Evacuation of East PrussiaThe evacuation of East Prussia was the movement of German civilian population and military personnel from East Prussia between 20 January and March 1945, that was initially organized and carried out by state authorities but quickly turned into a chaotic flight from the Red Army. A part of the evacuation of German civilians towards the end of World War II, these events are not to be confused with the expulsion from East Prussia that followed after the war had ended.
Prussian CrusadeThe Prussian Crusade was a series of 13th-century campaigns of Roman Catholic crusaders, primarily led by the Teutonic Knights, to Christianize under duress the pagan Old Prussians. Invited after earlier unsuccessful expeditions against the Prussians by Christian Polish kings, the Teutonic Knights began campaigning against the Prussians, Lithuanians and Samogitians in 1230.
Königsberg (region)Regierungsbezirk Königsberg was a Regierungsbezirk, or government region, of the Prussian province of East Prussia from 1815 until 1945. The regional capital was Königsberg (since 1946, Kaliningrad). In 1808 during the Napoleonic Wars, East Prussia was divided into Regierungsbezirke Gumbinnen and Königsberg, comprising the western parts of the former Duchy of Prussia and the territory of the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, annexed by Prussia in 1772. On November 1, 1905, the southern districts of the two regions were separated to create Regierungsbezirk Allenstein.
LandwehrLandwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fortifications. In German, the word means "defence of the country"; but the term as applied to an insurrectional militia is very ancient, and lantveri are mentioned in Baluzii Capitularia, as quoted in Hallam's Middle Ages, i. 262, 10th edition.
Kaliningrad OblastKaliningrad Oblast (Калининградская область) is the westernmost federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and administrative centre of the province (oblast) is the city of Kaliningrad, formerly known as Königsberg. The port city of Baltiysk is Russia's only port on the Baltic Sea that remains ice-free in winter. Kaliningrad Oblast had a population of roughly 1 million in the Russian Census of 2021.
GvardeyskGvardeysk (Гварде́йск), known prior to 1946 by its German name Tapiau () (Tepliava; Tapiawa/Tapiewo), is a town and the administrative center of Gvardeysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pregolya River east of Kaliningrad. Population figures: It is located within the historic region of Sambia. Peter of Dusburg wrote of a settlement known as Tapiow, first documented in 1254, and the neighboring fort Surgurbi built by 1265.
BagrationovskBagrationovsk (Багратио́новск; Preußisch Eylau, Prussian Eylau; Pruska Iława or Iławka; Ylava or Prūsų Ylava) is a town and the administrative center of Bagrationovsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located close to the border with Poland, south of Kaliningrad, the administrative center of the oblast. It has a population of In 1325, the Teutonic Knights built an Ordensburg castle called "Yladia" or "Ilaw", later known as "Preussisch Eylau", in the center of the Old Prussian region Natangia.
Sambia PeninsulaSambia (Самбийский полуостров) or Samland (Земландский полуостров) or Kaliningrad Peninsula (official name, Калининградский полуостров, Kaliningradsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The peninsula is bounded by the Curonian Lagoon to the north-east, the Vistula Lagoon in the southwest, the Pregolya River in the south, and the Deyma River in the east. As Sambia is surrounded on all sides by water, it is technically an island.
PolesskPolessk (Поле́сск; Labiau; Labguva; Labiawa) is a town and the administrative center of Polessky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Kaliningrad, the administrative center of the oblast, at the junction of a main road and a railroad at the Deyma River, shortly before it enters the Curonian Lagoon. Population figures: 4,744 (1885). The Polessk Canal begins in the town. It was founded in the 13th century, by the Teutonic Order who erected a castle there and named it Labiau.
Kulm lawKulm law, Culm law or Chełmno Law (Kulmer Recht; Jus Culmense vetus; Prawo chełmińskie) was a legal constitution for a municipal form of government used in several Central European cities during the Middle Ages. It was initiated on 28 December 1233 in the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights by Hochmeister Hermann von Salza and Hermann Balk when the towns of Thorn (Toruń) and Chełmno (Kulm) received German town law, in particular as a modification of Magdeburg rights.
