Early history Tilsit developed around a castle of the
Teutonic Knights, known as the Schalauer Haus, founded in 1288. In 1454, King
Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region to the
Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the
Prussian Confederation, which rebelled against the Teutonic Order. After the subsequent
Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), the settlement became a
fief of Poland held by the Teutonic Knights, and thus was located within the
Polish–Lithuanian union, later elevated to the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was granted
town rights by
Albert, Duke of Prussia in 1552. The town was predominantly Lutheran by confession. The town developed thanks to its favorable riverside location, becoming an important place for Polish grain transit and
linseed trade. Following a legal dispute with the nearby town of
Ragnit, it was decided that Tilsit would have exclusive rights to purchase and store Polish grain in the area. In 1586, a provincial school was established. In 1647 a guild of traders and brewers was established. A Reformed school was built in 1701–1703. As of 1552, there was one church, in which Lithuanian and German services were held, but soon a new separate Lithuanian church was built. Notable 17th-century preachers were
Daniel Klein, author of
Grammatica Litvanica, the first grammar book of the Lithuanian language, and Jan Malina, author of Polish religious works and
panegyrics, including one of the oldest Polish hymnals, and simultaneously
superintendent of the Lutheran congregations of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Polish Doręgowski, Kospot-Pawłowski and Pierzcha noble families lived in Moritzkehmen (now within town limits). The Doręgowski family built a chapel in 1663, renovated in 1692, in which Polish, Lithuanian and German Catholic services were held by the
Jesuits. In 1725, 1732 and 1738, King
Frederick William I of Prussia ordered the expulsion of the Jesuits from the town, but after interventions by Polish
bishops of Warmia, they were allowed to stay. In the winter of 1678–1679, during the
Scanian War, the town was occupied by
Sweden. Over 1,000 people died during the
Great Northern War plague outbreak in 1709–1710. During the
Seven Years' War, in 1757–1762, the town was under
Russian control. During the
January Uprising, a branch of the Polish insurgent organization from
Königsberg was based in the city. It was involved in arms trafficking to insurgents in nearby
Samogitia. Several Lithuanian newspapers and magazines were published in the city, including
Auszra, Šviesa, Varpas, Ūkininkas and
Apžvalga. , between 1910 and 1930 In the 19th century, there were four churches in the town: two Lutheran (one Lithuanian and one German), one Calvinist, and one Catholic, as well as a synagogue. The local Lithuanian population was subjected to
Germanisation policies, intensified after the city became part of the
German Empire in 1871, which resulted in a decrease in the share of Lithuanians in the town's population. In 1877, weekly German-language services were introduced in the Lithuanian church, alongside the Lithuanian services. The bridge was built in 1907 and rebuilt in 1946. The town was occupied by Russian troops
between 26 August 1914 and 12 September 1914 during
World War I. The
Act of Tilsit was signed here by leaders of the
Lietuvininks in 1918. In 1938, six districts of the city were renamed by the Nazis to erase traces of non-German origin.
World War II and post-war period Hitler visited the town just before
World War II, and a photo was taken of him on the famous bridge over the
Neman River. During the war, the Germans operated a
forced labour subcamp of the
Stalag I-A prisoner-of-war camp for
Allied POWs in the town, and
expelled Poles from
German-occupied Poland were also enslaved as forced labour in the town's vicinity. Tilsit was occupied by the
Red Army on January 20, 1945 (during the
East Prussian offensive), and was annexed by the
Soviet Union in 1945. The remaining
Germans who had not
evacuated were subsequently
expelled in accordance with the
Potsdam Agreement and replaced with Soviet citizens. The town was renamed Sovetsk in honor of
Soviet rule. Modern Sovetsk has sought to take advantage of Tilsit's tradition of
cheese production (
Tilsit cheese), but the new name ("Sovetsky cheese") has not inherited its predecessor's reputation. Since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there has been some discussion about the possibility of restoring the town's original name. In 2010, the Kaliningrad Oblast's then-governor
Georgy Boos of the ruling
United Russia Party proposed restoring the original name and combining the town with the
Neman and
Slavsk Districts to form a new Tilsit District. Boos emphasized that this move would stimulate development and economic growth, but that it could happen only through a referendum. The idea was opposed by the
Communist Party of Russia; in particular, Igor Revin, the Kaliningrad Secretary of the Communist Party, accused Boos and United Russia of
Germanophilia. In April 2007, government restrictions on visits to border areas were tightened, and for foreigners, and Russians living outside the border zone, travel to the Sovetsk and
Bagrationovsk areas required advance permission from the Border Guard Service (in some cases up to 30 days beforehand). It was alleged that this procedure slowed the development of these potentially thriving border towns. In June 2012, these restrictions were lifted (the only restricted area is the Neman river shoreline), which gave a boost to local and international tourism. ==Geography==