Mažeikiai (; Samogitian: ''Mažeikē''; ; ) is a city in northwestern

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 ...

, on the

Venta River The Venta (Latvian pronunciation , Lithuanian , , , Livonian ''Vǟnta joug'') is a river in north-western Lithuania and western Latvia. Its source is near Kuršėnai in the Lithuanian Šiauliai County. It flows into the Baltic Sea at Vents ...

. It has a population of around 32,000, making it the eighth largest city in Lithuania and eighteenth largest city in the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. The city is the administrative center of

Mažeikiai District Municipality Mažeikiai District Municipality (, ) is located in the north-west of Lithuania, on the River Venta in Telšiai County. The administrative center of Mažeikiai District is the city of Mažeikiai. Its territory of is composed of of towns and ...

Telšiai County Telšiai County () is one of ten counties of Lithuania, counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its Capital (political), capital is Telšiai. There are Lithuanians (98.7%), Latvians (0.1%), Russians (0.9%), and others (0.3%) ...

. It is the largest city that does not have its own

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

History

Mažeikiai was first mentioned in written sources in 1335. A chronicler of the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

wrote about a campaign of the Order, during which the land of

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Mažeika was devastated. It was located in the

Duchy of Samogitia The Duchy of Samogitia (, , ) was an administrative unit of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1422 (and from 1569, a member country of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). Between 1422 and 1441 it was known as the Eldership of Samogitia. Si ...

in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

within the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. The town started growing rapidly in 1869 when the

Libau–Romny Railway Libau–Romny Railway was a railway company that built a railway line in the Russian Empire in 1871–74 to connect Romny in Ukraine with the port in Libau (Liepāja) in present-day Latvia. To do so it passed through Minsk. The objective of th ...

connecting

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

was constructed. In 1893, the town had 13 shops and 5 alehouses. In 1894 an

Eastern Orthodox church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

was built, and a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

had been founded several years earlier. In 1902 a

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

was established, followed by an

Evangelical-Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

church in 1906. From 1899 to 1918 the town was called Muravyov. In 1919, Mažeikiai became the county centre and received the rights of self-government. During the first years of independence, Mažeikiai was subject to a

territorial dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession (law), possession or control of territories (land, maritime territory, water or airspace) between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial ...

between Lithuania and Latvia because of its importance as a railway hub between the Latvian cities of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

and Liepāja. In 1921 Latvian claims for the town were rejected by an international commission. A hospital and a library were opened in 1922 and a museum in 1928. In 1939, the population of the town was recorded as 5,618. In 1940 26 industrial companies, 4 banks and a credit union operated in Mažeikiai. During

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 ...

, Mažeikiai was under occupation of

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

from 26 June 1941 until 31 October 1944. It was administered as a part of the ''

Generalbezirk Litauen ''Generalbezirk Litauen'' (, ) was an administrative subdivision of the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' of Nazi Germany that covered Lithuania from 1941 to 1944. It served as the Nazi civilian administration for the German occupation of Lithuania ...

'' of ''

Reichskommissariat Ostland The (RKO; ) was an Administrative division, administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German Civil authority, civilian occupation regime in Lithuania, La ...

''. In August 1941, a mass killing occurred in which 4,000 Jews from the Mažeikiai district were killed. In 1950, Mažeikiai became the district centre.

Economy

In 1980 an

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

plant

Mažeikių Nafta Orlen Lietuva (former Mažeikių Nafta) is a subsidiary of the Poland, Polish PKN Orlen and owns the Mažeikiai oil refinery as well as the oil-processing plant in Lithuania, the only oil refinery in the Baltic States. Refinery The Mažeikiai r ...

was opened. Today it is one of the largest industrial plants in Lithuania. In 1999, it was

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

and sold to an American company

Williams International Williams International is an American manufacturer of small gas turbine engines based in Pontiac, Michigan, United States. It produces jet engines for cruise missiles and small jet aircraft. History Dr. Sam B. Williams worked at Chrysler on ...

. In 2001, facing financial problems, Williams sold the refinery to

Yukos OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" (, ) was an oil and gas company based in Moscow, Russia. Yukos was acquired from the Russian government by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Bank Menatep during the controversial "loans for shares" auctions of ...

. However, Yukos ran afoul with the Russian government and, facing bankruptcy, sold the refinery to

PKN Orlen Orlen S.A. (formerly ), commonly known as Orlen, is a Polish multinational oil refiner, petrol retailer and natural gas trader headquartered in Płock, Poland. The company's subsidiaries include the main oil and gas companies of the Czech Rep ...

in 2006.
PKN Orlen Acquired Mazeikiu Nafta
'', Mažeikių Nafta company website (news, 15 December 2006) In 2004,

financed the construction of the New Church of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Culture

In 1928 the Mažeikiai Museum was founded by teacher Stasys Ličkūnas. According to the official website of the Mažeikiai district municipality, the museum preserves and exhibits archaeological, historical, ethnographic, and folk art collections of the

Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...

region. mazeikiai.lt. Mažeikiai has one of the largest cultural centres in Lithuania. It was established in 1946 as a ''culture house''. In 2005 it moved to a new building which has three halls: the great hall contains 750 seats, the small hall has 250 seats, while the entertainment hall has up to 500 seats. The centre has 20 amateur art collectives. In 1922 a public library was founded in the city. In 1975 it moved to a new three-story building. In 1976 it became a central library in the district with 21 rural and 2 urban branches.

Twin towns – sister cities

Mažeikiai is twinned with: *

Havířov Havířov () is a city in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 69,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the region. Havířov was founded in 1955 and is the youngest Czech city. It is ...

, Czech Republic *

Lebedyn Lebedyn (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. Lebedyn is located in Sumy Raion. Before July 2020, Lebedyn served as the administrative center of Lebedyn Raion; it was administratively incorporated as a City of ...

, Ukraine *

Liezen Liezen (; Central Bavarian: ''Liezn''; local dialect pronunciation ɪə- is a municipality in the Austrian federal state of Styria, district capital of the district of the same name and economic center on the River Enns. Population Politics ...

, Austria *

Paide Paide is a town in Estonia and the capital of Järva County, one of the 15 counties of Estonia. Etymology Paide's German name (originally or in Low German) means 'white stone'. This name was derived from the limestone used for the constru ...

, Estonia *

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

, Poland *

Saldus Saldus (; , ) is a Latvian town located in Courland () region of Latvia, and the largest town in Saldus Municipality. The name Saldus has been noted in historical sources as far back as the mid-13th century, but the founding year for the establis ...

, Latvia *

Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located ...

, Germany

Notable residents

* Rokas Jokubaitis (born 2000), Lithuanian basketball player for

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

Gallery

DSCN3625 resize.JPG, Merkelis Račkauskas gymnasium Mažeikiai, Ventos progimnazija.JPG, Venta gymnasium Mazeikiu muziejus, 2006-01-17.JPG, Museum of Mažeikiai Orthodox church in Mažeikiai, May 2019.jpg, Orthodox church Laisvės gatvė naktį.jpg, Laisvės (Freedom) Street at night Mazeikiai.Naftininku gatve resize.JPG, Naftininkų Street Mažeikiai, Eifelis.JPG, Shopping mall "Eifelis"

References

External links

Official website

Information about Mazeikiai city

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazeikiai Cities in Telšiai County Cities in Lithuania Holocaust locations in Lithuania Mažeikiai District Municipality Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Telshevsky Uyezd Territorial disputes of Lithuania