Slavskoye, Russia

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For other uses, see Slavsky.
A 1684 depiction of the town, known then as Kreuzburg

Coordinates: 54°30′N 20°26′E / 54.500°N 20.433°E / 54.500; 20.433

Slavskoye (Russian: Сла́вское; German: Kreuzburg in Ostpreußen; Lithuanian: Kryžbarkas) is a settlement in the Bagrationovsky District, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located 20 kilometers (12 mi) south of Kaliningrad.

History[]

In 1240, the Teutonic Knights founded a castle (Creutzburg or Kreuzburg, meaning `cross castle') in the region of Natangia at the location of an Old Prussians 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. Kreuzburg also suffered heavy damages in the Thirteen Years' War of 1454–1466 and the Polish-Teutonic War of 1519–1521.

After the secularization of the Teutonic Knights in 1525, Kreuzburg became part of the Duchy of Prussia and the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. 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.

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 to the Soviet Union 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[]

References[]

  • Horst Schulz, Der Kreis Pr. Eylau, Verden/Aller 1983
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