Ukmergė | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Pakalnės St. of the Ukmergė Old Town  Church of the Holy Trinity  UkmergėHillfort  Antanas Smetona Gymnasium  Aerial view of the Ukmergė Old Town | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Ukmergė Location of Ukmergė | |
| Coordinates:55°15′N24°45′E / 55.250°N 24.750°E /55.250; 24.750 | |
| Country |  Lithuania |
| Ethnographic region | Aukštaitija |
| County |  Vilnius County |
| Municipality | Ukmergė district municipality |
| Eldership | Ukmergė town eldership |
| Capital of | Ukmergė district municipality Ukmergė town eldership Pivonija eldership |
| First mentioned | 1333 |
| Grantedcity rights | 1486 |
| Area | |
• Total | 20.5 km2 (7.9 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 64 m (210 ft) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 20,154 |
| • Density | 983/km2 (2,550/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Ukmergian(s) (English), ukmergiečiai orukmergiškiai (Lithuanian) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 20xxx |
| Website | ukmerge |
Ukmergė (pronunciationⓘ; previouslyVilkmergė;Polish:Wiłkomierz) is a city inVilnius County,Lithuania, located 78 km (48 mi) northwest ofVilnius.[1] It is the administrative center of theUkmergė District Municipality.[2]
Ukmergė (Vilkmergė) was mentioned for the first time as a settlement in 1333.[3] The Ukmergė Old Town contains structure of old streets and squares, also well-preserved buildings of the 19th-20th centuries, therefore it was included in theRegistry of Cultural Property of Lithuania.[4][5]
The city took its original nameVilkmergė from theVilkmergėlė [lt] River, which was initially called Vilkmergė and assumed a diminutive form after the growth of the settlement.[6] It is commonly thought that the name may be translated as "she-wolf", from the combination ofVilkas (wolf) andMerga (maiden). More likely the second root of the dual-stemmed name is the verbmerg-/merk- meaning "to submerge" or "to dip". According to local legend, Vilkmergė was a girl raised by wolves, who bridged the divide between animals and humans, in the same way asRudyard Kipling'sMowgli. Thefolk etymology of "Ukmergė", by contrast, is "farm girl" (Lith.ūkis = farm). The original name has been adopted by the local soccer team, "Vilkmergė Ukmergė" as well as popular HBH Vilkmergė beer.
Other historic names for the city include Wilkemerge or Wilkamergen in 1225, Vilkenberge (1333), Wilkinberg (1384, 1455), Vilkomir (1455), Wilkomir (1611), Wilkomirz (1613), Wilkomiria (1766), Ukmerge (1900), Aukmergė (1908); Ūkmergė (1911), Wilkomierz (1918), and Vilkmergė (1919).[7]
Ukmergė was first mentioned in 1225,[7] and named as a settlement inHermann von Wartberge's chronicle in 1333.[8][3] It was essentially a wooden fortress that stood on a hill, near theconfluence of the Vilkmergė River and theŠventoji River. Ukmergė was attacked by theTeutonic Knights and theLivonian Order in 1333, 1365, 1378, 1386, and even in 1391, already after theChristianization of Lithuania in 1387. During the last attack, Ukmergė was burned to the ground and had to be completely rebuilt.
The region began to adoptChristianity, along with the rest of Lithuania, in 1386. In the following year, 1387, its first Catholic church,St. Peter andSt. Paul, was built. It was one of the firstRoman Catholic churches established in Lithuania. The town was grantedmunicipal rights at some time after theBattle of Wiłkomierz in 1435,[9] and written sources dating from 1486 referred to it as a city. KingSigismund the Old confirmed these rights. During the times of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the city had been the center ofpowiat in theVilnius Voivodeship.
In 1655, the Swedish and Russian armies plundered the city. Because of these incessant wars, the growth of Ukmergė suffered many setbacks.Jews began to settle in the city in the late 17th century, and built a synagogue and a cemetery.[10] In the years 1711–1712, thebubonic plague swept through the town and wreaked havoc upon its population. At various times, the1st Lithuanian National Cavalry Brigade, the2nd and3rd Lithuanian Vanguard Regiments and the 1st Lithuanian Infantry Regiment were stationed in the town.[11] In 1792, by the initiative of the city's representative in theGreat Sejm,Józef Dominik Kossakowski, KingStanisław August Poniatowski renewed the town's municipal rights and gave it its currentcoat of arms.
_in_Ukmerg%25C4%2597%2c_depicted_in_a_postcard_of_the_late_19th_century.jpg)
During theThird Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1795, the town was annexed by Russia, becoming a part of theVilna Governorate. In 1812 the Battle ofDeltuva, between the Russian andFrench armies, occurred not far from Ukmergė;Napoleon's army raided the town during theFrench invasion of Russia. During theNovember Uprising in 1831, the city remained in the hands of rebel elements for several months. In 1843, the town became a part of the newly establishedKovno Governorate. In 1863, the city participated in theJanuary Uprising against Russia. In 1876 a match factory was established in Ukmergė. In 1877 a fire again ravaged the town. The future president of Lithuania,Antanas Smetona, was born inUžulėnis near Ukmergė, and was educated in the local school. In 1882 a printing-house was opened.
In 1899–1902, thirteen people (including two Lithuanianvicars: Kazimieras Šleivys and Vladislovas Opulskis) were punished fordistributing books written in theLithuanian language in Ukmergė and surroundings villages, which at the time were prohibited by theRussian tsarist authority's imposedLithuanian press ban.[12] The so-called 'Ukmergė case' has contributed quite a bit to the lifting of the Lithuanian press ban in 1904 and was one of the last cases of its kind.[12]
In 1918, after Lithuania declared its independence, the city's name was changed from Vilkmergė to Ukmergė. In 1919Bolshevik forces occupied the city during theLithuanian–Soviet War, but it was soon liberated by the Lithuanian army led byJonas Variakojis. Over five hundred Bolshevik prisoners were taken during the Battle of Ukmergė. An iron foundry was established in the same year. In 1920, the Lithuanian army stoppedPolish incursions into the rest of the country, after a series of battles that were waged to establish borders between the two newly re-established countries. An electric plant, a printing house and 120 other small businesses were opened. The city had five newspapers until 1939. In 1930, a monument namedLituania Restituta was erected to commemorate the first decade of restored Lithuanian independence. A Polish high school also operated in Ukmergė during the interbellum.
In 1940, after theSoviet occupation of Lithuania, deportations of people from the town began. When theGermans attacked the Soviet Union and its occupied territories, on June 22, 1941, the retreating Soviets gave instructions to their operatives to kill some 120 prisoners; however, most of them escaped; only eight of them were tortured to death. After the German invasion, theNazis rounded up and killed about 10,000 members of the town'sJewish population with the help of Lithuanian collaborators.[13] During World War II, the city center suffered from extensive bomb damage.
For years after the return of the Soviets, the city's people organized and participated inresistance movements. Thedeportation of the city's population toSiberia continued. In 1950 the monument to Lithuania's Independence was destroyed. The city reconstructed it in 1990, even before the restoration of Lithuania's independence was declared. Around 1964, two coupled SovietR-12 Dvina (SS-4) nuclear missile bases were built in the woods near Ukmergė underNikita Khrushchev. Each had four surface launch pads, semi-undergroundhangars to store the missiles and several accessory buildings. The bases were mentioned in the 1987Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. They both are in a ruined state at present, and freely accessible to the public.
| Climate data for Ukmergė (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.9 (30.4) | 0.0 (32.0) | 4.9 (40.8) | 12.9 (55.2) | 18.8 (65.8) | 21.9 (71.4) | 24.2 (75.6) | 23.4 (74.1) | 17.9 (64.2) | 10.8 (51.4) | 4.7 (40.5) | 0.6 (33.1) | 11.6 (52.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −3.2 (26.2) | −2.9 (26.8) | 0.9 (33.6) | 7.5 (45.5) | 12.9 (55.2) | 16.3 (61.3) | 18.6 (65.5) | 17.7 (63.9) | 12.8 (55.0) | 7.2 (45.0) | 2.5 (36.5) | −1.4 (29.5) | 7.4 (45.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −5.8 (21.6) | −5.7 (21.7) | −2.6 (27.3) | 2.3 (36.1) | 6.9 (44.4) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.0 (55.4) | 12.2 (54.0) | 8.3 (46.9) | 4.1 (39.4) | 0.5 (32.9) | −3.6 (25.5) | 3.4 (38.1) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 46 (1.8) | 38 (1.5) | 37 (1.5) | 40 (1.6) | 60 (2.4) | 63 (2.5) | 80 (3.1) | 80 (3.1) | 53 (2.1) | 60 (2.4) | 50 (2.0) | 49 (1.9) | 656 (25.8) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 85 | 83 | 76 | 68 | 67 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 78 | 83 | 87 | 87 | 78 |
| Source: Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service[14] | |||||||||||||
According to the 2021 census, the city population was 21,258 people, of which:[15]
There are many tourist sites in Ukmergė. One of them is a small stone puppy statue named Dog Keksas, to be found in Vienuolyno g. 17 (Ukmerge 20114).[16][17][18][19][20]
Bad Langensalza, Germany
Cologno al Serio, Italy
Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine
Kiskunmajsa, Hungary
Herrljunga, Sweden
Līvāni, LatviaMariestad, Sweden
Põlva, Estonia
Tarnowo Podgórne, Poland
Tsalenjikha, GeorgiaUnstrut-Hainich-Kreis, GermanyVästra Götaland County, SwedenWetteraukreis, Germany
Worcester, England, United KingdomEsztergom, HungaryKiskunlacháza, Hungary
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
