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Kupiškis

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Kupiškis (pronunciationⓘ) is a city in northeastern Lithuania.[1] It is the capital of the Kupiškis district municipality, mainly known for its sculptures and fourth biggest water reservoir in Lithuania. Kupiškis is located on the Lėvuo and Kupa rivers.[2] The name of the town comes from the Kupa River.[2] The Gediminas Bridge crosses the Kupa River. There are six parts of the town, which are named:

  • Centras (Center or Old Town; the oldest buildings in the town hall, sanitation and utility buildings, library, church, high school, blocks of flats, detached houses)
  • Krantinė (high-rise housing complex between 4 and 5 floors, detached houses, shopping malls, preschool, primary school)
  • Kraštiečiai (high-rise housing complex between 2 and 6 floors, shopping malls, preschool)
  • Račiupėnai (a residential area; detached houses, middle school, business and technological school, bus station)
  • Zuntė (a residential area; detached houses)
  • Pramoninė teritorija (Industrial district; factories, warehouses, train station)
Kupiškis
Town
  • Clockwise from top: Panorama of the city from north-west side
  • Church of the Ascension of Christ
  • Wind mills in Malūnų St.
  • City square
  • Museum of Ethnography
  • Culture Center
Flag of Kupiškis
Flag
Coat of arms of Kupiškis
Coat of arms
Kupiškis is located in Lithuania
Kupiškis
Kupiškis
Location of Kupiškis
Coordinates: 55°50′0″N 24°58′0″E / 55.83333°N 24.96667°E / 55.83333; 24.96667
Country Lithuania
County Panevėžys County
MunicipalityKupiškis district municipality
EldershipKupiškis eldership
Capital ofKupiškis district municipality
Kupiškis eldership
First mentioned1480
Granted town rights1791
Population
 (2022)
 • Total
6,138
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

History

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Kupiškis Hillfort
 
Market Square in 1918
 
The former Hanseatic Merchants' Flax Warehouse, one of the oldest masonry buildings in Kupiškis[3]

Archeological finds provide evidence that even in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC people dwelt in the surroundings of Kupiškis.[4] However, there is no information on when the very settlement was founded. The findings around the Aukštupėnai mound show that in the 8th century a wooden defence castle stood there and it functioned as defensive.[5] In the oldest days the area of Kupiškis was inhabited by Selonian tribes.[6] It is believed that the castle on the Kupiškis (Aukštupėnai) Mound was destroyed by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword during the Livonian Crusade in ~1240.[6]

Kupiškis began to form around the market square and for many years the town structure of 6-9 streets remained unchanged.[7] The earliest known surviving mentioning of Kupiškis in historical sources dates to 1480 when a local of Kupiškis, Stanislaus Johannis de Cupyschky ("de Cupyschky" literally means "from Kupiškis"), has applied as student to the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.[8][9]

In 1529 historical source the town was mentioned as a property of Grand Duke Sigismund I the Old, the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[8][10] However, the royal manor of Kupiškis was likely established in the early or middle of the 15th century.[8]

From 1561 to 1565 Kupiškis was a center of small ruler's center, belonging to the Upytė district and later the Ukmergė district. At that time the main road from Vilnius to Riga led via Kupiškis and the local peasants of Kupiškis area were known for success in growing flax.[10] The town was often mentioned in 1561–1565 historical sources because during the Livonian War the Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania often marched through the town.[8] In 1616, the first Catholic church was built in Kupiškis.[10][1] In 1781, the first school of the Lancasterian System was established.[10] In the first half of the 18th century the first masonry building in Kupiškis was built as a flax warehouse and has survived.[10]

In 1844, the town had 1950 residents of who 973 were Catholics.[7] The railway line from Daugavpils to Šiauliai to Liepāja was built in 1873 and stimulated the growth of the town despite suffering from wars and occupations.[10] In the second half of the 19th century the merchants of Riga warehouses were in Kupiškis.[1] A hospital was opened in the town before 1880.[1] In 1888 during the Lithuanian press ban a forbidden Lithuanian language literature press house was established in the town.[1] Moreover, in 1885–1904 a secret school operated which trained Lithuanian in-home teachers.[1] In 1905 Kupiškis already had 3910 residents and in it operated five wind mills and one water mill of which three mills has survived.[7] In 1905 anti-Russian Empire demonstrations took place in Kupiškis.[1] In 1913 electrical lighting was installed in the town.[1]

During the interwar period the population of the town decreased to less than 3000 residents and because of it its towns rights were temporarily suspended, however the establishment of barracks of the Lithuanian Armed Forces has improved the residents situation.[11] In 1935 the Lithuanian Americans has built a cooperative house in the town with small shops, bank and hotel, and it was the town's first building with central heating.[11][12]

Following the Soviet occupation of Lithuania during World War II the Soviets has deported 37 residents of Kupiškis to Siberia.[1] The Lithuanian partisans of Algimantas district fought against the Soviets in Kupiškis area.[1]

 
Church of the Ascension of Christ in 2018
 
View of one of central streets of Kupiškis in 2012
 
The Old Post

After the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990, Kupiškis is the center of the Kupiškis District Municipality since 1995.[1] In 2019 the town's central square named after Laurynas Gucevičius was reconstructed and a musical fountain was installed which elevates the water to up to 8 meters.[13]

Population

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According to the Department of Statistics of Lithuania, the population of Kupiškis as of January 1, 2005 was 8,243. The ethnic composition of the Kupiškis district municipality, according to the 2001 census, was:

Jews in Kupiškis

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Kupiškis, known in Yiddish as Kupishok or Kupishik, was home to 1,444 Jews before[when?] World War II. The Jewish population basically constituted about 42% of the town's population as of 1939. In the summer of 1941, all of the Jewish men, women, and children in the town were herded into a makeshift ghetto and tormented for about two days, and starved of food and were denied even water, and were then marched in groups to a cemetery reserved for atheists, where they were shot and buried in unmarked pits. In the aftermath of the war, Christian midwives from the Jewish Hospital in Panevezys compiled a list of more than 800 names of the murdered Jews. However, historians[who?] estimate that 1,500 to 2,000 Jews were killed by the Nazi and their collaborators "Kupiškis self-defense unit". [14]

A German national named Werner Loew, who had been pretending to be a communist, while teaching the German language at the local gymnasium in Kupiskis, decided to seize control of the town in July 1941 and became the self appointed "commandant" of the town. He had then engaged the services of a small band of deserting soldiers who were part of the Soviet Red Army's 618th artillery unit, who had previously been deployed to Kupiskis in 1940. These Lithuanian former soldiers of the Red Army, were led by Lieutenant Antanas Gudelis, who later became the commander of a unit of executioners under Loew's personal direction.[15]

The Great Synagogue in Kupiškis was built of stone. The red brick portion was a Misnagdim Synagogue. The Great Synagogue was used as the "Culture House" during the Soviet period. The Misnagdim portion is now used as a boiler room for heating the main building which now contains the Public Library and Wall of Memory Holocaust Memorial erected on July 13, 2004. The Memorial dedication service was initiated and attended by Jewish descendants of the residents of Kupiskis. They held a worship service, the first since the destruction of the Jewish community in 1941, in the library which was once the synagogue. Rabbi Michael Mayersohn of Orange County, CA, whose paternal grandparents had lived in Kupiskis, led the historic worship service.

Amongst the many Jewish families from Kupiskis who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators was the Kacevas family, of which six family members were wiped out in one particular action. A detailed list compiled by the Christian midwives of the known Jewish victims bares testimony to the heinous nature of these and many other murders of the members unfortunate Jewish community, amongst whom were many children. The date for this particular action was the 28th of June 1941.[16]

The names of the Jewish victims who were murdered in this one particular action which lasted for two days, are contained on this list, and are reflected on the Wall of Memory Holocaust Memorial in the foyer of the former Misnagdim Synagogue, which is now the public library building.[17]

Some non Jewish residents of the town, such as Dr Franzkevicius tried to hide and protect some Jewish residents, however unfortunately none of those who were being protected survived.[18]

Educational institutions

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Schools

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Kupiškis Povilas Matulionis Progymnasium
 
Kupiškis Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius Gymnasium
  • Kupiškis Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius Gymnasium (High School) (for students from 14 to 18)
  • Kupiškis Povilas Matulionis Progymnasium (for students from 6 to 14)
  • Kupiškis Technological And Business School (for students from 16 to 21)

Art schools

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  • Kupiškis Arts School

Preschools

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  • Varpelis
  • Obelėlė
  • Saulutė

Sport

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Twin towns – sister cities

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See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Lithuania

Kupiškis is twinned with:[19]

Notable people

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Brazauskas, Vincas; Misius, Kazys. "Kupiškis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b Kupiškis (PDF) (in Lithuanian). VšĮ Kupiškio rajono turizmo ir verslo informacijos centras. 2023. p. 3. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Hanzos pirklių linų sandėlis". InfoKupiskis.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Kupiškio piliakalnis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  5. ^ Aukštupėnų piliakalnis (PDF) (in Lithuanian). p. 4. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Kupiškio (Aukštupėnų) piliakalnis". InfoKupiskis.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Aleknienė-Andrijauskė, Banguolė. "Kupiškis, kai ožkų gatvė buvo svarbesnė ir sukosi penkių malūnų sparnai". Ukininkopatarejas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Aleknienė-Andrijauskė, Banguolė (21 April 2024). "Kupiškio istorijos vartus pravėrus". Kupiškėnų mintys (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  9. ^ Aleknienė, Banguolė (6 May 2015). "Pirmasis rašytinis šaltinis apie Kupiškį – prieš 535 metus". Kupiškėnų mintys (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Istorija". Kupiškis District Municipality (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Kupiškis: nuo modernizmo monumentų iki laisvamanių kapinių". Kauno.diena.lt (in Lithuanian). 13 November 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Stop juosta Nr. 64 - Kupiškis". Lithuanian National Radio and Television (in Lithuanian). 18 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Lauryno Stuokos-Gucevičiaus aikštė ir jos muzikinis fontanas". InfoKupiskis.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania".
  15. ^ "Bubnys".
  16. ^ "Kupiskis Holocaust Victims".
  17. ^ "Memmain".
  18. ^ "Bubnys".
  19. ^ "Tarptautinis bendradarbiavimas". kupiskis.lt (in Lithuanian). Kupiškis. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
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