Smalininkai | |
|---|---|
City | |
) Piers on the Nemunas River in Smalininkai | |
) Flag ) Coat of arms | |
| Nickname(s): Smolnis | |
)  Smalininkai Location of Smalininkai | |
| Coordinates: 55°5′0″N 22°34′0″E / 55.08333°N 22.56667°E | |
| Country |  Lithuania |
| Ethnographic region | Lithuania Minor |
| County | Tauragė County |
| Municipality | Jurbarkas District Municipality |
| Eldership | Smalininkai eldership |
| Capital of | Smalininkai eldership |
| First mentioned | 15th century |
| Granted city rights | 1945 |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Total | 621 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Smalininkai () is a small city in Lithuania. It is located on the right bank of the Neman River, 12 km (7.5 mi) west from Jurbarkas. It was part of German East Prussia and was called Schmalleningken from 1422 to 1945. Between 1923–1939 and since World War II, it has been part of Lithuania.
Name
The name describes a place of tar and pitch burners ("smala": tar, pitch; -ingken: village).
History
Since 1422 Treaty of Melno, Schmalleningken was a border village at the Lithuanian-German customs frontier. In 1792 it was appointed to a market town. In 1845 the village became a parish and 1878 a church was built there. In 1902 a light railway was built from Pogegen to Schmalleningken. In 1925, the village had 1,741 inhabitants and was incorporated into the Landkreis Tilsit-Ragnit in 1939.
Literature
- Kurschat, Heinrich A.: Das Buch vom Memelland, Siebert Oldenburg 1968