Panemunė (; ) is a town in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. It is situated on the banks of the

Nemunas River 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; ...

opposite

Sovetsk Sovetsk (russian: Сове́тск) is the name of several urban localities in Russia. *Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, formerly Tilsit * Sovetsk, Kirov Oblast, a town in Sovetsky District of Kirov Oblast; * Sovetsk, T ...

, south from

Pagėgiai Pagėgiai (, german: Pogegen) is a city in south-western Lithuania. It is located in the medieval region of Scalovia in the historic region of Lithuania Minor. It is the capital of Pagėgiai municipality, and as such it is part of Tauragė Coun ...

, in

Tauragė County Tauragė County ( Lithuanian: ''Tauragės apskritis'') is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Tauragė Tauragė (; see other names) is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of ...

. It is a border checkpoint for traffic to and from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

(

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 ...

). The magnificent '' Queen Louise Bridge'' (which still exists, built in 1907, though now badly scarred by

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 ...

and rebuilt in 1946) links Panemunė to the city of Sovetsk (Tilsit until 1946) just south across the river. The landmark arch now lies on the Russian side.

History

The area comprising today's Panemunė used to be the northern trans-Memel (Neman) suburb of Tilsit, then a

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

and later also

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 **Ger ...

town (as of 1871). Then Tilsit sat close to the border between Germany and

. After Germany's defeat in

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 trans-Memel suburb was disentangled from Tilsit (with the rest of the Memelland/Klaipėda Region detached from the

Province of East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871 ...

) in 1920. The suburb was given the name ''Übermemel'', which means ''over the Memel river'' in German. French administered the area pursuant to the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, establishing the

League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...

of Memel/Klaipėda. In 1923 the restored

annexed the Memelland after the

Klaipėda Revolt The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory or ). The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a ...

and Übermemel was given the name ''Panemunė''. Germany re-acquired Panemunė (with all of Memelland) on 23 March 1939 – its last peaceful territorial gain before the Second World War. So Panemunė (Übermemel) was reintegrated into the city of Tilsit. Following

, the whole area was seized by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and in 1947 Übermemel, renamed as Panemunė (like all the Klaipėda Region) became part of the

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

. The town's German minority was expelled.

Border crossing

A joint project between Lithuania and Russia is currently underway to construct a new modern border crossing route for vehicles to bypass both Panemunė and the Russian city of Sovetsk. The goal is to relieve both towns of the congestion and to bring the crossing up to modern standards. The bypass involves a new bridge over the Neman river and new bypass roads around the towns. Once complete the existing border crossing over the historic Queen Louise Bridge will be for pedestrian use only.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panemune Cities in Lithuania Cities in Tauragė County

History

Border crossing

See also

References