Ozyorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast

Ozyorsk (Russian: Озёрск, until 1938 German: Darkehmen; Polish: Darkiejmy; Lithuanian: Darkiemis; from 1938 to 1946 German: Angerapp) is a town and the administrative center of Ozyorsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Angrapa River near the border with the Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, 120 kilometers (75 mi) southeast of Kaliningrad, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 4,740 (2010 Census);[3] 5,801 (2002 Census);[7] 6,219 (1989 Soviet census).[8]

Ozyorsk
Озёрск
Old church ruins
Old church ruins
Coat of arms of Ozyorsk
Location of Ozyorsk
Map
Ozyorsk is located in Kaliningrad Oblast
Ozyorsk
Ozyorsk
Location of Ozyorsk
Ozyorsk is located in European Russia
Ozyorsk
Ozyorsk
Ozyorsk (European Russia)
Ozyorsk is located in Russia
Ozyorsk
Ozyorsk
Ozyorsk (Russia)
Coordinates: 54°24′N 22°01′E / 54.400°N 22.017°E / 54.400; 22.017
CountryRussia
Federal subjectKaliningrad Oblast[1]
Administrative districtOzyorsky District[1]
Town of district significanceOzyorsk[1]
First mentioned1539
Town status since1724[2]
Elevation
80 m (260 ft)
Population
 • Total4,740
 • Capital ofOzyorsky District,[1] town of district significance of Ozyorsk[1]
 • Municipal districtOzyorsky Urban Okrug[4]
 • Capital ofOzyorsky Urban Okrug[4]
Time zoneUTC+2 (MSK–1 Edit this on Wikidata[5])
Postal code(s)[6]
238120
OKTMO ID27516000001

History

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Town Hall and post office in 1910

Before the arrival of the Teutonic Order, the river valley was here settled by the Nadruvians, as evidenced by traces of settlements and fortifications found in the area. Teutonic overlordship was established around 1388, but the town is mentioned for the first time in written sources in 1539 as Darkyem. In 1454, the region was incorporated by King Casimir IV Jagiellon to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation.[9] After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, since 1466, it formed part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Order,[10] and after 1525 it was located in Ducal Prussia, a vassal duchy of Poland. It was settled by Lithuanian, Polish and German colonists. Located in the transitional area between Masuria in the south and Lithuania Minor in the north, the town and surrounding villages had a mixed population with both many Poles[11] and Lithuanians. A first church was built in 1615.[12] From 1701, it formed part of the Kingdom of Prussia. The settlement remained a village until 1724, when it received city rights by Frederick William I of Prussia.[2] Soon afterwards, the town plan was revised with a market square and a new grid plan. An influx of immigrants followed (in 1725, 103 of the 742 registered inhabitants came from Salzburg) and craft production of leather and cloth established in the town. During the Seven Years' War, the town was devastated[11] and occupied by Russia.

In 1818, it became a district seat.[11] In the 19th century the leather and cloth industry had to close due to competition from more efficient industries in western Germany. From 1871 to 1945 the town was part of Germany, within which it was administratively located in the province of East Prussia. In 1878 a railway line was built, bypassing the town by three kilometres.[11] Nine annual fairs were organized in the town in the late 19th century.[13] Due to its location on the Angrapa River, a power station established in the watermill was already in 1880 able to produce electrical light for the town. During World War I, the town was captured by Russians in 1914. It was heavily damaged during fighting but rebuilt after garden city ideals following the war, with financial support from the city of Dresden.[14]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
19394,336—    
19896,219+43.4%
20025,801−6.7%
20104,740−18.3%
Source: [11][3]

In 1938, the Nazi government renamed the town to Angerapp to erase traces of Lithuanian origin.[11] Two labour camps of the Reich Labour Service were operated in the town under Nazi Germany.[15] It was captured by the 3rd Belorussian Front of the Red Army on 23 January 1945 in the course of the East Prussian offensive.[16] After Germany's defeat in World War II, the town initially passed to Poland under its historic Polish name Darkiejmy, however, it was soon annexed by the Soviet Union. Its German populace was expelled in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement. It was renamed as Ozyorsk on 7 September 1946.[12]

In 1970, the Department of Printed Circuits was established as a branch of the Radiotechnical Measuring Instruments Factory in Vilnius.[17]

Administrative and municipal status

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Within the framework of administrative divisions, Ozyorsk serves as the administrative center of Ozyorsky District.[1] As an administrative division, it is incorporated (together with the rural locality Ushakovo) within Ozyorsky District as the town of district significance of Ozyorsk.[1]

Within the framework of municipal divisions, since June 11, 2014, the territories of the town of district significance of Ozyorsk and of three rural okrugs of Ozyorsky District are incorporated as Ozyorsky Urban Okrug.[4] Before that, the town of district significance was incorporated within Ozyorsky Municipal District as Ozyorskoye Urban Settlement.[18]

Culture

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The Central Library is the town's main public library.[19] The Jan Kochanowski Association of Polish Culture is a cultural institution of the local Polish community, which also offers teaching of Polish language, history, geography and literature.[20]

Notable people

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  • Gustav Bauer (1870–1944), politician and Chancellor of Germany in 1919–1920
  • Heinz Ziegler (1894–1972), Wehrmacht general
  • Sergei Skripal (born 23 June 1951), former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent for the UK's intelligence services during the 1990s and early 2000s.

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Resolution #640
  2. ^ a b c Энциклопедия Города России. Moscow: Большая Российская Энциклопедия. 2003. p. 325. ISBN 5-7107-7399-9.
  3. ^ a b c Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
  4. ^ a b c Law #320
  5. ^ "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  6. ^ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
  7. ^ Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian).
  8. ^ Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. 1989 – via Demoscope Weekly.
  9. ^ Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. p. 54.
  10. ^ Górski, p. 96–97, 214–215
  11. ^ a b c d e f Maroszek, Józef (2007). Przewodnik historyczno-turystyczny po dziedzictwie kulturowym pogranicza Polska – Litwa – Kaliningrad (in Polish). Białystok. pp. 388–389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ a b Истории Озёрска (in Russian, Polish, English, and German). Озёрск. pp. 52–55.
  13. ^ Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom I (in Polish). Warszawa. 1880. p. 905.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ^ Weise, Erich, ed. (1981) [1966]. Handbuch der historischen Stätten. Ost- und Westpreussen (in German). Stuttgart: Kröner. p. 36. ISBN 3-520-31701-X.
  15. ^ "I Ostpreussen" (in German). Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  16. ^ Освобождение городов
  17. ^ Истории Озёрска (in Russian, Polish, English, and German). Озёрск. pp. 14–17.
  18. ^ Law #259
  19. ^ Истории Озёрска (in Russian, Polish, English, and German). Озёрск. pp. 44–47.
  20. ^ Истории Озёрска (in Russian, Polish, English, and German). Озёрск. pp. 60–63.

Sources

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  • 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, 2011 On 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, 2011 On 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 №320 от 10 июня 2014 г. «Об объединении поселений, входящих в состав Озёрского муниципального района, и организации местного самоуправления на объединённой территории». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Калининградская правда" (вкладыш "Официальный вестник Правительства Калининградской области"), №103, 11 июня 2014 г. (Kaliningrad Oblast Duma. Law #320 of June 10, 2014 On the Merger of the Settlements Within Ozyorsky Municipal District and on the Organization of the Local Self-Government on the Merged Territories. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
  • Калининградская областная Дума. Закон №259 от 30 июня 2008 г. «Об организации местного самоуправления на территории муниципального образования "Озёрский 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 #259 of June 30, 2008 On the Organization of the Local Self-Government on the Territory of the Municipal Formation of "Ozyorsky Urban Okrug", as amended by the Law #370 of July 1, 2009 On the Composition of the Territories of the Municipal Formations of Kaliningrad Oblast. Effective as of the day of the official publication; rescinded effective June 11, 2014.).