Jurbarkas

	Jurbarkas
coat of arms	flag
State :	Lithuania
District :	Tauragė
Rajong municipality :	Jurbarkas
Founded :	1343
Coordinates :	55 ° 5 ' N , 22 ° 46' E Coordinates: 55 ° 5 ' N , 22 ° 46' E
Area (place) :	13.28 km²
Community area :	1,507 km²
Inhabitants (place) :	12,972 (2010)
Population density :	977 inhabitants per km²
Inhabitant (municipality) :	35,616
Population density :	24 inhabitants per km²
Time zone :	EET (UTC + 2)
Telephone code :	(+370) (+370) 447
Postal code :	74001
Status:	city
Mayor :	Romualdas Kuras;
Postal address :	Dariaus ir Girėno g. 96 ; 74187 Jurbarkas
Website :	www.jurbarkas.lt
	Jurbarkas
	Jurbarkas

Listen to Jurbarkas ^?^/^I (German Georgenburg ; Russian Юрбург to 1917) is an urban district office of the same Rajongemeinde in southwestern Lithuania . It lies at the confluence of the Mituva into the Memel (Lithuanian Nemunas).

City history

The Memel at Jurbarkas

Trinity Church

Wooden synagogue in Jurbarkas in the 19th century

The name Jurbarkas comes from the German name Georgenburg (also Jurgenburg or Jurburg ). A first mention of this castle in 1259 cannot be clearly localized - this castle did not last long (until 1260). In the area of today's Jurbarkas, the Teutonic Order built a fortress on the right bank of the Memel in 1343 , which, next to the Bayerburg, formed one of the outposts on the border with Lithuania. In 1384 it was conquered and burned down by the Grand Duke Vytautas , and in 1387 it was rebuilt by the knights of the order. Until about 1396 the castle was called Bayerburg (after the actual Bayerburg at today's Maštaičiai was abandoned in 1387). In 1403 it was burned down again by Vytautas, this time for the last time.

The present-day town of Jurbarkas emerged after the Peace of Lake Melno in 1422 as a Lithuanian border settlement below the old Lithuanian castle hill Bišpilis ( Kolainiai castle , abandoned in 1291). In 1611 the place received city rights . In 1795 Jurbarkas was annexed by the Russian Empire after the Third Partition of Poland and belonged to the Kovno Governorate between 1843 and 1915 . The favorable location on the Memel had ensured continuous growth of the city up to the 19th century, after the construction of railways the remote city stagnated.

For centuries, Jurbarkas was a community in which many nationalities settled and also mixed. The group of Jews in the village was particularly large, with 2,550 Jewish citizens being given in 1862. They had their own cemetery and synagogue . Many Jews emigrated during the First World War , some came back afterwards. In 1940 the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, Jewish property was confiscated and its culture suppressed. Eventually Jurbarkas was occupied by German troops in World War II and other residents of the city were killed. In the 1990s, the city erected a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust .

Jurbarkas today

Important buildings are the town hall, the Catholic Trinity Church built between 1901 and 1907, the town hall from the 1970s, as well as schools and sports facilities.

The construction of a bridge over the Memel in 1978 improved the city's transport links to the road network.

Trade, craft, wood processing, agriculture with the processing facilities (dairy, meat and sausage production) form the focus of the economy in Jurbarkas with around 8,000 jobs.

In the city there is a sculpture museum, a museum for regional studies, libraries, sports and recreational facilities, a Roman Catholic. and an ev.-luth. Church as well as numerous clubs and folklore groups.

Jurbarkas maintains city partner agreements with the German city of Crailsheim and with the Berlin district of Lichtenberg .