Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Curonian Spit

The Curonian Spit is a 98 kms long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. Its southern part lies within Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia) and its northern in Lithuania. It stretches from the Sambia Peninsula on the south to its northern tip next Klaipėda. The spit was originally covered with forest. The first clearings took place as early as the time of the Teutonic Order. Only clear-cutting during the Nordic War (1674-1679) and the Russian period allowed unvegetated and higher dunes to emerge. So huge shifting sand dunes buried the existing villages again and again. It was not until the second half of the 19th century that the dunes got stabilized by planting.

The ferry crosses the Curonian Lagoon. The boat trip from Klaipeda to Smiltynė on the Curonian Spit takes only a few minutes. The Curonian Spit is a 98 kms long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. Its southern part lies within Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia) and its northern in Lithuania. It stretches from the Sambia Peninsula on the south to its northern tip next Klaipėda. The spit was originally covered with forest. The first clearings took place as early as the time of the Teutonic Order. Only clear-cutting during the Nordic War (1674-1679) and the Russian period allowed unvegetated and higher dunes to emerge. So huge shifting sand dunes buried the existing villages again and again. It was not until the second half of the 19th century that the dunes got stabilized by planting.

The Kurs, a Baltic tribe, had a wooden castle here, that was conquered in 1252 by the Livonian Order, an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order. On the side of the old castle, the "Memelburg" was built and only a year later the city of Memel was founded next to the castle with the decisive participation of merchants from Dortmund. Dortmund's influence was so great that at first it was considered to call the city Neu-Dortmund. In 1258, Memel was granted city rights (Lübsches Stadtrecht). In 1328, the castle and town passed to the Teutonic Order, making Memel part of the Prussian state of the Order. Lithuania, which had successfully resisted the expansionist efforts of the knightly orders since 1261, became a powerful state under Grand Duke Gediminas in 1323. The Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila converted to Christianity in 1386 and married the Polish heiress Hedwig of Anjou, thus establishing the Polish-Lithuanian Union In 1323, a Lithuanian army led by Gediminas laid siege to the castle of Memel after conquering the town, forcing the Order to sue for a truce in October. Attacks by Lithuanians greatly thwarted the town's development; the town and the castle were both sacked by Lithuanian tribes in 1379. Poland-Lithuania inflicted a heavy defeat on the Order at the (Battle of Grunwald) Battle of Tannenberg in 1410. The Christianisation of Lithuania had eliminated the purpose of the Order. New taxes led to internal conflicts between the Order and the Estates, which, led by cities such as Danzig and Königsberg, organised themselves into the Prussian League and subordinated themselves to the King of Poland. This led to further wars between the Order and Poland, during which the city of Memel was plundered or burnt down several times. Memel remained part of what became Prussia and Germany; the border to Lithuania remained unchanged until 1919. It was one of the longest-lasting borders in Europe. Shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became independent in 1990 and made Klaipėda a free economic zone. Since then, the city has experienced a strong economic boom that continues to this day Only a few hundred metres separate the ferry port from the Curonian Spit. The wind is blowing and the girl is breathing the fresh air from the Baltic Sea.