Narmeln

Narmeln (English)
Narmeln, Polski (German)
-  Abandoned village  -
(abolished)

View of Narmeln (before 1930)

Location of Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia
Narmeln
Location of Narmeln in Kaliningrad Oblast
Coordinates: 54°28′01″N 19°40′06″E / 54.46694°N 19.66833°E / 54.46694; 19.66833Coordinates: 54°28′01″N 19°40′06″E / 54.46694°N 19.66833°E / 54.46694; 19.66833
Administrative status
Country Russia
Federal subject Kaliningrad Oblast[1]
Administrative district Baltiysky District[1]
Statistics
Area 0.6 km2 (0.23 sq mi)
Population (1970 est.) 0 inhabitants[1]
Time zone USZ1 (UTC+02:00)[2]
Coaching inn 1489[1]
Previous names Ermelen (until 1489),[1]
Narmeln (until 1945),[1]
Polski (until 1945)[1]
Abolished 1945[1]

Narmeln (Russian: Нармельн, Polish: Polski), prior to 1946 also known by its popular German name Polski,[1] 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.

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 / 54.458167°N 19.63917°E / 54.458167; 19.63917 (Vistula Spit (Westernmost point)))

History

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

East Prussian Refugees after crossing the Lagoon

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

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1905242    
1910257+6.2%
1920274+6.6%
1933278+1.5%
1939294[3]+5.8%

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.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Georg Mielcarczyk, Narmeln-Neukrug-Vöglers. Ein Kirchspiel auf der Frischen Nehrung, Bremerhaven, 1971. (German)
  2. Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №248-ФЗ от 21 июля 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #248-FZ of July 21, 2014 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  3. westpreussen.de: Narmeln (German)

Sources

External links

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