Coat of arms
of Domnau.
The first settlement on the site of present-day Domnovo is mentioned in 1249. In 1300 the Landmeister of the Order founded a castle on the site of a Prussian fortress. A church was built in 1319. In 1335–49 Domnau was the residence of an Order official, and in 1334–1525 it was the centre of the Kammeramt of the same name. In 1400 Domnau received town rights and a coat of arms, and a new church was built at the same time. The first school opened in 1406, and the castle was rebuilt in 1474. In the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66) Domnau sided with the Order, for which it was burned by the troops of the Prussian Confederation in 1458.
In 1469 it was handed over, as payment for military service, to the mercenary leader Konrad von Egloffstein, who heaped up an island in the lake and founded a new castle on it. In 1520 it was captured and plundered by the Poles. In 1571, 1659, 1681 and 1776 the town suffered badly from fires.
In 1874 Amtsbezirk No. 11 Schloß Domnau was established in the Landkreis Friedland (Pravdinsk), comprising four rural communities – Groß Klitten (Cheryomukhovo), Perkappen (Nagornoye), Sporgeln and Stocktienen – and five Gutsbezirke: Schloß Domnau (Domnovo), Groß Klitten (Cheryomukhovo), Klein Klitten (Storozhevoye), Preußisch Wilten (Znamenskoye) and Woopen, as well as two settlements: Lindenhof and Pöhlenwalde. Until 1919 the heads of the Amtsbezirk were members of the family of the Counts von Kalnein, the owners of the Domnau estate. By 1908, as a result of mergers of Gutsbezirke and communities and of changes to the boundaries of the Amtsbezirke, the Amtsbezirk Schloß Domnau comprised the rural community of Perkappen (Nagornoye) and four Gutsbezirke: Schloß Domnau (Domnovo), Groß Klitten (Cheryomukhovo), Klein Klitten (Storozhevoye), Woopen, and part of the Gutsbezirk Preußisch Wilten (Znamenskoye). On 30 September 1928, after the Gutsbezirke were abolished and merged into rural communities, two rural communities remained in the Amtsbezirk Schloß Domnau: Groß Klitten (Cheryomukhovo) and Preußisch Wilten (Znamenskoye). On 4 May 1930 the Amtsbezirk Schloß Domnau was renamed the Amtsbezirk Groß Klitten (Cheryomukhovo).
In 1914 two thirds of Domnau were destroyed in the fighting.
In 1930 Domnau had a dairy, a slaughterhouse, a school with a gymnasium, a vocational school, a stadium and a market. The town was connected to the railway via the Königsberg – Friedland line, on which a town station was built.
The town was taken by troops of the 5th and 28th Armies on 30 January 1945. No more than a quarter of the buildings were destroyed. After the Second World War the town had a flour mill, an orphanage, and Russian and German seven-year schools. At the end of 1946 two collective farms were organised here: the Chernyakhovsky collective farm and Pobeda ("Victory"). On 17 June 1947 Domnau lost its town status and was renamed the settlement of Domnovo. In 1955 Domnovo had 136 houses. A flour mill and a railway station were in operation. In 1972 the settlement had 126 houses. There was a school and a stadium.
Coordinates of the settlement: 54°05'23'' N 20°49'38'' E
Sights: the church with epitaphs (14th century), the grave of Russian soldiers (1914).
Population change of the town of Domnau (Domnovo settlement): 1782 – 102, 1867 – 2023, 1880 – 2082, 1905 – 1815, 1910 – 1910, 1925 – 1986, 1939 – 2990, 1946 – 437, 1947 – 571, 1986 – 650, 2002 – 801, 2010 – 820 inhabitants.
Population change of the Gutsbezirk Schloß Domnau: 1905 – 173, 1910 – 163 inhabitants.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
