Prienai
Prienai | |
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Prienai (Lithuanian pronunciation:
History
Early history
The history of Prienai and its surroundings is closely linked to that of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In 1579, Prienai was given by Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Báthory to the Hungarian nobleman Gabriel Bekes, brother of the more famed Gáspár Bekes, for his loyal participation in the Livonian War. The Bekes family ruled Prienai for the next two decades. Afterwards, it became the property of another Hungarian nobleman, named Kaspar Horvat.[7] In 1616, the Lithuanian nobleman and politician Stefan Pac, who would later become the Deputy Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, acquired Prienai. He and his sons Stanislovas and Mikołaj Stefan Pac owned it up until 1643.[8]
For almost one and a half centuries, Prienai was ruled by the Butler family. In 1661, Count
The first wooden church in Prienai was built in 1604. Thanks to the active personal involvement of a priest named Vaitiekus Izdebskis, seventy years later, later a newer and much larger church was built to replace the old one. The present Baroque styled church was built in 1750, though it was refurbished and slightly expanded in 1875.[6]
Prussia, Napoleon and the Russian Empire
Following the third partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Prienai was invaded and occupied by Prussia. Prussia ruled there during the years 1795-1807 and made Prienai part of New East Prussia. At the end of the eighteenth century, Prienai underwent rapid economic growth. During that time a glass factory and a paper mill, one of the largest in Lithuania, were established near the town. The paper mill produced extraordinary high quality white, coloured and wrapping paper, which was often exported to cities as distant as Warsaw and Saint Petersburg.[6]
After
Following the demise of Napoleon in 1815 and the Congress of Vienna, Prienai together with its surroundings, were annexed by the Russian Empire.[6]
The town dwellers of Prienai, together with the inhabitants of neighbouring towns and villages, actively participated in the November Uprising of 1830-1831 and the January Uprising of 1863–1864, both of which sought to liberate Lithuanians from the Russian yoke.[6]
Republic of Lithuania
Following Lithuania's restoration of independence in 1918, Prienai became the center of the county and witnessed unprecedented expansion. By 1937 Prienai had a population of around 4,200, there were 4 banks, 2 pharmacies, 121 shops, 5 mills, a number of sawmills and countless workshops in the city.[6] At that time the mayor of the city was Julius Greimas, the father of the world renowned Lithuanian-French literary scientist and semiotician Algirdas Julien Greimas.[12] Yet despite the flurry of diverse economic activity, brewing was indisputably the most significant industry in Prienai.[13] The Goldberg beer brewery was established back in 1868 and during the interwar period its facilities dominated the urban landscape of the city.[13] According to local contemporaries, the brewery produced one of the finest beers in Lithuania and its products were regularly exported to Latvia, Poland and the Soviet Union.[13] However, the brewery together with most of its buildings was completely destroyed by the German Luftwaffe during a bombing raid in June 1941.
World War II and its aftermath
During World War II, when it was occupied by German troops, Prienai lost many of its inhabitants. People emigrated or were expelled, while the Nazis killed the Jews. On August 27, 1941, 1,078 Jews from Prienai and surrounding areas were murdered in Prienai. The massacre was perpetrated by Rollkommando Hamann and local collaborators.[14]
In the aftermath of
Notable people
- Bernard Revel (1885-1940), first President of Yeshiva University
- Bluma Zeigarnik (1900–1988), Russian psychologist
- Jonas Kazlauskas (1930–1970), Lithuanian scientist, philology professor of Vilnius University, historical grammatics and baltic philology researcher
- Justinas Marcinkevičius, poet
- Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, writer
- Matas Šalčius, writer, traveler
- Sonata Milušauskaitė, race walker
- Nikodemas Silvanavičius, painter
Industry
AB „Sportinė aviacija“ for a long time was the only glider factory in the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1969. The first Lithuanian glassfibre glider BK-7 "Lietuva" was built here.
Sports
Prienai is home to
International relations
Twin towns - Sister cities
Prienai is a member of the
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Distances to other cities
These distances are as the crow flies and therefore do not represent actual overland distances.
In Lithuania:
In Europe:
References
- ^ "2011 census". Statistikos Departamentas (Lithuania). Retrieved August 3, 2017.
- ^ A. Vanagas. Lietuvos miestų vardai. 1996, p.182
- ^ "Archeologinis paveldas Prienų rajone". Naujasis Gelupis. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- ^ a b "Kultūros paveldas mūsų krašte". Naujasis Gelupis. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- ^ "Prienai district municipality". Lithuanian Department of Statistics. Archived from the original on 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Prienai". Kauno Apskrities Viesoji Biblioteka. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- ^ "LDK istorija: "Svetimi" svetimšaliai – vengrai XVI a. Lietuvoje". 15min. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
- ^ "Atviru žodžiu apie pagarbą ir atsakomybę krašto istorijai. "Senųjų Prienų beieškant"". Naujasis Gelupis. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
- ^ a b "Mintys Prienų miestui įprasminti: dabarčiai ir ateičiai". Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- ^ "Dvarų pėdsakai Prienų rajono savivaldybėje". Gera Prienuose. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
- ^ Gembarzewski, Bronisław (1925). Rodowody pułków polskich i oddziałów równorzędnych od r. 1717 do r. 1831 (in Polish). Warszawa: Towarzystwo Wiedzy Wojskowej. p. 34.
- ^ "Greimai ir Prienai". Mokslo Lietuva. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- ^ a b c "Benicijono Šakovo alaus darykla – krašto istorijos garbės ženklas iš tarpukario". KVITRINA. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- ^ "Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania".
- ^ a b "Prienų miesto istorija". Prienu biblioteka. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- ^ "Douzelage.org: Home". www.douzelage.org. Archived from the original on 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ "Douzelage.org: Member Towns". www.douzelage.org. Archived from the original on 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-10-21.