Krakės (formerly ''Krakiai''
) is a small town in
Kėdainiai district, central
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 ...
. It is located on the
Smilgaitis River. In the town, there are the Catholic church of St. Matthew the Evangelist (built in 1907), Mikalojus Katkus gymnasium, library, medicine station, St. Catherine women convent, Krakės Agriculture Cooperative with former culture center, swimming pool and shop (built in 1983, architect K. Žalnierius). There is the Vytautas Ulevičius museum of wooden sculptures.
Krakės is on the eastern boundary of the
Nevėžis Plain, on the Krakės Ridge (altitude 95–100 meters). Roads go to
Betygala,
Grinkiškis,
Kėdainiai,
Bokštai,
Gudžiūnai and
Josvainiai. The
Krakės-Dotnuva Forest is 2–3 km away from the town.
Etymology
The name of the town derives from the personal name ''Krãkė'' (whose meaning is believed to be either "black
woodpecker, red-headed woodpecker" or "
Crucian carp" in the local dialect). During the
interwar period of the 20th century, the town was known as ''Krakiai'',
and the local Jewish population referred to it in
Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
as ''קרוקי''.
History
The first mention of Krakės is from the 14th century. The Krakės Manor was a property of Samogitian bishops between 1421 and 1842. The first church of Krakės was built in the 15th century. Krakės is mentioned as a town in 1579. A women's monastery of St. Catherine Order was established in Krakės in 1615 and ran till 1945 (the wooden monastery burnt at that time), then reestablished in 1997. A market privilege was granted to Krakės in 1790. During 1863, Krakės was an important centre of the
January uprising, on 28 April there was a battle against the Russian imperial army. In 1863 and 1914 Krakės was devastated by fires.
On 2 September 1941, 1,125 Jews from Krakės,
Baisogala,
Dotnuva,
Grinkiškis,
Gudžiūnai and
Surviliškis were murdered at
Peštinukai village, about 1.5 kilometers from Krakės. The spot for the massacre was chosen by local police chief Teodoras Kerza upon receiving orders from the 13th
Lithuanian TDA Battalion.
The members of the
Einsatzgruppen who committed this crime were Germans from
Rollkommando Hamann and Lithuanians collaborators.
During the Soviet era Krakės was a center of ''
kolkhoz
A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...
'' and ''
selsovet''. Krakės ''kolkhoz'' was one of the leading ones in all
Lithuanian SSR.
Demography
Images
1. Krakių ž. ū. bendrovė, buvęs baseinas.JPG, Former ''kolkhoz'' swimming pool
Krakių kapinės, stogastulpis.JPG, Krakės cemetery
1. Krakės. Bažnyčia.JPG, Krakės church
V. Ulevičiaus, muziejus Krakėse.JPG, V. Ulevičius museum
References
Kėdainiai District Municipality
Towns in Kaunas County
{{KaunasCounty-geo-stub