Vistula Spit | |
|---|---|
 Landsat photo of the Vistula Spit | |
  Vistula Spit  Vistula Spit .svg) Vistula Spit  Vistula Spit | |
| Coordinates:54°24′N19°30′E / 54.400°N 19.500°E /54.400; 19.500 | |
| Location | Pomeranian Voivodeship,Poland Kaliningrad Oblast,Russia |
| Offshore water bodies | Gdańsk Bay Vistula Lagoon |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | 70 km (43 mi) |
| Largest town | Krynica Morska |
TheVistula Spit[a] is anaeolian sandspit,[1] or peninsular stretch of land, separatingVistula Lagoon fromGdańsk Bay, in theBaltic Sea, with its tip separated from the mainland by theStrait of Baltiysk. The border betweenPoland (Pomeranian Voivodeship) andKaliningrad Oblast, anexclave ofRussia, bisects it,politically dividing the spit into two pieces between the two countries. Thewesternmost geographical point of Russia is located on the Vistula Spit. The Polish part contains a number of tourist resorts, incorporated administratively as the town ofKrynica Morska.
Situated in theGdańsk Bay this narrow headland (spit) is on average only few hundred meters wide (widest point is 1.8 km (1.1 mi)) and with the total length of 70 km (43 mi) twice as long as the better known and more populousHel Peninsula in the western part of theGdańsk Bay. The Vistula Spit stretches in a north-easterly direction and separates theVistula Lagoon from the southernBaltic Sea. It is separated from theSambia Peninsula by theStrait of Baltiysk. The spit consists of 10 to 12 meter high marine sand, accumulated during three dune generations.[2] The highest peaks of the Vistula Spit are Wielbłądzi Grzbiet (49.5 m, 162 ft) on the Polish side of the peninsula and the smaller 25 m (82 ft) high shifting sand dune ofNarmeln on the Russian side of the border.[3]
The border between Poland (Pomeranian Voivodeship) and Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) runs across the spit, with its south-western part in Poland and the north-eastern part in Russia. The Polish part includes, from west to east, the villages ofKąty Rybackie,Skowronki, and the town ofKrynica Morska, the largest locality on the Polish side, and a popular tourist destination. Since 1991, Krynica Morska includes in its municipal borders formerly separate villages ofPrzebrno andNowa Karczma, the latter being the easternmost inhabited locality on the Polish side of the Spit.[4][5]
The Russian part of the Vistula Spit is only inhabited in its northernmost part, which belongs to the port town ofBaltiysk and lies on the southern side of theStrait of Baltiysk. The Russian airbase Noytif (originally built as a GermanLuftwaffe airbaseNeu Tief) was located there.[6]
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Until the 13th century, the spit had navigable straits in the middle, which allowed the city of Elbing (Elbląg), part of themonastic State of the Teutonic Knights, direct access to theBaltic Sea. The natural closing of the straits in the late 13th century reduced Elbing's status as an important tradingseaport. This and theTeutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk) andPolish Pomerania in 1308 led to the increased importance ofGdańsk. In 1454, KingCasimir IV Jagiellon re-incorporated the region to theKingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-TeutonicPrussian Confederation.[7] In 1466, the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the region and recognized it as part of Poland.[8]
DuringWorld War II,Przebrno was the location of a subcamp of theStutthof concentration camp, in which the Germans imprisoned 200 people asforced labour at a time.[9] There is a monument to the victims at the site. In the final stages of the war, the spit became the last holdout of the remaining German soldiers in the province ofEast Prussia, although the Soviets simply bypassed the spit after theEast Prussian Offensive was decisively concluded, training their sights on the more important goal of capturingBerlin. The lastWehrmacht soldiers laid down their arms after theGerman Instrument of Surrender was signed.
Historically Vistula Spit was populated by Kursenieki people (also known as Kuršininkai), an Old Prussian tribe, related to modern day Latvians. This nearly extinctBaltic ethnic group once made Vistula Spit, coastal zone of the Sambia Peninsula, and theCuronian Spit their home. In 1649 the Kuršininkai zone of settlement still spanned all the way fromMemel (Klaipėda) toGdańsk encompassing a narrow littoral strip of territory best suitable for their lifestyle, cultural preferences and dominant economic activity (fishing). The majority of Kuršininkai were eventually assimilated by theGermans. Only on the Curonian Spit a few scattered rural settlements survive to the present day. The Kuršininkai were consideredLatvians until afterWorld War I whenLatvia gained independence from theRussian Empire, a consideration based on linguistic arguments. This was also the rationale for Latvian claims over the Curonian Spit,Memel, and other territories ofPrussia in the aftermath of the WWI. Those claims would later be dropped.
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The Polish side of the peninsula is accessible usingVoivodeship road 501 [pl]. There is at present noborder crossing between Poland and Russia on the peninsula.
In 2019, the Polish government started the building of aship canal across the peninsula, permitting ships to enter the Vistula Lagoon and the port of Elbląg, bypassing the transit route through the Russian Strait of Baltiysk.[10] TheVistula Spit canal was opened in September 2022.
