The Curonian Spit, also known as Courish Split (Lithuanian: Kuršių nerija; Russian: Ку́ршская коса́ / Kurshskaya kosa; German: Kurische Nehrung), is a 98-kilometre (61-mile) long, narrow, curved strip of land made of sand. It separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. This area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared between Lithuania and Russia. The southern part of the spit is located in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, while the northern part is in southwestern Klaipėda County, Lithuania.
Geography
The Curonian Spit runs from the Sambia Peninsula in the south to its northern end, which is near a narrow strait. Across this strait lies the port city of Klaipėda on the Lithuanian mainland. The northern part of the Curonian Spit, which is 52 km (32 mi) long, is located in Klaipėda County, Lithuania. The rest of the spit is in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The width of the spit changes, with the narrowest part measuring 400 m (1,300 ft) near the Russian village of Lesnoy. The widest part is 3,800 m (12,500 ft; 2.4 mi) in Lithuania, just north of the town of Nida.
Geologic history
The Curonian Spit was formed around 3000 BC. A glacial moraine provided the base; winds and ocean currents added sand over time to build and maintain the land above sea level.
The narrow shoal’s existence is naturally at risk because of processes that shape shorelines. It depends on a balance between sand moving and settling. Geologically, it is a temporary part of the coast. The shallow bay inside the Curonian Spit is likely to fill with sediment over time, forming new land.
Human history
According to a story about the name's origin, a giantess named Neringa is said to have created the Curonian Spit and helped fishermen.
From about 800 to 1016, the Spit was the site of Kaup, a major trading center that has not yet been studied by archaeologists. In the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights took control of the area and built castles at Memel (1252), Neuhausen (1283), and Rossitten (1372). In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon added the region to the Kingdom of Poland at the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. After the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), the Spit became part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights, placing it within the Polish–Lithuanian union, which later became the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Spit may have been home to the last speakers of Old Prussian, a now-extinct language in the Baltic family.
Human activity began to change the area in the 16th century. From the 18th century, the Spit was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. Overgrazing, cutting down trees, and building boats for the Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf in 1757 caused sand dunes to cover the land and bury villages. To fix this, the Prussian government started planting trees and grass in 1825. Because of these efforts, much of the Spit is now covered with forests.
In the 19th century, the Curonian Spit was mainly inhabited by the Kursenieki people, with many Germans in the south and Lithuanians in the north. Over time, the Kursenieki population decreased due to assimilation and other reasons and is now nearly gone.
In the late 19th century, the dune landscape near Nidden (Nida) became a popular place for artists from the Kunstakademie Königsberg art school. The local inn of Herman Blode became the center of an artists' colony. Artists like Lovis Corinth, Max Pechstein, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff visited, as did poets such as Ernst Wiechert and Carl Zuckmayer. Other visitors included Ernst Kirchner and Franz Domscheit.
From 1901 to 1946, the village of Rossitten (now Rybachy) was home to the Rossitten Bird Observatory, founded by German scientist Johannes Thienemann because of the Spit’s role in bird migration.
After World War I, Nidden and the northern half of the Curonian Spit became part of the Klaipėda Region under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and were taken over by Lithuania in 1923. The village was officially renamed Nida, but it remained mostly German-speaking, with the border to the remaining East Prussian part of the Spit only a few kilometers south.
In 1929, Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann visited Nida during a vacation near Rauschen and built a summer house on a hill above the Lagoon, which locals jokingly called "Uncle Tom’s Cabin." He and his family lived there from 1930 to 1932, and parts of his novel Joseph and His Brothers were written there. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Mann left Germany and never returned. When Nazi Germany took control of the Klaipėda Region in 1939, his house was taken by Hermann Göring and used as a retreat for German air force officers.
After World War II, the Memelland and its part of the Spit were returned to Lithuania, while the rest went to Russia. The German population was forced to leave by Soviet forces as agreed in the Potsdam Agreement. Like other areas in present-day Kaliningrad Oblast, the region was changed by replacing German place names with Russian ones.
After the Soviet Union ended, tourism grew, and many Germans, especially descendants of former residents, visit the Curonian Spit, especially Nida, because no visas are needed for Germans in Lithuania. In 2019, the tradition of making weathervanes for Curonian Lagoon Boats was added to Lithuania’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory as a form of folk art, craftsmanship, or farming.
Kursenieki
The Kursenieki, also called Kuršininkai, are a nearly gone Baltic people who now live along the Curonian Spit. In 1649, Kuršininkai communities stretched from Memel (Klaipėda) to Gdańsk. Over time, most Kuršininkai were absorbed into the German culture, except for those who remained on the Curonian Spit. Before World War I, Kuršininkai were considered Latvians because of language similarities. This belief influenced Latvia’s claims over the Curonian Spit, Memel, and other areas of Prussia, but these claims were later abandoned.
- Curonian pennant, Nida
- Krikštas burial marker
- Old cemetery in Nida
- Small inn and cafe in Nida
- Fish restaurant in Nida
Current state
The Curonian Spit is home to the highest moving (drifting) sand dunes in Europe. These dunes average 35 meters (115 feet) in height, but some reach up to 60 meters (200 feet). Many different types of plant and animal life live on and near the Spit, including outer beaches, dune ridges, wetlands, meadows, and forests. Its location on the East Atlantic Flyway means it is visited by many migratory waterfowl. Between 10 and 20 million birds fly over the area during spring and autumn migrations, and many stop there to rest or breed.
Both the Russian and Lithuanian sides of the spit are protected as national parks.
The settlements on the Curonian Spit, listed from north to south, are:
• Smiltynė
• Alksnynė
• Juodkrantė
• Pervalka
• Preila
• Nida
• Morskoe
• Rybachy
• Lesnoy
The first six settlements are on the Lithuanian side, while the last three are on the Russian side. The Russian part of the spit is in the Zelenogradsky District of the Kaliningrad Oblast, while the Lithuanian side is divided between Klaipėda city municipality and Neringa municipality in Klaipėda County.
A single road runs the entire length of the Curonian Spit. Car ferries connect Smiltynė, a settlement on the spit, to the port town of Klaipėda.
Since 2000, the Curonian Spit has been listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List under cultural criterion "V" ("an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use that is representative of a culture […] or human interaction with the environment, especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change").
As of March 2012, there were calls to tear down several homes on the Curonian Spit. These homes were built by people who received permits from local officials. The calls to remove the homes are because the Spit is a UN World Heritage Site, and only fishing huts are allowed outside official settlements.
Tourism
The largest town on the spit is Nida in Lithuania, a popular vacation spot mainly visited by Lithuanian and German tourists.
Parnidis sand dune, moved by strong winds, can reach up to 52 meters (171 feet) above sea level. Some people think the name Parnidis means "passed across Nida," because the dune has moved through the village of Nida several times. Scientists say that each person walking up or down the steep sides of the dune moves several tons of sand, so hikers are only allowed to use specific paths.
A granite sundial was built on Parnidis dune in 1995 to show the correct time. The sundial was rebuilt in 2011 after storm damage. It is a stone pillar 13.8 meters (45 feet) tall and weighs 36 tonnes (35 long tons; 40 short tons). The sundial has small steps made of granite slabs with markings for hours, half-hours, months, and special dates like solstices and equinoxes. From an astronomy perspective, Parnidis dune is a perfect location for a sundial in Lithuania.
Environmental concerns
The Curonian Spit is a place known for its clean environment, but there are environmental concerns about protecting it. Tourism and fishing are important for the local economy, so pollution of the sea and coastlines could harm both the natural beauty and the economy.
An offshore oil drilling project called the Kravtsovskoye (D-6) oilfield was built in Russian territorial waters, 22.5 km (14.0 mi) from the Curonian Spit’s coastline. This raised worries about oil spills. From 2002 to 2005, environmental groups in Kaliningrad Oblast and Lithuania opposed Lukoil’s plans to use the oilfield, fearing damage to the environment and tourism, which is a major income source. Russia did not support these concerns, but Lithuania did. The oilfield is 4 km (2.5 mi) from Lithuania’s territorial waters. Northward ocean currents mean that a leak could harm Lithuania’s coastline. International support for opposing the project was limited, and the oil platform opened in 2004. By the early 2000s, Russia and Lithuania agreed to study the project’s environmental impact and plan ways to reduce oil spill risks. These efforts were not finished by 2010.
Another issue is that too much tourism can harm the natural beauty that attracts visitors. To protect the area, rules have been created, such as banning hiking in certain parts of the spit.
Natural dangers are greater in the Curonian Spit than in other parts of Lithuania or Kaliningrad Oblast. Storms are often stronger there. Trees help prevent soil erosion, so summer forest fires are more dangerous to the environment.