Justification of the relevance of the topic of Paprussia
2025 marks the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Principality of Prussia. After Žalgiris and the subsequent battles, the Teutonic Knights were economically weakened and transformed into the secular Principality of Prussia in 1525. Its last Grand Master and the first Duke of Prussia, Albrecht of Brandenburg, converted to Lutheranism with most of his brothers. He converted to Protestantism on 10 April 1525. He took the vassal's oath to his mother's brother, Žygimantas the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, in Krakow on April 10, 1815. From this time onwards, intensive and multifaceted relations between the Duchy of Prussia and the GDL began. Therefore, it is quite reasonable to say that the formation of the Lithuanian Paprussia began together with the Prussian Principality, i.e. from 1525.
The Universal Lithuanian Encyclopaedia states that the formation of Paprussia began after the signing of the Treaty of Melnus in 1422, but this is not correct, because after the Treaty of Melnus there were hardly any trade relations with the Teutonic Knights for another hundred years. During this period, the whole of Sūduva was overgrown by forests, and the border had turned into a desert - an area that was uninhabited, or only sparsely inhabited, which was then - after the threat of war had disappeared - re-populated by people, and became the territory of Paprussia.
Paprussia is a region formed on the border around the Duchy of Prussia, where different linguistic (Lithuanian, Polish, German, descendants of the Sūdava tribes, Tatar-Ruthenians and Jews) and religious (Catholic, Lutheran, Evangelical, etc.) communities settled and coexisted peacefully in a much denser population than in the GDL or in Poland or Samogitia. There are three distinct regions of Paprussia: the Paprussia of Sūdava, the Paprussia of Žemaitija and the Paprussia of Little Lithuania, a part of which, after the Klaipėda uprising in January 1923, became the Paprussia of Little Lithuania.
Technological, economic and cultural innovations spread from the Prussian Principality, and later from unified Germany, to Lithuania and Poland. It first spread among the communities of the Paprussia region. The creation of craft centres and the adoption of the most useful agricultural and economic models and socio-cultural practices were therefore much more intense here than in the regions further afield. A classic example is the Wallachian reform, which Queen Bona, taking her cue from Prussia and Palatinate, started in Sūdava in Paprussia (now Šakiai and Vilkaviškis districts). The Wallachian Reform led to changes in the structure of society in Transdanubia. It consisted of the king's free subjects - nobles, shlektos (nobles without land, but with a title), townspeople, free farmers, and non-free people - serfs, who were few in Paprussia. Bonn's son, King Žygimantas Augustas, adapted his mother's experience throughout Lithuania. The active work of the free people led to the formation and spread of the Paprussia ethnos, a distinctive socio-cultural, economic, political and psychological mentality in Transnemonia.
To date, there is a small amount of scholarly and amateur literature published on the individual settlements of Paprussia and their development histories. But there is no scientific or popular literature on Paprussia as a whole, and there is no systematised material on the economic, religious, health, educational and ethno-cultural life and development of Paprussia. In Paprussia, agricultural activities were developed: models, techniques and technologies were developed for the cultivation, cultivation, maintenance and harvesting of land, processing and production of agricultural products. I hope that specialists who know about this can still be found in the Academy of Agriculture, or at least in the historical literature. There was also the development of the forest and dairy industries, the building of towns and the construction of highways.
Next year, I would like to organise a scientific conference to commemorate the 500th anniversary of cooperation between Prussia and Paprussia. It has now been decided to organise the conference in two parts:
1) in the Vilkaviškis district on 18-19 September 2025;
2) in Pagėgiai on 16-17 October 2025;
The municipalities of Vilkaviškis and Pagėgiai agree with this proposal.
The theme of the planned conference is reflected in the content of the two-volume monograph. The first part of the conference would be devoted to the general features of the socio-cultural development of Paprussia as a whole. It would be a purely scientific conference, as the presentations would be given by scientists. The second part of the conference would be more scientific-practical, with presentations by researchers and cultural practitioners living in the regions of Paprussia. They should present the socio-cultural specificities of the Paprussia region they represent, briefly discussing all the themes of the first volume.
The organisational work started at the end of spring and several meetings have already taken place in Vilkaviskis and Pagėgiai municipality. Aiming to initiate cooperation between the municipalities of the Paprussia region
has not been easy. The municipalities of Šakiai and Pagėgiai, the Jurbarkas Regional Museum and the Smalininkai Culture Centre of Lithuania Minor, the Šilutė Hugo Šojaus Museum and the Tauragė Regional Museum SANTAKA are joining the initiative. The activities of each partner can be found in
Information partners - newspaper "Santaka" of Vilkaviškis district, newspaper "Draugas" of Šakiai district.
It is likely that more municipalities and organisations will be involved in the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Prussia- Paprussia cooperation.
Prof. Dr. Vytautas Šlapkauskas
10 April 2025 marks the 500th anniversary of the oath taken by Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1490-1568) to the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund the Old (1467-1548), when Prussia became the first reformed country.
May this anniversary inspire us to remember and respect our history!
As we celebrate the anniversary, we may recall the report by historian Algirdas Matulevičius on the 500th anniversary of the birth of Martynas Mažvydas: https://www.aidas.lt/.../24454-10-19-reformacija-prusijos...
We invite you to take an active part in the events dedicated to this anniversary! https://www.vilkaviskisinfo.lt/renginiai-1/
Declare 2025 as the Year of Paprussia: https://vilkaviskis.lt/papruses_metai/
The influence of Prussian culture spread to Šilalė and beyond: https://taurageszinios.lt/naujiena/prusijos-kulturos-itaka-sklido-iki-silales-ir-dar-toliau-21289
About the conference in Šakiai: https://drg.lt/kultura/26690-apie-papruse-is-esmes-koki-pavelda-ji-mums-paliko
