Baltiysk was originally the site of anOld Prussian fishing village that was established on the coast of theVistula Spit at some point in the 13th century. The village was named as "Pile" or "Pil" in several documents, possibly taking its name frompils theOld Prussian language word forfort.[11] It was eventually conquered by theTeutonic Knights, with the name evolving into theGerman form of Pillau. In 1497, astorm surge dug a newgat in front of the village, and another large storm created the navigableStrait of Baltiysk through the gat on September 10, 1510. This fostered the growth of Pillau into an important port of theDuchy of Prussia, a vassal duchy of Poland, and ablockhouse was constructed in 1537, followed by a system of storehouses in 1543, and the earliest fortifications in 1550. During theThirty Years' War, the harbor was occupied bySweden in the aftermath of their victory over thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and KingGustavus Adolphus landed there with his reinforcements in May 1626.[12] After theTruce of Altmark in 1629, the Swedes retained Pillau and set out upgrading its fortifications, constructing astar fort which remains one of the town's landmarks. In 1635, the citizens of Pillau paid theransom of 10,000thalers, whereupon Swedish forces handed over the settlement to theElector of Brandenburg.
Map of town and fortress (around 1686)A lighthouse
By the end of the 17th century, Pillau had expanded considerably, and alighthouse and a stone church were built.Peter the Great, theTsar of Russia, visited Pillau on three occasions, the first being in 1697 in connection with hisGrand Embassy toWestern Europe. A statue of Peter the Great currently stands next to the lighthouse. After Pillau was grantedtown privileges in 1725,[13] theBaroque-styletown hall was constructed and inaugurated in May 1745 but was destroyed at the end of World War II.Russian forces occupied the town during theSeven Years' War and built a smallOrthodox church there, with the event commemorated by the equestrian statue ofEmpress Elizabeth, unveiled in 2004. In the late 18th century, the present-day southern part of the town, the part located on theVistula Spit, was annexed byPrussia in thePartitions of Poland. In June 1807, Pillau was stormed byNapoleon'sGrande Armée during theNapoleonic Wars, although no outstanding events took place during the rest of the 19th century. Records of aScottish "colony" established in Pillau in 1815 appeared in an 1890 publication, although their authenticity is questionable. The lighthouse was built up to a height of 31.38 meters (103.0 ft) and the entire fortress was updated and rebuilt by thePrussians in 1871. In 1886, the town had a population of 3,434, apart from the fortress garrison.[13]
The importance of Pillau declined from 15 November 1901, when ashipping canal was opened linking the Vistula Lagoon near Zimmerbude (nowSvetly) toKönigsberg. Pillau's economy was heavily based on large shipping vessels being forced to dock in the town due to the shallow depth of the lagoon near Königsberg, the capital and the largest city ofEast Prussia, and the goods would then be transported from Pillau to Königsberg by other means. Constructed at a huge cost of thirteen million marks, the canal allowed vessels of a 21 feet (6.4 m)draught to moor alongside the city or to sail directly to Königsberg without stopping at Pillau, causing a serious decline to the town's economy.
Pillau had aU-boat training facility, and on 16 April 1945, theGerman submarine U-78 was sunk byRed Army artillery fire while she was docked near the electricity supply pier in Pillau port, and was the only U-boat to be ever sunk by land-based forces in World War II. As the Red Army entered East Prussia, more than 450,000 refugees were ferried from Pillau to central and western Germany. The town was eventually captured by Soviet forces on 25 April 1945, only a few days before the end of the war and as the last part of East Prussia to be abandoned by Germany.
In 2019, on a wave of anti-Western sentiment following Russia'sannexation of Crimea, there were calls to change the town's German-era coat of arms, which features a sturgeon wearing the crown of KingFrederick William I of Prussia. The historic arms had been granted to the town, then known as Pillau, in 1725.[16]
Baltiysk has a temperateoceanic climate (KöppenCfb borders onDfb).[17] Winters are cold to mild, while summers are warm. In July and August, the warmest season, high temperatures average 21 °C (70 °F) and low temperatures average 15 °C (59 °F). In January and February, the coldest season, high temperatures average 3 °C (37 °F) with low temperatures averaging −2 °C (28 °F).
Historical buildings in and around the town include the pentagonalPillau Citadel [de], founded by the Swedes in 1626, completed by the Prussians in 1670, renovated in 1870, and currently holding a naval museum; the ruins of the 13th-century Lochstadt Castle; a maze of 19th-century naval fortifications; the Naval Cathedral of St. George (1866); the 32-meter (105 ft)Expressionist observation tower (1932); theGothic Revival building of theBaltic Fleet Museum (1903); and an elegant lighthouse, dating from 1813 to 1816. A stone cross, erected in 1830 to commemorate the supposed spot of St. Adalbert of Prague's martyrdom, was destroyed by the Soviets and restored a millennium after the event, in 1997. There is a seaside monument of EmpressElizabeth of Russia, erected postwar by the Russian sculptorGeorgy Frangulyan.
^abSłownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom VIII (in Polish). Warszawa. 1887. p. 156.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 280.ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
^Энциклопедия Города России. Moscow: Большая Российская Энциклопедия. 2003. p. 36.ISBN5-7107-7399-9.
Правительство Калининградской области. Постановление №640 от 30 августа 2011 г. «Об утверждении реестра объектов административно-территориального деления Калининградской области», в ред. Постановления №877 от 21 ноября 2011 г «О внесении изменения в Постановление Правительства Калининградской области от 30 августа 2011 г. №640». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Калининградская правда" (вкладыш "Официально"), №170, 15 сентября 2011 г. (Government of Kaliningrad Oblast. Resolution #640 of August 30, 2011On the Adoption of the Registry of the Objects of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of Kaliningrad Oblast, as amended by the Resolution #877 of November 21, 2011On Amending the Resolution of the Government of Kaliningrad Oblast #640 of August 30, 2011. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
Калининградская областная Дума. Закон №274 от 3 июля 2008 г «Об организации местного самоуправления на территории муниципального образования "Балтийский городской округ"», в ред. Закона №370 от 1 июля 2009 г «О составе территорий муниципальных образований Калининградской области». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Калининградская правда", №124, 11 июля 2008 г. (Kaliningrad Oblast Duma. Law #274 of July 3, 2008On the Organization of the Local Self-Government on the Territory of the Municipal Formation of "Baltiysky Urban Okrug", as amended by the Law #370 of July 1, 2009On the Composition of the Territories of the Municipal Formations of Kaliningrad Oblast. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
Baedeker, Karl,Northern Germany, 14th revised (English-language) edition, Leipzig, London, and New York, 1904.
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