Primorsk

Geschichte

Primorsk, prior to 1946 known by its German name Fischhausen, is a town in Baltiysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Vistula Lagoon.Its population is compared to.GeographyThe town is located in the southwest of the Sambia Peninsula (Samland). It is situated by a bay on the northern shore of the Vistula Lagoon, about 30km west of the administrative centre Kaliningrad.HistoryThe site has been associated with the name of St. Adalbert of Prague, supposedly beheaded nearby in 997 by the pagan Sambians after he destroyed their sacred oak grove. In 1254 the Old Prussian Samland territory was conquered by forces of the Teutonic Order, led by King Ottokar II of Bohemia, during the Prussian Crusade.Upon the division of the conquered lands, the Bishop of Samland had a castle erected at the site named Schonewik (derived from Old Prussian: Skanevīs). First mentioned in a 1268 deed, it is one of the oldest in the region. A settlement was laid out from 1299 onwards and its citizens, mainly descending from Stralsund in the Danish Principality of Rügen, received a first town charter in 1305. As the episcopal residence of the Samland bishops, it was called Bischoveshusen or shortly Vischhusen from about 1325. The richly endowed Gothic parish church was one of the oldest in the province.