Nesterov

Nesterov (Не́стеров), until 1938 known by its German name Stallupönen (Stalupėnai; Stołupiany) and in 1938-1946 as Ebenrode, is a town and the administrative center of Nesterovsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located east of Kaliningrad, near the Russian-Lithuanian border on the railway connecting Kaliningrad Oblast with Moscow. Population figures: In the Middle Ages, the area in Old Prussia had been settled by the Nadruvian tribe of the Baltic Prussians. It was conquered by the Teutonic Knights in about 1276 and incorporated into the State of the Teutonic Order. From the 15th century onwards, the Knights largely resettled the lands with Samogitian and Lithuanian colonists. Since 1466, it was part of the Kingdom of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Order. The settlement itself was first mentioned as Stallupoenen, or Stallupönen, in 1539, named after a nearby river called Stalupė in Lithuanian. At that time, with the secularization of the Order's Prussian lands in 1525, Stallupönen had already become part of the Duchy of Prussia, a Polish fief which in 1618 was inherited by the Hohenzollern margraves of Brandenburg. Stallupönen then belonged to Brandenburg-Prussia and became a part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. The population was decimated during the Great Northern War plague outbreak in 1710. The settlement was resettled by Lithuanian and German colonists in the following years. King Frederick William I granted it town privileges in 1722. Lithuanian poet Kristijonas Donelaitis was the rector of the local school in 1740–1743. Like other cities in the region during the Seven Years' War between 1757 and 1762, it was occupied by the Russian forces. It became part of the newly formed Province of East Prussia in 1773. During the Prussian-led unification of Germany, Stallupönen became a part of the German Empire in 1871. In 1885, the town had a largely Lithuanian-speaking population of 4,181, often employed in agriculture. With the construction of railways, the town became well-acquainted to travelers, as it was the last stop on the German-Russian frontier.