Skirsnemunė is a town in
Jurbarkas district municipality
Jurbarkas District Municipality () is a municipalities of Lithuania, municipality in Tauragė County, Lithuania
Elderships
Jurbarkas District Municipality is divided into 12 elderships:
Population by locality
*Status: M, MST - city, town / K ...
,
Tauragė County
Tauragė County (Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Tauragės apskritis'') is one of ten counties of Lithuania, counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Tauragė. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was ...
,
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 situated on the
Neman River
Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms Lithuania–Russia border, the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its s ...
about 9 km from
Jurbarkas
Jurbarkas (; Samogitian: ''Jorbarks'', known also by several alternative names) is a city in Tauragė County, in Samogitia, Lithuania. Jurbarkas is located in the historic land of Karšuva. It is on the right-hand shore of the Nemunas at its c ...
. According to the 2011 census, it had 772 residents.
The town traces it history to
Christmemel, a fortress built by 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 ...
on a nearby
hill fort
A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...
in 1313. The fortress was abandoned in 1328. The town church was funded by the last will of Mykolas, son of
Jonas Kęsgaila Jonas Kęsgaila or Kęsgailaitis (, , died 1485) was a Lithuanian nobleman, son of Mykolas Kęsgaila of the Kęsgaila family He fathered two sons (Stanislovas Kęsgaila and Mykolas Kęsgaila) and two daughters.
Jonas Kęsgaila was Elder of Samogi ...
, in 1523. Skirsnemunė received
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...
in 1792.
Gallery
File:Skirsnemunė coats of arms in 1792.jpg, Coat of arms (1792)
File:Skirsnemunės bažnyčia.JPG, St. George's Church
File:Zvyriai.jpg, Skirsnemunė Evangelical Lutheran Church
References
* Borchert, Friedrich. ''Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen e.V.'' (26 May 2001).
Kampf im Osten – Diplomatie im Westen. Retrieved 11 April 2006.
* Urban, William. ''The Teutonic Knights: A Military History''. Greenhill Books. London, 2003, pp. 133, 162, 167, 168.
Villages in Tauragė County
{{TauragėCounty-geo-stub