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Klaipėda Castle in the 17th century Plan of Klaipėda Castle (1742) Ruins of Klaipėda Castle. Klaipėda Castle (Lithuanian: Klaipėdos pilis), also known as Memelburg or Memel Castle, is an archeological site and museum housed in a castle built by the Teutonic Knights in Klaipėda, Lithuania, near the Baltic Sea.
Memel, a name derived from the Couronian-Latvian memelis, mimelis, mēms for "mute, silent", may refer to: Memel, East Prussia, Germany, now Klaipėda , Lithuania Memelburg, ( Klaipėda Castle ), the Ordensburg in Memel, a castle built in 1252 by Teutonic Knights which was the nucleus for the city
In 1253, the Germans built the Memel Castle on the Curonian land in the strategically important spot where Dangė River meets the Curonian Lagoon. The new castle threatened Curonians and Samogitians. In 1256, Master of the Livonian land, Anno von Sangershausen, was elected as the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.
Memel city seal, 1446 (diameter 200 mm (7.9 in)). From the Archive of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Berlin. The Teutonic Knights built a castle in the *Pilsāts Land of the Curonians and named it Memelburg, which would later be shortened to Memel. From 1252 to 1923 and from 1939 to 1945, the town and city were officially named Memel.
In 1252, the Order constructed Memel Castle where the Dangė river flows into the Neman, at the north end of the Curonian Spit. In 1422, after centuries of conflict, the Order and the Polish–Lithuanian union signed the Treaty of Melno which defined a border between Prussia and Lithuania.
The Battle of Memel or the siege of Memel (German: Erste Kurlandschlacht) was a battle which took place on the Eastern Front during World War II. The battle began when the Red Army launched its Memel offensive operation ( Russian : Мемельская наступательная операция ) in late 1944.
The city of Memel, now in Lithuania, is known today as Klaipėda (confusingly, another city of Memel was on the Dange River, now called the Danė). In German road maps and lexika, only the 112-kilometer (70 mi) section within Prussia (starting at Schmalleningken) was named Memel; the bulk of the river was Niemen.
In 1328, Christmemel was abandoned and the garrison was transferred to the Klaipėda Castle. Peter von Dusburg claimed that the fortress was damaged by "shaking earth", which could be erosion or mudslide. [1] The exact location of Christmemel is unknown. Most historians identify the fortress with a former hill fort near Skirsnemunė. [6]