Ukmergė
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ukmergė | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Location | |||
| Ethnographic region | Aukštaitija | ||
| County | Vilnius County | ||
| Municipality | Ukmergė district municipality | ||
| Elderate | Ukmergė town elderate | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| General Information | |||
| Capital of | Ukmergė district municipality Ukmergė town elderate |
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| Population | 28,759 in 2001 (15th) | ||
| First mentioned | 1333 | ||
| Granted city rights | 1486 | ||
Ukmergė (pronunciation (help·info), previously Vilkmergė, is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located 78 km (48 miles) northwest of Vilnius, with a population of 28,000 (2005).
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[edit] Early history
Ukmergė was first mentioned as a settlement in 1333[1]. It was essentially a wooden fortress that stood on a hill, near the confluence of the Vilkmergėlė River and the Šventoji River. Ukmergė was attacked by the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order in 1333, 1365, 1378, 1386, and 1391. During the last attack, it was burned to the ground and had to be completely rebuilt.
The region began to adopt Christianity, along with the rest of Lithuania, in 1386. In the following year, 1387, its first Catholic church, St. Peter and St. Paul, was built. It was one of the first Roman Catholic churches established in Lithuania. The town was granted municipal rights at some time after the Battle of Pabaiskas in 1435[2], and written sources dating from 1486 referred to it as a city. King Sigismund the Old confirmed these rights.
In 1655, the Swedish and Russian armies plundered the city. Because of these incessant wars, the growth of Ukmergė suffered many setbacks. In the years 1711-1712, the bubonic plague swept through the town and wreaked havoc upon its population. In 1792 Stanislaw August Poniatowski renewed the town's municipal rights and gave it its current Coat of Arms.
[edit] 18th and 19th century history
In 1795, the town along, with most of the rest of Lithuania, was annexed by Russia. In 1812, the Battle of Deltuva, between the Russian and French armies, occurred not far from Ukmergė; Napoleon's army raided the town. During the November Uprising in 1831, the city remained in the hands of rebel elements for several months. In 1863, the city participated in the January Uprising against Russia once again. In 1876 a match factory was established in Ukmergė. In 1877 a fire again ravaged the town. The future president of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona, was born in Užulėnis near Ukmergė, and was educated in the local school system. In 1882 a printing-house was opened. In 1899 thirteen people were punished for distributing books written in the Lithuanian language, which was prohibited at that time.
[edit] 20th century history
In 1918, after Lithuania declared its independence, the city's name was changed from Vilkmergė to Ukmergė. In 1919 Bolshevik forces occupied the city, but it was soon liberated by the Lithuanian army led by Jonas Variakojis. Over five hundred Bolshevik prisoners were taken during the Battle of Ukmergė. An iron foundry was established in the same year. In 1920, the Lithuanian army stopped Polish incursions into the rest of the country, after a series of battles that were waged to establish borders between the two newly re-established countries. An electric plant, a printing house and 120 other small businesses were opened. The city had five newspapers until 1939. In 1930 a monument named Lituania Restituta was erected to commemorate ten years of Lithuanian independence.
In 1940, after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, deportations of people from the town began. When the Germans attacked the Soviet Union and its occupied territories, on June 22, 1941, the retreating Soviets gave instructions to their operatives to kill some one hundred and twenty prisoners; however, most of them escaped - only eight of them were tortured to death. After the German invasion, the Nazis rounded up and killed about 10,000 members of the town's Jewish population. During World War II, the city center suffered from extensive bomb damage. For years after the return of the Soviets, the city's people organized and participated in resistance movements. The deportation of the city's population to Siberia continued. In 1950 the monument to Lithuania's Independence was destroyed. The city reconstructed it in 1990, even before the restoration of Lithuania's independence was declared.
[edit] Interesting facts
- The city's original name, Vilkmergė, may be translated as "she-wolf", from the combination of Vilkas (wolf) and Merga (maiden); this name has been adopted by the local soccer team, "Vilkmergė Ukmergė". According to local legend, Vilkmergė was a girl raised by wolves, who bridged the divide between animals and humans, in the same way as Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli. "Ukmergė", by contrast, might be translated as "farm girl" (Lith. ukis = farm).
- There was a Polish High School in Ukmergė during the interbellum.
- An R-12 Dvina nuclear missile operating base near Ukmergė has 4 launch pads and several accessory buildings. It is mentioned in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.
[edit] People
- Bruno Abakanowicz, Polish mathematician, was born in Ukmergė
- Alexander Braudo, author and publisher, was born in Ukmergė
- Chaim Freinkel, philanthropist, lived, worked, and established schools in Ukmergė [3]
- Antanas Smetona, president of Lithuania from 1919 - 1920 and from 1926 - 1940, was born nearby and educated in the local school system
- Leib Gurwicz, Rabbi and Talmudic scholar, studied at the yeshivah school here
- Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, Rabbi and Lithuanian parliamentarian, built yeshivas, a school and an orphanage in Ukmergė
- Ben Shahn, American artist, muralist, social activist, photographer and teacher, lived in Ukmerge in the early 1900s
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.voruta.lt/article.php?article=879
- ^ Ukmergės miesto ir Ukmergės apskrities istorijos apybraiža, 2004
- ^ http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Shavli/shavli3.html
