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Tylża

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Tylża (Сове́тск), which was known by its German name of Tilsit (Tilžė) before 1945, is a town now in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia on the south bank of the Neman River. The population was estimated at 43,278 in 2004, and 43,224 in 2002 (2002 Census); 41,881 in 1989 (1989 Census).

History of Tylża[edit]

Tylża, which received civic rights in 1552, grew up around a castle of the Teutonic Knights, known as the Schalauner Haus, founded in 1288. It is most famous because of the Treaties of Tylża signed here in July 1807, the preliminaries of which were settled by the emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France on a raft moored in the river Neman. This treaty, which created the Kingdom of Westphalia and the Duchy of Warsaw, completed Napoleon's humiliation of the Kingdom of Prussia, when she was deprived of one half of her dominions.

Napoleon in Tylża

This short-lived peace-treaty is also remarkable for quite another reason. Three days before its signing, Prussian queen Louise (1776 - 1810) tried to persuade Napoleon in a private conversation to ease his hard conditions on Prussia. Although without any result, Louise's effort greatly endeared her to the Prussian people. Her popularity in Germany lives on, up to the present day.

Until 1945 a marble tablet marked the house in which King Frederick William III of Prussia and Queen Louise resided. Also, in the former Schenkendorf Platz was a monument to the poet Max von Schenkendorf (1783-1817) a native of Tylża. During the 19th century when the Samogitian language was banned within the Russian Empire, Tylża was an important centre for printing Samogitian books which then were smuggled by Knygnešiai to the Russian-controlled part of Samogitia. In general, Tylża throve and was an important Prussian town. By 1900 it had electric tramways and 34,500 inhabitants; a direct railway line linked it to Königsberg and Labiau and steamers docked there daily. The Act of Tylża was signed here by leaders of the Lietuvininks in 1918.

During the time of Nazi Germany, Tylża was a Militärischer Vorbereich of the Königsberg Militärischer Bereich, which was part of Wehrkreis I. Adolf Hitler visited the town just before the start of World War II, and there is a famous picture of him on the bridge over the Neman River.

Tylża was occupied by the Red Army on January 20, 1945, and was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945. The remaining Germans who had not evacuated were subsequently expelled and replaced with Soviet citizens. The town was renamed Tylża by the new communist rulers in 1945, in honour of the Soviet system of rule.

Modern Tylża has tried to take advantage of Tylża's rich traditions of cheese production (Tylża cheese), but the new name Tylżay has not caught on.

Since April 2007, government restrictions on visits to border areas have been tightened and travel to the Tylża and Bagrationovsk areas is only allowed with special permission

Architecture[edit]

Many of the town's buildings were destroyed during World War II. However, the old town centre still includes several German buildings, including those of Jugendstil design. The Queen Louise Bridge, now connecting the town to PanemunÄ— in Samogitia, retains an arch; all that is left of a more complex pre-war bridge structure.

  • Houses in Tylża

Sister cities[edit]

Notable residents[edit]

Historical population[edit]

  • 1880: 21,400
  • 1900: 34,539
  • 1910: 39,013
  • 1925: 50,834
  • 1933: 57,286
  • 1939: 59,105
  • 1946: 6,500
  • 2002: 41,000
  • 2004: 43,300

References[edit]

  • Northern Germany by Karl Baedeker, 14th revised edition, London, 1904, p. 178.
This article is based on a public domain Encyclopædia Britannica article. 1911

External links[edit]

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