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{{Infobox settlement <!--more fields are available for this Infobox--See Template:Infobox Settlement-->
| name = Memel
| nickname = Uostamiestis (port city)
| settlement_type = City municipality
| image_skyline = Klaipeda.jpg
| map_caption    =Location of Klaipėda
|latd=55|latm=42|lats=40|latNS=N|longd=21|longm=07|longs=50|longEW=E|
| coordinates_display= inline,title
| coordinates_type =region:LT_type:city(186000)
| image_map = LietuvaKlaipeda.png
| image_flag = Klaipeda City Flag.svg
| image_shield = Klaipeda City Arms.svg
| subdivision_type = [[Countries of the world|Country]]
| subdivision_name = {{LTU}}
| subdivision_name1= [[Lithuania minor]]
| subdivision_type1= [[Regions of Lithuania|Ethnographic&nbsp;region]]
| subdivision_name2= [[Klaipėda County]]
| subdivision_type2= [[Counties of Lithuania|County]]
| subdivision_name3= Klaipėda city municipality
| subdivision_type3= [[List of municipalities of Lithuania|Municipality]]
| subdivision_type6= [[Capital (political)|Capital of]]
| subdivision_name6= [[Klaipėda County]] <br> Klaipėda city municipality
| parts_type       = [[Elderships of Lithuania|Elderships]]
| p1               = Melnragė and Giruliai
| parts_style      = para
| established_date = 1252
| established_title= First mentioned
| established_date2= 1254
| established_title2=Granted [[Magdeburg rights|city rights]]
| population_total = 158,541<ref>[http://db1.stat.gov.lt/statbank/selectvarval/saveselections.asp?MainTable=M3010210&PLanguage=1&TableStyle=&Buttons=&PXSId=3239&IQY=&TC=&ST=ST&rvar0=&rvar1=&rvar2=&rvar3=&rvar4=&rvar5=&rvar6=&rvar7=&rvar8=&rvar9=&rvar10=&rvar11=&rvar12=&rvar13=&rvar14= Population at the beginning of the year by town / city] {{en icon}}</ref>
| population_footnotes=
| population_as_of = 2013
| area_total_km2   = 110
| elevation_m      = 21
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code      = 91100-96226
| area_code        = (+370) 46
|timezone          = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
|utc_offset        = +2
|timezone_DST      = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
|utc_offset_DST    = +3
|website           = {{URL|http://www.klaipeda.lt}}
}}

'''Memel''' (Lithuanian: '''Klaipeda''') is an ice-free port on the [[Baltic Sea]] at the entrance to the ''Kurische Haff'', at the mouth of the river Memel (or Niemen) (some 2.5 miles wide). In 1904 the city itself had a population of some 20,000 people<ref>Baedeker, Karl, ''Northern Germany'', London & Leipzig, 1904, p.178.</ref>, in 1920, some 30,000<ref>''The Polish Corridor and the Consequences'' by Sir Robert Donald, G.B.E., LL.D., London, 1928, chapter XIV: "The Misfortunes of Memel"</ref> and in 1940 the population was 45,000. In the 1910 German census the territory of '''Memelland''', which included the city, had 149,766 people.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year 1938'', London, p.410.</ref> Since the end of [[World War II]] it has been occupied by [[Lithuania]] and in 1983 the territory had an estimated population of 183,000.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica'', 15th edition, 1990, Micropaedia, vol.6, p.902.</ref>

==History==
[[File:Memel_ancient.png|340px|thumb|After the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), [[East Prussia|Prussia]] had become a Polish ''fief'' though still held by the [[Teutonic Knights]]. Memel adopted [[Lutheranism]] after the conversion of Grand Master Albert of Prussia and the creation of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525. Brandenburg-Prussia began active participation in regional policy in 1618, after the Prussian Hohenzollern ''fief'' was passed on to the senior Brandenburg Hohenzollern line, the ruling Margraves and Prince-electors of Brandenburg, itself a fief of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. By the beginning of the 18th century, Memel was one of the strongest fortresses (''Memelfestung'') in [[Prussia]], and the town became part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] in 1701. Memel became part of the newly formed province of [[East Prussia]] within the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773. During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Memel became the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Prussia. Between 1807 and 1808, the town was the residence of King [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Friedrich Wilhelm III]], his wife Queen Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie Herzogin zu Mecklenburg (1776–1810), his court, and the government.]]
A wooden stockade built here by local fishermen was seized and destroyed in 1252 by the [[Teutonic Knights]] who built a new fortress which they named Memelburg. The town and adjacent territory of about 1000 square miles, sometimes called the Memelland, were settled by Germans,<ref>Britannica, 1990, p.902.</ref> and it became the northernmost town in [[Prussia]] and the central point of the Baltic timber trade.<ref> Baedeker, 1904, p.178.</ref> In the winter of 1323 a heathen Lithuanian army took and devastated Memel, killing most of its Christian inhabitants.<ref>Christiansen, Eric, ''The Northern Crusades'', London, 1980, p.154. ISBN 0-333-26243-3</ref> 

In the early 1500s, when the Teutonic Order in Prussia were becoming secularised, the only Prussian brother who declared against the new [[Protestant]] Duke of Prussia was the Commander of Memel, Eric of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel.<ref>Christiansen, 1980, p.239.</ref> Following the Treaty of Konigsberg (January 17, 1656) Prussian harbours, including Memel, were opened to the Swedes, who divided the harbour dues with themselves. However this was shortlived.<ref>Koch, H.W. Professor, ''A History of Prussia'', 2nd edition, London, 1984, p.54. ISBN 0-582-48190-2</ref> 

Despite attacks and occupations over the centuries by Lithuanians, Poles, Swedes and Russians, Memel itself remained German in population and character and became a flourishing port, a member of the Hanseatic League,<ref>Newman, Bernard, ''Danger Spots of Europe'', London, 1938, p.170.</ref> whereas its rural hinterland was more or less evenly divided between German and Lithuanian populations.<ref>Britannica, 1938, p.410.</ref>

===Lithuanian occupation===
On October 9, 1920 the [[Poland|Poles]], under General Zeligovski, had invaded [[Vilnius|Vilna]] in [[Lithuania]], driving out the Lithuanian garrison, and proclaimed the city and its province part of [[Poland]]. Appeals by the ''de facto'' government of Lithuania<ref>Butler/Bury/Lambert, editors, ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'', First Series, vol.xi, HMSO, London, 1961, p.732, telegram 696 where Lord Curzon points out to Lord Harding (Paris) that both the state and the government of Lithuania were at present ''de facto'' only.</ref> to the [[League of Nations]] were futile. Lithuania, thus instructed in the advantages of 'direct action', on January 10, 1923, imitating the Poles, made a surprise attack upon the Memel territory and city, then supposedly under League protection, forcing, with some street fighting, the French High Commissioner and his troops there to surrender and evacuate. The Allies and the League of Nations confronted with another ''fait accompli'' were forced to accept another humiliation. Lithuania now had an outlet to the sea.<ref>Powell, E.Alexander, ''Embattled Borders'', London, 1928, p.313-4.</ref> 

Through a convention suggested by a Commission of the League, accepted in March 1924, a measure of autonomy for the local inhabitants, overwhelmingly German, and rights of transit for Poland (despite that country being far distant), Memel was left in Lithuania's hands.<ref>Gathorne-Hardy, G.M., ''International Affairs 1920 to 1934'', Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, May 1936, p.89.</ref> Despite the so-called autonomy, the Governor of the Memelland was an appointed Lithuanian and from 1926 Martial Law was imposed. The Germans complained bitterly of "oppression", declined to have anything to do with the Lithuanian language, and began non-co-operation initiatives. Also, the first Landtag (district government), elected in October 1925, was composed of 27 Germans and 2 Lithuanians, a striking indication of the German sympathies of the Memellanders, even of those whose mother-tongue was Lithuanian. The Lithuanian Government, irritated by this, declared the council non-effective and resorted to other tactics. 

In 1934-5, 538 German employees were dismissed, along with large numbers of other government employees, right down to local police, postmen etc., who could not speak Lithuanian. This resulted, for instance, in Lithuanian school teachers being imposed upon the schools, in charge of German children, the scholars understanding scarcely a word the teachers spoke. People were unable to read signs in post offices. This resulted in violent unrest in Memel with wholesale arrests - 126 of them, all tried ''en masse'' by a court martial for "treason", almost all being found guilty with four sentenced to death. There was violent fury in [[Germany]] as a result and the Lithuanian President used his power of reprieve. However before the elections of September 1935 German newspapers were illegally suppressed and four candidates were deprived of their citizenship to prevent their election. In addition 9000 additional Lithuanians were given the vote. Naturally this produced more demonstrations and protests in the Landtag. The treatment of the Memellanders by Lithuania is well-documented and was widely reported. As with [[Danzig]] Germany wanted the return of Memel to the Fatherland, and in 1938 German troops were ready to recover Memel, in the event of a Lithuanian-Polish war, but this did not occur.<ref>Britannica, 1938, p.410.</ref><ref>Newman, 1938, 171-7.</ref><ref>Gunther, John, ''Inside Europe'', revised edition, London, December 1937, p.433-4: "the Lithuanians have treated the Germans none too gently."</ref> 

===Return to Prussia===
After conferences between the German & Lithuanian Governments' representatives in March 1939, an Agreement was reached and signed on March 23 transferring Memel and her territory back to German sovereignty. Hitler made a triumphal entry to Memel by sea on board the heavy cruiser ''Deutschland''.<ref>Watt, Donald Cameron, ''How War Came'', London, 1989, p.156-7. ISBN 0-434-84216-8</ref>

===World War II===
Memel, being the northernmost city in [[East Prussia]] ([[Eastern Germany]]), suffered little during [[World War II]], but became vulnerable as the [[Soviet Union]]’s army slowly began to drive the German army back. The Red Army broke into Memelland at the beginning of October 1944, their first incursion on German soil. The order for civilians to try and evacuate Memel was issued on the 7th. By the 10th, Memel itself was encircled, and the Soviet forces had broken through to the Baltic Sea between Memel and [[Libau]] in [[Latvia]]. By the 23rd the Memel district had to be given up and German troops retreated behind the river Memel (or ''Nieman'').<ref>Schieder, Professor Theodor, editor, ''The Expulsion of the German Population from the Territories East of the Oder-Neisse Line'', Federal Ministry for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims, [[Bonn]], 1954, vol.1, p.10-11.</ref>

Although some of the population were already fleeing, others continued working. After the Soviets reached the ''Haff'' to the south of the city it was impossible to leave by land, and those who had attempted to escape via [[Tilsit]] were caught by the Soviets. On October 20th, Soviet army units had committed terrible [[atrocities]] and murders against trekking civilians just south of [[Gumbinnen]] and news of these caused people to want to flee. A steady stream were able to escape over the frozen ''Kurische Nehrung'' right up to January 1945, firstly being ferried and then trekking across the ice. 

Many were killed during this flight due to Soviet air attacks on the endless columns of people, the dropping of bombs to break up the ice, drowning, freezing to death, hunger, thirst and exhaustion. However, about 100,000 people fell into the hands of Soviet troops in the Memel territory and the district of Gumbinnen in East Prussia, with up to 50,000 in Memel city. Unlike the other parts of East Prussia, there were practically no population expulsions from the Memel territory, which, post-war, was incorporated into the Soviet Republic of [[Lithuania]].<ref>Schieder, 1954, pps: 11-13 and 350.</ref>

==Scots at Memel==
Between the 16th and 18th centuries large numbers of [[Scotland|Scottish]] immigrants settled in Memel<ref>Fischer, Th.A., ''The Scots in Eastern and Western Prussia'', Edinburgh, 1903.</ref>; Scotch merchants are mentioned in Memel about 1604.<ref>Sembritzki, ''Geschichte Memels'', 1900.</ref> [[Immanuel Kant]], the famous philosopher, related how his grandfather Hans Cant, a harness and belt maker in Memel, had come from Scotland with his father.<ref>Fischer, Th.A., ''The Scots in Germany'', Edinburgh, 1902, p.231.</ref> The Governor of Memel in 1631 was Francis Ruthven, a Scot, and there was a Reformed ([[Presbyterian]]) congregation there, consisting mainly of Scottish and Dutch people, before 1640. This gradually became merged with that of the German 'Reformed Church' ([[Lutheran]]). 

In 1760, a Scottish immigrant (or descendant therefrom), John Simpson, gave a large donation when the rebuilding of the church was needed after damage done to it by Russian forces. Forty years later, in 1802, his cousin Ludwig Simpson, a rich Memel merchant, presented to the church the large sum of 8000 guilden, the interest of which was to be set aside for the raising of the schoolmaster's stipend.<ref>Fischer, 1902, p.193.</ref> A cadet branch of this Simpson family later became the proprietors of the famous horse stud at Trakhenan, near [[Insterburg]].

==People from Memel==
* Simon Dach (1605-59), author of ''Aennehen von Tharau'' was born in Memel.<ref> Baedeker, 1904, p.178.</ref>
* Johann Georg, the philosopher.<ref>Fischer, 1902, p.232.</ref>
* Julius Hermann Kröhl (1820–1867), inventor of "Sub Marine Explorer", the first [[submarine]] to successfully dive, cruise underwater, and resurface under the crew's control.
==Gallery==
<gallery widths="330" heights="250" perrow="3">
File:East_Prussia_Memelland_1789.png|Memelland (1789)
File:East Prussia Memel The Theatre (Schauspielhaus) built in 1819. In front is the Änchenbrunnen statue..png|Memel Theatre (Schauspielhaus) built in 1819. In front is the Änchenbrunnen statue.
File:Memel_harbour_1915.png|Memel harbour 1915
File:East Prussia Memel Libauerplatz.png|Memel [[Libau]]erplatz.
File:Memel_between_wars.png|Memelland under occupation.
File:East Prussia Memel Victoria Hotel 1920s.png|Memel, the Victoria Hotel, 1926.
File:Germans_retake_Memel,_23_Mar_1939.png||German naval troops (''Marine-Infabterie'') re-enter Memel March 23, 1939, following its return to the [[Vaterland|Fatherland]]. The banner reads: "This country will remain forever German."
File:Memelland_is_NOT_Lithuanian.png|Poster proclaims Memelland is NOT Lithuanian (''Endlich wieder deutsch!'' = "Finally German again!")
File:The Return of Memel Commemorative Medal, cased.png|[[Medal to Commemorate the Homecoming of the Memelland]] (''Medaille zur Erinnerung an die Heimkehr des Memellandes'')
File:East Prussia Memelland Crottingen railway station, 1944.png|Memelland Crottingen railway station, 1944.
File:East Prussia Memelland.png|Memelland.
File:Klaipeda.png|Memel today
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:German cities]]
[[Category:Towns of the Teutonic Order]]
[[Category:Towns in occupied Germany]]
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Lithuania]]
[[Category:Revanchism]]

[[de:Memel (Stadt)]]
[[pt:Memel]]