalauen."
In 1377 Marshal Gottfried von Linden crossed the Grauden with
Duke Albrecht III of Austria and his army of 30,000 men on their way back from Ragnit to
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...
.
Peter Suchenwirt Peter Suchenwirt (c. 1320 – 1395) was an Austrian poet and herald. (Suchenwirt was the Medieval name for heralds of the Austrian dukes.)
He called himself "Knappe von den Wappen" which is a lower position as to the herald, with the duty to blazo ...
, who accompanied Duke Albrecht III, described it as an almost impenetrable wilderness.
In his travel report of 1384 the chronicler Wiegand von Marburg writes about the road no. 43 of 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 ...
which was the first regular road through the Grauden from
Insterburg
Chernyakhovsk (russian: Черняхо́вск) – known prior to 1946 by its German name of (Old Prussian: Instrāpils, lt, Įsrutis; pl, Wystruć) – is a town in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, where it is the administrative center of C ...
to Kraupischken and on to
Ragnit
Neman (russian: Не́ман; german: Ragnit; lt, Ragainė; pl, Ragneta), is a town and the administrative center of Nemansky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the historic region of Lithuania Minor, on the steep southern bank ...
.
References
Further links
* http://www.tilsit-ragnit.de/download/koenigskirch_kspchronik1a.pdf {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012063211/http://www.tilsit-ragnit.de/download/koenigskirch_kspchronik1a.pdf , date=2013-10-12
* https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:fu3YQVrgWT0J:www.tilsit-ragnit.de/download/koenigskirch_kspchronik1a.pdf+Graudenwald&hl=en&gl=de&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgnKMa1hJPSn2RNR4bOl0wHDVZspFxVeiKu8ijV-DmG8_R7WEjeXqrJTTgRyHxMJQTeL6QOTVAFtVqNy0Ph15QJ3C_7dElNZ98hfrWVwMIgaCnUTuaPzjPZ6AsDGZBxdxBqMR1F&sig=AHIEtbQF4TmXfldAHD7r7Oi6FmibfO4RUA
Forests
East Prussia