Birštonas

	Birštonas
	coat of arms
	coat of arms
State :	Lithuania
District :	Marijampolė
Municipality :	Birštonas
Coordinates :	54 ° 36 ' N , 24 ° 2' E Coordinates: 54 ° 36 ' N , 24 ° 2' E
Area (place) :	13 km²
Community area :	124 km²
Inhabitants (place) :	3,164 (2008)
Population density :	243 inhabitants per km²
Inhabitant (municipality) :	5,256
Population density :	42 inhabitants per km²
Time zone :	EET (UTC + 2)
Postal code :	59009
Status:	City and ; “genuine” community
Website :	www.birstonas.lt
	Birštonas
	Birštonas

Aerial view of the city center

The Memel ( Nemunas ) in Birštonas

Church in Birštonas

Birštonas (German, 18th century: Birschtannen ) is a spa town in the southern part of Lithuania . The city is the seat of the Birštonas municipality in the Kaunas district . The name of the town is derived from biržtva ("birch grove").

geography

The city Birštonas located 39 km south of Kaunas and 7 km south-east of Prienai , on the right bank of the river Neman ( Nemunas ). Birštonas is located in the Memel Loop Regional Park . You can swim in the three man-made lakes in the city. 3136 people live in the urban area of 13 km².

history

The salty springs are mentioned as early as 1382 in the Marburg Wiegand Chronicle of the Teutonic Order . In the Middle Ages, the Lithuanian grand princes took a rest after the hunt at Birštonas Castle . The 30-meter-high Birštonas Hill ( Vytautas Hill) is one of the most famous hills in Lithuania, as the wooden castle and the adjoining estate of Grand Duke Vytautas were located there at the end of the 16th century.

Birštonas health resort became famous for its mineral water. After the springs were only occasionally visited by aristocratic hunting parties, a real spa began in 1846. After severe damage in World War I , the Lithuanian Red Cross established sanatorium no.1 here .

The international Birštonas jazz festival has been held here every two years in March in the cultural center since 1980 .

Also, the winter sports is conveyed in Birštonas, there are two ski slopes (160 and 300 feet) available with a ski lift, are illuminated at night.

Health resort

In 1846, healing with the Birštonas mineral water was officially recognized. Birstonas has also had the oldest mineral water bottling company (brands Vytautas and Birutė ) in Lithuania since 1924 .

Sanatoriums

There are some health clinics and sanatoriums (with springs). In addition to vacation options, there are cures including accommodation, full board, many spa treatments (massages, mud baths, bathing and drinking cures, etc.) and specialist medical examinations, not necessarily just for rehabilitation purposes.

Services

Numerous sanatoriums offer various mineral water and mud procedures with mineral baths, medicinal inhalations, movement therapies and other applications.

These disorders are treated in the Birštonas health clinics:

Stomach and intestinal diseases
Traumatological and orthopedic diseases
Peripheral nervous system diseases
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and the like a.

There is also the “Birštoner Höft” ( Birštono vienkiemis ), a large senior citizens' center, on the southern outskirts of the city .

people

Rimantas Kočiūnas (* 1953), Lithuanian psychologist, professor, psychotherapist, founder of existential psychology in the post-Soviet space
Nikodim Siliwanowitsch (1834–1919), Belarusian painter