Švėkšna is a town in the

Šilutė District municipality Šilutė (; previously ''Šilokarčiama''; ) is a city in the south of the Klaipėda County in western Lithuania. The city was part of the Klaipėda Region and ethnographic Lithuania Minor. Šilutė was the interwar period, interwar capital of Š ...

, 21 km northeast of

Šilutė Šilutė (; previously ''Šilokarčiama''; ) is a city in the south of the Klaipėda County in western Lithuania. The city was part of the Klaipėda Region and ethnographic Lithuania Minor. Šilutė was the interwar period, interwar capital of Š ...

, Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Švėkšna Eldership. There are 29 streets in the town. In the western part of the town flows the river . There is a mental hospital in the town, as well as a health care centre, pharmacy, "Saulės" secondary school, affiliates of music and art schools of Šilutė, kindergarten, recreation center, library, museum, 2 churches, the renovated synagogue, the parish's nursing home, the planning department, a post office, police station and fire house.

History

Švėkšna has been mentioned since the 14th century. Supposedly, the settlement could have been established after the

Treaty of Melno The Treaty of Melno (; ) or Treaty of Lake Melno () was a peace treaty ending the Gollub War. It was signed on 27 September 1422, between the State_of_the_Teutonic_Order, Teutonic Knights and an alliance of the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kin ...

in 1422, when the danger of the

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

had declined. On March 8, 1503, Švėkšna was mentioned in the act of Linkuva church's foundation and subsidy. In 1509, Švėkšna belonged to

Stanislovas Kęsgaila Stanislovas Jonavičius Kęsgaila (; died 1527) was a Lithuanian nobility, Lithuanian nobleman, son of Jonas Kęsgaila from the Kęsgaila family. Stanislovas Kęsgaila was the Elder of Samogitia (1486–1522), Grand Hetman of Lithuania (1501–150 ...

, the Elder of Samogitia. In 19th century Švėkšna was a property of Plater family. At the time a bridge connecting church and manor was built. At the end of 19th century during

Lithuanian press ban The Lithuanian press ban () was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet, in force from 1865 to 1904, within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania proper at the time. Lithuanian-language publications t ...

it was one of major centre's for distributing Lithuanian literature in Latin print. In 1941, at least 20 Jews were murdered in a mass execution by an

Einsatzgruppe (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...

. The execution was carried out by order of SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Joachim Böhme, commander of Gestapo Tilsit. The murder site is in the old Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of the town on Aušros street, there is a monument at the location. On January 18, 2000, the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Švėkšna were granted by the

presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

decree.

Notable people

* Jonas Žukas (1907–2004), Lithuanian organ player and teacher

References

External links

Samogitian Art Museum about Švėkšną

Švėkšna in the official website of Šilutė District municipality

under the

Towns in Lithuania Towns in Klaipėda County Holocaust locations in Lithuania Šilutė District Municipality {{KlaipėdaCounty-geo-stub