Svetly (; ; ) 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 ...
in
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 on the
Sambia Peninsula
Sambia () or Samland () or Kaliningrad Peninsula (official name, , ''Kaliningradsky poluostrov'') is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The peninsula is bounded by the Curonian Lagoon to ...
on the coast of
Vistula Lagoon
The Vistula Lagoon is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 km) long, 6 to 15 miles (10 to 19 km) wide, and up to 17 feet (5 m) deep, separated from the Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit.
Geography
The lag ...
, west 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 ...
. Population: 21,745 (
2002 Census);
Geography
The town is located on the bank of the
Kaliningrad sea shipping channel connecting
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 ...
with the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
.
History
The first mention of the predecessor settlement of ''Zimmerbude'' dates back to a 15th-century chronicle of 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 ...
. However, even earlier, in a
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
from Fischhausen of 1305, there is a mention of the peninsula of Payziev ("Poyzart" - the area in the forest Poyz), from which the Teutonic Knights invaded the
Old Prussians
Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians were a Balts, Baltic people that inhabited the Prussia (region), region of Prussia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea between the Vistula Lagoon to the west and the Curonian Lagoon ...
' territory in the first half of the 13th century. The 15th-century castle, which originally belonged to the
bishops of Sambia, has not survived. The modern settlement was founded in 1640. After the confiscation of church property the estate passed to Oswald von Taubenhaym, who owned it until 1661.
In 1669, the manor was given to
Eberhard von Danckelmann Eberhard is an old Germanic name meaning the strength or courage of a wild boar.
People
First name
* Eberhard of Friuli (815–866), Duke and key figure in the Carolingian Empire
* Eberhard of Béthune (died 1212), Flemish grammarian
* Eberhard I, ...
, a former tutor of King Frederick I, as a reward. From the 18th century, the village formed 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 ...
. Around 1720, the village comprised 16 estates, 12
peasants
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...
and about the same number of fishermen whose main occupation was
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
, mainly for their own needs.
After the castle ceased to exist for a long time villagers eked out a miserable existence of subsistence by fishing. Apart from a few acidified meadows they had no land, and therefore almost never held
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
. Their home were extremely cramped and dirty, smoke coming out of the centers through kamyshoyve roof sagged and a thick layer of soot on the walls through the kitchen. Long winter evenings in the huts burning torch, making the faces of the inhabitants were constantly black. Clothes spun, wove, and sewed himself. This adds another life
flood
A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
, which were repeated from year to year.
Religion played an important role in village life: conducting religious rites, services, etc. For a long time there was no church in the village, so it belonged to the parish church of Medena (Logvino). But because of bad roads, the villagers could visit the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in Medena only a few times during their lives. Baptisms of children and weddings took place there, as well as major feasts when the weather was fine. The rest of the strongly expressed religious feelings of people meet as a church sermons, which were held in the school building. And from April 1, 1901 and Tsimmerbude with neighboring villages and Payziev Nepleken 1,500 residents formed their own church community and bought a small church, which two years earlier Medena built in Tsimmerbude as its
branch
A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins.
History and etymology
In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...
.
From 1871, the village also formed part of
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 ...
, within which it was administratively located in the province of
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, 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 ...
. In the 1920s, a new school was built and before
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 ...
Zimmerbude was a rather busy, though small
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
. There was a shop, a
restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...
, a
bakery
A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...
, and the "Valdshloskhen" inn, which name translates to "Forest castle house". The number of pre-war inhabitants was 742 people.
During World War II, no military operations took place directly on the territory of the present-day town of Svetly. The war ended for the village in April 1945, leaving no significant destruction, and it passed 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 ...
. In 1947 it was renamed Svetly. On June 17, 1947 by the Decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was the collective head of state of the Russian SFSR and the permanent body of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR that was accountable to the Supreme Sovi ...
a rural council based in Svetly was founded as part of the Primorsky district. It was transformed into a workers settlement by the decision of the Kaliningrad Oblast Executive Committee No 758 of August 1, 1949. On October 6, 1955 by decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet the workers settlement was transformed into a town of regional subordination, which became a centre of the Svetlovsky Urban Okrug in 2008.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the
framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with ten
rural localities, incorporated as the
town of oblast significance of Svetly—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
.
[Resolution #639] As a
municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Svetly is incorporated as Svetlovsky Urban Okrug.
[Law #423]
Climate
The climate is influenced by the prevailing air mass with
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
to the mainland and is characterized as a transition to the sea with mild winters with little snow, relatively cold spring, moderately warm summers and warm wet autumn. Average annual air temperature - . The annual temperature range can reach large sizes - from + in July - August to in January - February.
The average temperature in January - . There are 86 days per year with frost. Severe frosts are rare. The warmest period - the month of July, when the average temperature is . In general, unstable weather patterns and is associated mainly with a predominance of marine air masses with high repeatability accompanying
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...
s (
storm
A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...
s).
Moist air masses coming from the Atlantic Ocean, cause high relative
humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...
, which is winter and fall 85-87 %, decreasing by early summer to 72-73 %. High humidity and a large
cloudy significantly affect the features (reduction) of the Svetly regime.
During the year, is celebrated around 150 overcast and only 30 clear days. In an average year recorded 74 days with
fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...
s, mainly fogs in winter. They are accompanied by
drizzle
Drizzle is a light precipitation which consists of liquid water drops that are smaller than those of rain – generally smaller than in diameter. Drizzle is normally produced by low stratiform clouds and stratocumulus clouds. Precipitation r ...
, rain and
snow
Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
. And annual rainfall of up to of rainfall, most of them in the warmer months. The maximum is in the month of August - up to , at least - in February - March. In the winter months falls only 8-10% of annual precipitation. Snow depth is small - .
The study area generally refers to the area of active wind activity. The wind regime is characterized by a predominance of winds south, western areas with a repeatability of 35%, as well as the southern and south -eastern areas with a repeatability of 23%. The average annual wind speed is . Has the highest rate of wind. In winter, its average speed is . The number of days with strong winds (storms) at speeds exceeding up to 10–15 days.
Economy

*"Lukoil - Kaliningradmorneft": oil terminal (storage, transfer of liquid petroleum products), steel plant (production of marine steel structures);
*JSC "Sodrujestvo -Soja" - deep processing of oil-bearing crops;
*JSC "Jantarenergo" (GRES - 2) - heat production;
LLC «Vivo-Porte»- production of interior doors;
*OOO "Optim - Kran" - production gantry and bridge cranes;
OOO "NPO Speckran"- production gantry and bridge cranes;
*OOO "Regio - Express" - passenger transport;
*Rybkolhoz "Za Rodinu" - fishing and fish processing;
*JSC "Svetly predprijatie "Era" - produces electrical work, repair of electrical equipment, electrical parameter measurements, ship repair river and maritime registers;
*OGUP "Zapremmash" - ship repair and manufacturing, fish processing equipment;
*JSC "Mezhkolhoznaja proizvodstvennaja baza" - ship repair, port services, maintenance and supply of the fishing fleet;
*JSC "Sudoremontnik Baltica" - ship repair, port services;
*JSC "BaltNafta" - handling of oil products;
*OOO "Kreon" - shredding fish canned;
Transportation
The station is located in svetly
Baltic Forest Kaliningrad railway
Kaliningrad Railway () is the smallest subsidiary of the Russian Railways by route length (618 km) and differs from other Russian railways in having a string of standard gauge lines.
Main information
The railway is headquartered in Kaliningrad. ...
. The station belongs to a dead-end branch branched from the railway line
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 ...
-
Baltiysk
Baltiysk ( ); ; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; ; ; is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separ ...
. Svetly is not served by passenger trains.
Distance to Kaliningrad - ,
Khrabrovo Airport
Khrabrovo Airport () , also appearing in historical documents as Powunden Airfield,AIRFIELD ACTIVITY IN THE USSR AND SATELLITES (BASED ON(Sanitized)PHOTOGRAPHY), October 1957, CREST: CIA-RDP78T04753A000300040010-6, Central Intelligence Agency, ...
- .
Sights
*Church of the Annunciation
*Temple of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara.
*Monument to Lenin.
*Monument to soldiers-internationalists.
*Monument to the liquidators of the Chernobyl accident.
*Church of the Apostles Paul and Gleb.
File:Svetly 2315.JPG, House of Culture and Monument to Lenin
File:Svetly 2318.JPG, Monument to the liquidators of the Chernobyl accident
File:Svetly.JPG, Monument to soldiers-internationalists
File:Svetly 2332.JPG, Temple of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara
File:Svetly 2319.JPG, Park
File:Svetly 2321.JPG, Kaliningrad Sea Canal and the port in Svetly
Notable people
*
Eberhard von Danckelmann Eberhard is an old Germanic name meaning the strength or courage of a wild boar.
People
First name
* Eberhard of Friuli (815–866), Duke and key figure in the Carolingian Empire
* Eberhard of Béthune (died 1212), Flemish grammarian
* Eberhard I, ...
- Brandenburg statesman.
*
Maksim Matveyev - Russian film and theater actor.
*
Evans, Edgar Yanisovich - master of sports of international class rowing sports.
*
Dmitri Rozinkevich - Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
*
Bokhonov, Victor F. - Soviet and Russian actor of theater, film and dubbing.
Twin towns and sister cities
Svetly is
twinned with:
*
Kętrzyn
Kętrzyn (, until 1946 ''Rastembork''; ) is a town in northeastern Poland with 27,478 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Kętrzyn County in the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship.
The town is known for the surrounding Masurian Lakeland and num ...
,
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 ...
*
Nowy Dwór Gdański
Nowy Dwor Gdanski (; ; formerly ) is a town in Poland on the Tuja river in the Żuławy Wiślane
Żuławy Wiślane (plural from "żuława", meaning fen), in English known as the Vistula Fens, is the alluvial delta area of the river Vistula, in ...
, Poland
*
Lida
Lida is a city in Grodno Region, western Belarus, located west of Minsk. It serves as the administrative center of Lida District. As of 2025, it has a population of 103,262.
Etymology
The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuanian name ''Ly ...
,
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 ...
*
Karlshamn
Karlshamn () is a locality and the seat of Karlshamn Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden. It had 13,576 inhabitants in 2015, out of 31,846 in the municipality.
Karlshamn received a Royal Charter and city privileges in 1664, when King Charles ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
Former twin towns
*
Świnoujście
Świnoujście (; ; ; meaning " Świna ivermouth"; ) is a city in Western Pomerania and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, in the extreme north-west of Poland, mainly on the islands of Usedom and Wolin, and Karsibór island, once ...
, Poland (terminated by Świnoujście city authorities as a response to the
2022 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 ...
)
*
Malbork
Malbork (German: ''Marienburg'') is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has a population of 36,709 people as of 2024. The town is located on the Nogat river, in the historical region of Pomerelia.
Fo ...
, Poland (terminated by Malbork due to the
2022 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
*
*
{{Use mdy dates, date=June 2011
Cities and towns in Kaliningrad Oblast