Gusev (; ; ; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative center An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Gusevsky District of

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Pissa and

Krasnaya River The Krasnaya (; ; ; ) is a river in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast and Poland's Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The Krasnaya flows through Romincka Forest and flows into the Pissa (river), Pissa at Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast, Gusev. Krasnolesye, Russia ...

s, near the border with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, east of

Chernyakhovsk Chernyakhovsk (; German: Insterburg) is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, and the administrative center of Chernyakhovsky District. Located at the confluence of the Instruch and Angrapa rivers, which unite to become the Pregolya river bel ...

. It is part of the historic region of

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor (; ; ) or Prussian Lithuania (; ; ) is one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is a historical region of Prussia, where Prussian Lithuanians (or Lietuvininkai) lived, now located in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Obla ...

. Population:

History

The settlement of Gumbinnen (from :

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

) in the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

, a vassal duchy of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, was first mentioned in a 1580 deed. A

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

parish was established in Gumbinnen at the behest of the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...

thanks to Duke Albert of Prussia about 1545 and the first church was erected in 1582. It became part of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1618, remaining a fief of Poland.

18th and 19th centuries

From the 18th century, it was part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. Between 1709 and 1711 the area was devastated by the Great Northern War plague outbreak and had to be redeveloped under the rule of the "Soldier King"

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the Soldier King (), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. Born in Berlin, he was raised by the Hugu ...

, who granted Gumbinnen

town privileges 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 traditio ...

in 1724 and from 1732 resettled the area with

Salzburg Protestants The Salzburg Protestants () were Protestantism, Protestant refugees who had lived in the Catholic Archbishopric of Salzburg until the 18th century. In a series of persecutions ending in 1731, over 20,000 Protestants were expelled from their homel ...

, refugees from

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, who had been expelled by Prince-Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. From 1710, the French Reformed congregation was formed, whereas the German Reformed congregation was founded in 1739, and in 1808 the French congregation was incorporated into the German one. The first

filial church A filial church, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a church to which is annexed the cure of souls, but which remains dependent on another church. The term comes from the Latin ''filialis'', from ''filia'', “daughter”. Description The term ''fi ...

of the

was erected in 1752, and was rebuilt in 1840 in a Neoclassical style according to plans designed by

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...

. The church was restored in 1995 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. In 1810, a public library was opened. From 1815, Gumbinnen was the capital of Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen, an administrative district of the

Province of East Prussia East Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's Free State of Prussia, ...

, and became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

upon the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...

in 1871. In 1860 the Prussian State railway line from

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

to Stallupönen (now

Nesterov Nesterov (), until 1938 known by its German language, German name (; ) and in 1938-1946 as Ebenrode, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Nesterovsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, locate ...

) was built and the route passed through Gumbinnen, causing the town to grow in economic importance in the region. By the end of the 19th century, Gumbinnen had a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

, a machine shop, a furniture factory, a clothing mill, two sawmills, several

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a clay pit, quar ...

, and a

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

20th century

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the town was the site of the Battle of Gumbinnen, a major battle on the Eastern Front. The battle took place nearby in the opening days of the war in August 1914, and Gumbinnen was subsequently occupied by the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

for several months. After the war, a

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

, the Ostpreußenwerk, was built in Gumbinnen and powered much of East Prussia. At the beginning of the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, Gumbinnen was designated a military sub-region of the Königsberg military area. Near the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1944, the first of Gumbinnen's 24,000 residents began to flee from the advancing

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, and a Soviet air attack on 16 October 1944, caused heavy damage to the inner town area. On 22 October 1944, the town was taken by Soviet forces, who engaged in numerous vengeful atrocities against the civilian population before the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

retook the town two days later. Although the German forces retook Gumbinnen and managed in late October to stabilize the battle line east of the town, it was quickly re-conquered by the Red Army during the great Soviet East Prussia offensive on 21 January 1945. During the

Evacuation of East Prussia German civilian population and military personnel were evacuated from East Prussia between 20 January and March 1945. The evacuation was initially organized and carried out by Nazi Germany, state authorities but quickly turned into a chaotic fli ...

, the surviving German residents fled or were expelled. Following the end of the war, under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the northern part of the former province of East Prussia became a part of the Soviet Union, including Gumbinnen. The town was renamed Gusev, in honour of a Red Army

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, Sergei Ivanovich Gusev, who was killed in action near Gumbinnen in January 1945, and was posthumously given the award of

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

on 19 April 1945.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Gusev serves as the

of Gusevsky District.Law #463 As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Gusevsky District as the

town of district significance Town of district significance is an administrative division of a district in a federal subject of Russia. It is equal in status to a selsoviet or an urban-type settlement of district significance, but is organized around a town (as opposed to a ...

of Gusev.Resolution #640 Within the framework of municipal divisions, since 10 June 2013, the territories of the town of district significance of Gusev and of four rural okrugs of Gusevsky District are incorporated as Gusevsky Urban Okrug.Law #230 Before that, the town of district significance was incorporated within Gusevsky Municipal District as Gusevskoye Urban Settlement.

Economy

Transportation

Gusev lies on the double-track, broad-gauge rail line connecting the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave through Lithuania and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

with the main contiguous territory of Russia.

The Yantar Special Economic Zone

In the 1990s the Yantar Special Economic Zone was established in Kaliningrad Oblast. Some of projects in the zone are located in Gusev, such as NPO CTS.

Notable people

* Kristijonas Donelaitis (1714–1780) a Prussian Lithuanian Lutheran pastor and poet * Christian Daniel Rauch (1777–1857), German sculptor * Otto von Corvin (1812–1886), German writer * Gustav Albert Peter (1853–1937) a German botanist * Richard Friese (1854–1918) German animal and landscape painter * Konrad Grallert von Cebrów (1865–1942), divisional commander in the Austro-Hungarian Army *

Gotthard Heinrici Gotthard Fedor August Heinrici (; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1971) was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered to have been the premier defensive expert of the ''Wehrmacht''. His final command was Army Group Vistula, fo ...

(1886–1971), German general *

Bruno Bieler __NOTOC__ Bruno Bieler (18 June 1888 – 22 March 1966) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany who commanded the XLII Corps during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Awards and decorations * Iron Cr ...

(1888–1966), German general * Max Liedtke (1894-1955), German army officer, one of the Righteous Among the Nations * Werner Dankwort (1895–1986), German diplomat * Winfried Mahraun (1907–1973) German diver who competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

* Wilhelm Schöning (1908–1987) Oberstleutnant, commander of the 66th Panzergrenadier Regiment * Karin Krebs (born 1943), German athlete * Oleg Gazmanov (born 1951), Russian pop-singer, composer and poet * Nikolay Tsukanov (born 1965) a Russian politician, psychologist, businessman, electrical welder and former governor of Kaliningrad Oblast * Vladimir Vdovichenkov (born 1971), Russian actor

Twin towns and sister cities

Former twin towns: Gusev had been twinned with: * Kazlų Rūda, Lithuania * Gołdap, Poland *

Pabianice Pabianice is a city in central Poland with 63,023 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County. It lies about southwest of Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area of that city. It is the thi ...

In March 2022, the Polish cities of Pabianice and Gołdap ended their partnership with Gusev as a response to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

Official website of Gusev

Gusev Business Directory

Unofficial website of Gusev

Winter trip to Gusev town
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Kaliningrad Oblast Poland–Russia border crossings Gusevsky District