Coat of arms Flag Area 8 km² | Town of district significance Krasnoznamensk Local time Saturday 7:02 AM | |
 | ||
Weather 2°C, Wind SW at 13 km/h, 93% Humidity | ||
Krasnoznamensk (Russian: Краснозна́менск), prior to 1938 known by its German name Lasdehnen and in 1938-1946 as Haselberg (Lithuanian: Lazdynai) is a town and the administrative center of Krasnoznamensky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Sheshupe River, 163 kilometers (101 mi) northeast of Kaliningrad, the administrative center of the oblast, and approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) to the south of the border with Lithuania. Population: 3,522 (2010 Census).
Contents
- Map of Krasnoznamensk Kaliningradskaya Oblast Russia 238730
- History
- Administrative and municipal status
- Population trends
- Ethnic composition
- References
Map of Krasnoznamensk, Kaliningradskaya Oblast, Russia, 238730
After 1701 and until the unification of Germany, the town was politically in Prussia and remained a part of Germany from 1871 until 1945. Lithuanian influence is also a long-standing feature of the town.
History
The earliest surviving German-language record of the place dates from 1521 under the name Haselpusch (lit. hazel bush), while Russian sources give the date of the earliest record as 1576. Other sources state that it was established in 1734. In the early 18th century, the name changed to Lasdehnen, based on the Old Prussian/Lithuanian word for hazel bushes.
The village had a church by 1578 but it burned down in 1661 and the replacement building had to be taken down in 1869 due to severe structural defects. The current Gothic Revival church was built between 1874 and 1877.
With nationalism still in the ascendancy across most of Europe, the German Nazi government Germanized the Old Prussian name of Lasdehnen to Hasselberg (lit. hazel mountain) in 1938.
By 1945, the regional capital of Schloßberg (usually remembered in Germany by its pre-1938 name "Pillkallen") had been destroyed during the course of World War II and Haselberg took over Pillikallen's former administrative functions. The ethnic German population had largely fled before the advance of the Red Army in 18 January 1945, and after the end of World War II, the territory was annexed by the Soviet Union. The Soviets renamed the town as Krasnoznamensk (lit. Red Banner Town) in 7 April 1946.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Krasnoznamensk serves as the administrative center of Krasnoznamensky District. As an administrative division, it is, together with two rural localities, incorporated within Krasnoznamensky District as the town of district significance of Krasnoznamensk.
Within the framework of municipal divisions, since May 5, 2015, the territories of the town of district significance of Krasnoznamensk and of three rural okrugs of Krasnoznamensky District are incorporated as Krasnoznamensky Urban Okrug. Before that, the town of district significance was incorporated within Krasnoznamensky Municipal District as Krasnoznamenskoye Urban Settlement.
Population trends
Ethnic composition
Lithuanians make up a significant portion of the population. Lithuanian cultural organizations exist in the town, which is in the ethnographic region known as Lithuania Minor.
Where religion is recorded from the census process, pre-1945 census data show the religious affiliation of the population as Prussian evangelical.