Founding
port city in Lithuania
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Klaipėda ( KLAY-ped-ə, Lithuanian: [ˈklˠɐɪ̯ˑpʲeːdˠɐ] ⓘ; Samogitian: Klaipieda; German: Memel) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third-largest city in Lithuania, the fifth-largest city in the Baltic states, the capital of Klaipėda County, the only major seaport in the country and the busiest port in the Baltic states.
The city has a diverse recorded history, partially due to the combined regional importance of the usually ice-free port at the mouth of the river Akmena-Danė. It was situated in Lithuania Minor and successively belonged to the State of the Teutonic Order, the Duchy of Prussia (at times under the suzerainty of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire, within which it was the northernmost big city until it was placed under French occupation in 1919. From 1923, the city was part of Lithuania until its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1939, and after World War II it was part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. Klaipėda has remained within Lithuania since 1944.
The urban zone of Klaipėda expanded well into the suburbs, which sprang up around the city and surrounded it from three sides. These are partly integrated with the city (city bus lines, city water supply, etc.), and the majority of inhabitants of these suburbs work in Klaipėda. According to data from the Department of Statistics, there are 233,091 permanent inhabitants (as of July 2026) in the Klaipėda city and Klaipėda district municipalities combined (up from 212,302 in 2020). As of 2025, the population of Klaipėda city is 160,885 people. Popular seaside resorts found close to Klaipėda are Neringa to the south on the Curonian Spit, and Palanga to the north.
The city is also known for the annual Klaipėda Sea Festival and a nearby Lithuanian Sea Museum.
The Teutonic Knights built a castle in the *Pilsāts Land of the Curonians and named it Memelburg, which would later be shortened to Memel. From 1252 to 1923 and from 1939 to 1945, the town and city were officially named Memel. Between 1923 and 1939, both names were in official use. Since 1945, the Lithuanian name of Klaipėda has been used.
The names Memelburg and Memel are found in most written sources from the 13th century onwards, while Klaipėda is found in Lithuanian sources since the 15th century. The city was initially mentioned as Caloypede in the letter of Vytautas in 1413, and in negotiation documents from 1420, the city was named Klawppeda. In the Treaty of Melno of 1422, the city's name was listed as Cleupeda. According to Samogitian folk etymology, the name Klaipėda refers to the boggy terrain of the town (klaidyti=obstruct and pėda=foot). Most likely, the name is of Curonian origin and means "even ground"; it likely originates from a combination of "klais/klait" (flat, open, free) and "peda" (sole of the foot, ground), as a reference to relatively flat terrain of the original settlement's surroundings.
The lower reaches of the river Neman were named either *Mēmele or *Mēmela by Scalovians and local Curonian inhabitants. In the Latvian Curonian language, it means mute, silent (memelis, mimelis, mēms), as a reference to peaceful flow of the Neman. This name was adopted by German speakers, and also was chosen for the new city founded further away at the lagoon.
The name of the city in the Samogitian language is spelled slightly differently: Klaipieda. The most notable non-Lithuanian names include: Latvian: Klaipēda; Polish: Kłajpeda; Russian: Клайпеда; German: Memel.
The coat of arms of Klaipėda is also used as the coat of arms of the Klaipėda city municipality. The modern version was created by the designer Kęstutis Mickevičius. The modern coat of arms was created by restoring old seals of the Memel city (analogous with those used in the years 1446, 1605 and 1618). It was affirmed on 1 July 1992.
A settlement of Baltic tribes in the territory of the present-day city is said to have existed in the region as early as the 7th century. Klaipėda is one of the oldest cities in modern Lithuania. The Balts initially established Klaipėda as a trading centre for the storage of goods and annual fairs with the Germans.
In the 1240s, Pope Gregory IX offered King Håkon IV of Norway the opportunity to conquer the peninsula of Sambia. However, after Grand Duke Mindaugas of Lithuania accepted Christianity, the Teutonic Knights and a group of crusaders from Lübeck moved into Sambia. These groups founded a fort in 1252 called Memele castrum (or Memelburg, "Memel Castle"). The fort's construction was completed in 1253, and Memel was garrisoned with troops of the Teutonic Order, administered by Deutschmeister Eberhard von Seyne. Documents for its founding were signed by Eberhard and Bishop Heinrich von Lützelburg of Courland on 29 July 1252 and 1 August 1252.
Master Conrad von Thierberg used the fortress as a base for further campaigns along the river Neman and against Samogitia. Memel was unsuccessfully besieged by Sambians in 1255, and the Sambians surrendered in 1259. Memel was also colonized by settlers from Holstein, Lübeck and Dortmund. Hence, Memel also being known at the time as Neu-Dortmund, or "New Dortmund". It became the main town of the Diocese of Curonia, with a cathedral and at least two parochial churches, but the development of the castle became the dominant priority. According to different sources, Memel received Lübeck city rights in 1254 or 1258. Following it Klaipėda's status was quite extraordinary as only three cities in the State of the Teutonic Order had Lübeck city rights.
In the spring and summer of 1323, a Lithuanian army led by Grand Duke Gediminas came up the Neman and sieged the castle of Memel, while later he marched to other Prussian, Latvian, Estonian territories controlled by the Order, eventually forcing the Order to sue for a truce in October 1323. While planning a campaign against Samogitia, Memel's garrison of the Teutonic Order's Livonian branch was replaced with knights from the Prussian branch in 1328. Threats and attacks by Lithuanians greatly slowed the town's development; the castle was sacked by Lithuanian state in 1360, and in 1379 the reconstructed castle and town were both sacked once again. In 1409, the castle was rebuilt and in 1422–1441 the strengthening of the castle's fortifications continued when eventually its ramparts reached 7 meters height.
After the Battle of Grunwald, the dispute between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Order on Samogitia started. Vytautas the Great wanted the border to be the Neman River, while the Teutonic Order wanted to have Veliuona and Klaipėda in the right side of the river. Both sides agreed to accept the prospective solution of Emperor Sigismund's representative Benedict Makrai in 1413. He decided that the right side of Nemunas (Veliuona, Klaipėda) were to be owned by Lithuania. Makrai is known to have stated:
We find that the Memel Castle is built in the land of Samogitians. Neither Master, nor the Order was able to prove anything opposing.
Nevertheless, no agreement was concluded and fighting continued until the Treaty of Melno in 1422 stabilized the border between the Teutonic Order and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the next 501 years. However, two miles of Lithuanian territories, including Klaipėda, was left for the Order. In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region into the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466) the Teutonic Order regained authority over the city as a fief of the Polish Crown. The rebuilt town received Kulm law city rights in 1475.
Against the wishes of its governor and commander, Eric of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Memel adopted Lutheranism after the conversion of Grand Master Albert of Prussia and the creation of the Duchy of Prussia as a fief of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in 1525, soon part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Since then, Klaipėda has become the county centre within the Duchy of Prussia. It was the onset of a long period of prosperity for the city and port. Klaipėda served as a port for neighbouring Lithuania, benefiting from its location near the mouth of the Neman, with wheat as a profitable export. The Duchy of Prussia was inherited by a relative, John Sigismund, the Hohenzollern prince-electors of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1618. Brandenburg-Prussia began active participation in regional policy, which affected the development of Memel. From 1629 to 1635, the town was occupied by Sweden over several periods during the Polish-Swedish War of 1626–1629.
After the Treaty of Königsberg in 1656 during the Northern Wars, Elector Frederick William opened Memel's harbor to Sweden, with whom the harbor's revenue was divided. Sovereignty of the margraves of Brandenburg over the region was affirmed in the Treaty of Oliva in 1660.
The construction of a fortified defence system around the entire town, initiated in 1627, noticeably changed its status and prospects. In November 1678 a small Swedish army invaded the Prussian territory, but was unable to capture the fortress of Memel.
By the beginning of the 18th century, Memel was one of the strongest fortresses (Memelfestung) in Prussia, and the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. Despite its fortifications, it was besieged and captured by Russian troops during a Siege . Consequently, from 1757 to 1762 the town, along with the rest of eastern Prussia, was dependent on the Russian Empire. After this war ended, the maintenance of the fortress was neglected, but the town's growth continued.
Memel became part of the newly formed province of East Prussia within the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773. In the second half of the 18th century, Memel's lax customs and Riga's high duties enticed English traders, who established the first industrial sawmills in the town. In 1784, 996 ships arrived in Memel, 500 of which were English. The specialisation in wood manufacturing guaranteed Memel's merchants income and stability for more than a hundred years. During this era, it also normalised its trade relations with Königsberg; regional instability had degraded relations since the 16th century.
Memel prospered during the second half of the 18th century by exporting timber to Great Britain for use by the Royal Navy. In 1792, 756 British ships visited the town to transport lumber from forests near Memel. In 1800, its imports consisted chiefly of salt, iron and herrings; the exports, which greatly exceeded the imports, were corn, hemp, flax, and, particularly, timber. The 1815 Encyclopædia Britannica stated that Memel was "provided with the finest harbour in the Baltic".
During the Napoleonic Wars, Memel became the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Prussia. Between 1807 and 1808, the town was the residence of King Frederick William III, his consort Louise, his court, and the government. On 9 October 1807 the king signed a document in Memel, later called the October Edict, which abolished serfdom in Prussia. It originated the reforms of Karl Freiherr vom und zum Stein and Karl August von Hardenberg. The land around Memel suffered major economic setbacks under Napoleon Bonaparte's Continental System. During Napoleon's retreat from Moscow after the failed invasion of Russia in 1812, General Yorck refused Marshal MacDonald's orders to fortify Memel at Prussia's expense.
During the January Uprising, in June 1863, Polish insurgents made an unsuccessful attempt at a naval landing near the city's harbor.
After the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, Memel became Germany's northernmost city.
The development of the town in the 19th century was influenced by the Industrial Revolution in Prussia, as well as urbanisation. Even though the population of Memel increased fourfold during the 19th century, and had risen to 21,470 by 1910, its pace of development lagged in comparison. The reasons for this were mostly political. Memel was the northernmost and easternmost city in Germany, and although the government was engaged in a very costly tree-planting exercise to stabilise the sand-dunes on the Curonian Spit, most of the financial infusions in the province of East Prussia were concentrated in Königsberg, the capital of the province. Some notable instances of the German infrastructure investments in the area included sandbar blasting and a new ship canal between Pillau and Königsberg, which enabled vessels of up to 6.5 m draughts to moor alongside the city, at a cost of 13 million marks.
Owing to the absence of heavy industry in the 1870s and 1880s, the population of Memel stagnated, although wood manufacturing persisted as the main industry. It remained the central point of the Baltic timber-trade. A British Consul was located in the town in 1800; in 1900 a British Vice-Consul was recorded there, as well as a Lloyd's Agent.
By 1900 steamer services had been established between Memel and Cranz (on the southern end of the Curonian Spit), and also between Memel and Tilsit. A main-line railway was built from Insterburg, the main East Prussian railway junction, to St. Petersburg via Eydtkuhnen, the Prussian frontier station. The Memel line also ran from Insterburg via Tilsit, where a further direct line connected with Königsberg, that crossed the 4-kilometre-wide (2+1⁄2-mile) Memel Valley over three bridges before its arrival in Memel.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Klaipėda”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.