Population (1970 est.) 0 inhabitants | Area 0.6 km (0.23 sq mi) Time zone USZ1 (UTC+02:00) | |
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Klaipeda narmeln avi
Narmeln (Russian: Нармельн, Polish: Polski), prior to 1946 also known by its popular German name Polski, is an abandoned village in the Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit. Narmeln is the westernmost point of Russia. There is no civil population.
Contents
- Klaipeda narmeln avi
- Geographical location
- Coaching inn and border station
- World War II
- Post war changes
- Historical names
- Nature
- References
Narmeln is one of the very few places whose name was not changed when northern East Prussia was annexed to the Soviet Union.
Geographical location
Narmeln is located about 35 kilometres (22 miles) south-west of Baltiysk. The westernmost point of Russia is located on the Poland–Russia border nearby. (54°27′29.4″N 19°38′21″E)
Coaching inn and border station
The southern part of the Vistula spit had been given around 1470 by the Teutonic Knights to the city of Danzig (Gdańsk). In 1489 the innkeeper Hans Voyte got the permission to open a coaching inn in a place called Ermelen. In 1525 Narmeln became the border station between the territories of Danzig in Royal or Polish Prussia and the Duchy of Prussia.
Narmeln was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1793, in the Second Partition of Poland. During the era of Napoleon Bonaparte the village became border of the free city in the period extending from 1807 to 1814. In 1815 it became part of West Prussia.
After the creation of the Free City of Danzig in accordance with the terms of the Versailles Treaty Narmeln was joined with the area around Elbing (Elbląg) to German East Prussia.
World War II
At the beginning of World War II Narmeln became a village again in West Prussia. In 1945 the spit has been the last holdout of the remaining German soldiers in East and West Prussia. After the occupation of Tolkemit (Tolkmicko) on January 26, the German refugees fled over the ice of the Vistula Lagoon from Passarge (Nowa Pasłęka) to Narmeln. The village was eventually captured by the Red Army on April 30, 1945.
Post-war changes
After the war, the northern part of East Prussia passed to the Soviet Union and the German inhabitants were expelled. Narmeln was the only place in West Prussia, which had been transferred to the Soviets. Located almosted on the border to Poland the village became a deserted place. Border crossings are not allowed on the spit, the Russian part is an exclusion zone.
Historical names
Ermelen (1489), Narmeln (after 1489), Narmeln, Polski (1660), Narmeln, Polski, Polsk (until 1945).
Nature
Narmeln had been famous for the largest moving dune with a height between 26 and 45 meters on the Vistula spit. In 1926 a youth hostel had been opened.