Pravdinsk
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Pravdinsk (Russian: Правдинск (help·info); German: Friedland in Ostpreußen (help·info); Lithuanian: Romuva; Polish: Frydląd) is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is the administrative center of Pravdinsky District. Pravdinsk lies on the Lava River, approximately 30 km from Bagrationovsk. Population: 4,480 (2002 Census); 4,143 (1989 Census).
[edit] History
The town was founded in 1312 by the Teutonic Knights in Prussia as a ford across the river. Known then by its German name Friedland ("peaceful land"), the town became part of the Duchy of Prussia after the secularization of the Teutonic Knights in 1525. Under the ruling Hohenzollern dynasty, Friedland became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701.
On June 14, 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte won the nearby Battle of Friedland against a combined Russian-Prussian army. The town became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany.
Conquered by the Red Army during World War II, the town was transferred from Germany to the Soviet Union according to the 1945 Potsdam Conference and had its German population expelled. The town was renamed from Friedland to Pravdinsk (Pravda meaning "truth" in Russian). The Church of St. George in the town centre is now a Russian Orthodox church.
[edit] Romuva
According to some early accounts,[citation needed] Romuva allegedly was the name of the center of Baltic paganism (and Romuva is the Lithuanian and most likely Old Prussian name for this town). However, the accounts are considered by some historians to be a misinterpretation based on the fact that Romuva sounded similar to Rome; the early chroniclers, not knowing any religion other than Christianity, may have expected Baltic Paganism to be similar in having a single center and a single leader, which was possibly not the case.
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