Raudonė ( Samogitian: ''Rauduonė''; pl, Raudań) is a town on the Nemunas River in Tauragė County,

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 ...

. The town is primarily known for its castle (

Raudonė Castle Raudonė Castle is a residential castle (estate, manor) of the 19th century in Raudonė, Lithuania. Today it is used as a public school. History Bayersburg II Castle, an old Teutonic castle, stood here until the 16th century. The original cast ...

) and a large park complex.

History

Raudonė has been traditionally identified as the location of

Bayerburg Bayernburg (German for "Bavarian Castle"; lt, Bajenburgas) is the name of three separate wooden castles of the Teutonic Order in different locations along the Neman River in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Lithuanian Crusade. Their exact l ...

, a castle of the Teutonic Order during the Lithuanian Crusade. A local legend claims that when Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, attacked the fortress in 1337, he was mortally wounded under the oak tree now known as the Gediminas Oak. However, there is no proof, either from historical record or archaeological research, that a castle stood there before the 16th century. In the 16th century,

belonged to King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland. A new castle was built on the ruins of the old one by a German knight, Hieronymus Krispin-Kirschenstein. The castle has since been rebuilt many times. The 18th century Polish owners of the Rudonė estate, the family Olędzki (Olendzki) h. Rawicz (members of

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

, general sejm and senate) commissioned Laurynas Gucevičius with a renovation of the castle. The next owner, the Russian Prince Platon Zubov, acquired the estate in the first half of the 19th century and his family transformed the castle yet again. Their architect was Cesare Anichini (Cezaris Anikinis). Today the building is an example of 19th century neo-Gothic architecture. Its last private owners were Sophia Waxell (a Zubov) and her Portuguese husband from Madeira, José Carlos de Faria e Castro. The original castle of Raudonė is the setting of an

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 187 ...

n legend known as ''Die weiße Jungfrau der Bayerburg'' ("The White Maiden of Bayerburg")

References

* Polski słownik biograficzny / komitet redakcyjny Władysław Konopczynski ... 'et al.'' Publisher Kraków : Skład główny w ksieg. Gebethnera i Wolffa, 1935-. (set) {{DEFAULTSORT:Raudone Jurbarkas District Municipality Towns in Lithuania Towns in Tauragė County Kovensky Uyezd