Slavskoye (; ; ; ) is a settlement in the

Bagrationovsky District Bagrationovsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Kaliningrad Oblast, fifteen in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.Law #463 As a subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions, municipal division, it is i ...

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 south of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

History

In 1240, 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 ...

founded a castle (''Creutzburg'' or ''Kreuzburg'', meaning 'cross castle') in the region of Natangia at the location of an Old Prussian settlement. In 1315 Kreuzburg received its town privileges. Throughout the Hunger War in 1414, 71 houses were destroyed and five citizens were killed by the Polish troops. In 1440 the town joined the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation, at the request of which Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region to 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 ...

in 1454. During the subsequent Thirteen Years' War the town suffered heavy damages, and after the war, per the

peace treaty A peace treaty is an treaty, agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually country, countries or governments, which formally ends a declaration of war, state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an ag ...

signed in

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

in 1466, it became a part of Poland as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

held by the Teutonic Knights.Górski, pp. 96-97, 214-215 The town suffered damages in the Polish-Teutonic War of 1519–1521, which broke out after the

Grand Master of the Teutonic Order The grand master of the Teutonic Order (; ) is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the Grand master (order), grand master of other Military order (religious society), military orders and the superior general in non-milit ...

refused to pledge allegiance to Poland. The war resulted in the secularization of the Teutonic Knights in 1525, and the establishment of 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 ...

, which remained a fief of Poland. In 1701, the town became 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 ...

. It was badly affected by the Napoleonic Battle of Eylau in February 1807 and almost totally destroyed by a fire catastrophe on May 10, 1818, when 152 buildings burned down. Only the church, the vicarage, and the schoolhouse were not affected. Due to that disaster the regional administration was transferred to Preußisch Eylau. In 1871, the town became part of Germany. Kreuzburg was connected to the railway system in 1908. Throughout the Soviet East Prussian Offensive in February 1945 Kreuzburg was again largely destroyed and transferred from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

according to the 1945 Potsdam Conference. Its German population was expelled, and the name was changed from Kreuzburg to Slavskoye.

Population

*1740: 986 *1816: 1,700 *1823: 1,352 *1843: 1,809 *1875: 2,004 *1885: 1,976, including 17 Catholics, 11 Jews *1910: 1,726 *1939: 2,005

Notable residents

* Hermann von Boyen (1771–1848), Prussian fieldmarshal * Michael Kongehl (1646–1710), baroque poet * Michel Tolkien (1620-?), earliest known paternal ancestor of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

, the English author

References

Bibliography

*Horst Schulz, Der Kreis Pr. Eylau, Verden/Aller 1983 {{Authority control Rural localities in Kaliningrad Oblast Bagrationovsky District