Known since 1339. From 1373 the settlement had a tavern called "At the Holy Field". In the 16th century Dirschkeim had a ducal house, which until 1804 was the seat of a Kammeramt. From 1584 Dirschkeim was leased out; in 1804 the estate was leased with hereditary rights by the brother of Minister von Schön, whose family remained here until 1945. From 1735 the settlement had a school.
In the 19th century Gross Dirschkeim consisted of the village of Gross Dirschkeim and the Gross Dirschkeim estate. The village of Gross Dirschkeim formed a rural community in the Landkreis Fischhausen (from 1939 the Landkreis Samland).
Amber gatherers on the seabed near Cape Brüsterort (Taran).
The village and estate of Gross Dirschkeim belonged to the parish of Heiligenkreutz (Krasnotorovka). Besides the village of Gross Dirschkeim itself, the rural community of Gross Dirschkeim included the Vorwerke Rosenort (54°57'20'' N 19°58'46'' E) and Zapelwipp (54°56'00'' N 19°58'18'' E).
In 1874 Amtsbezirk No. 41 Gross Dirschkeim was created in the Landkreis Fischhausen, comprising six rural communities: Brüsterort (Mayak), Gross Dirschkeim (Donskoye), Klein Kuhren (Filino), Kreislacken (Bakalino), Marscheiten (Maryinskoye) and Nöttnicken (Prislovo), as well as the estates of Finken (Molodogvardeyskoye) and Gross Dirschkeim (Donskoye). For most of the time (from 1886 to 1919) the post of head of the Amtsbezirk was held by members of the Gronau family from Gross Dirschkeim.
Designs and the lighthouse built on Cape Brüsterort in 1846.
On 2 July 1898 the Gutsbezirk Gross Dirschkeim was formed from the Gross Dirschkeim estate and an unnamed Vorwerk (part of Molodogvardeyskoye, 54°57'05'' N 19°59'14'' E), and the Brüsterort community was merged with the Finken estate (Molodogvardeyskoye) into a new Gutsbezirk Finken. The Amtsbezirk Gross Dirschkeim now consisted of five rural communities: Gross Dirschkeim (Donskoye), Klein Kuhren (Filino), Kreislacken (Bakalino), Marscheiten (Maryinskoye) and Nöttnicken (Prislovo), and two Gutsbezirke: Finken (Molodogvardeyskoye) and Gross Dirschkeim (Donskoye).
On 30 September 1928 the Gutsbezirk Gross Dirschkeim (Donskoye) was merged with the rural community of Gross Dirschkeim (Donskoye). The Gutsbezirk Finken (Molodogvardeyskoye) was also abolished and incorporated into the rural community of Klein Kuhren (Filino). On 17 October 1928 the Kreislacken community (Bakalino) became part of the rural community of Marscheiten (Maryinskoye). On 29 November 1928 the former Gutsbezirk Finken (the Finken estate (Molodogvardeyskoye) and the village of Brüsterort (Mayak)) passed from the Klein Kuhren community (Filino) to the Gross Dirschkeim community (Donskoye), which now comprised the village of Gross Dirschkeim (Donskoye), the Gross Dirschkeim estate (Donskoye), the village of Brüsterort (Mayak), the Finken estate (Molodogvardeyskoye), and the Vorwerke Rosenort, Zapelwipp and the unnamed one (part of Molodogvardeyskoye). After these changes the Amtsbezirk Gross Dirschkeim consisted of four rural communities: Gross Dirschkeim (Donskoye), Klein Kuhren (Filino), Marscheiten (Maryinskoye) and Nöttnicken (Prislovo), and its composition did not change again until 1945.
In 1936 the Gross Dirschkeim – Palmnicken railway line (Donskoye–Yantarny) was built, and the village got a rail connection.
The lighthouse on Cape Taran (Brüsterort) in 2022.
On 17 November 1947 Gross Dirschkeim was renamed the settlement of Donskoye. Initially the settlement was part of the Yantarny Village Council of the Primorsk (from 1963 Zelenogradsk) District. From 1951 it was part of the newly formed Primorye Settlement Council. In 1955 the settlement had 65 houses. After the war the settlement was the base of the 28th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment and the 689th Fighter Aviation Regiment, the 51st Tallinn Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment, a school for junior aviation specialists and support units. Today the airfield is the base of the 396th Separate Shipborne Anti-Submarine Helicopter Squadron. As of 2018 the settlement had about 65 houses (including blocks of flats of up to 5 storeys), not counting military buildings and private houses in three horticultural partnerships laid out south of the settlement of Donskoye.
Coordinates of the settlement: 54°56'21'' N 19°57'53'' E
Population change: 1984 – 2800, 2002 – 3170, 2010 – 2924, 2013 – 2801, 2014 - 2853 inhabitants.
Population change of the Gross Dirschkeim community: 1905 – 172, 1910 – 179, 1933 – 347, 1939 – 653 inhabitants.
Population change of the Gutsbezirk Gross Dirschkeim: 1905 – 163, 1910 – 179 inhabitants.
For reference
Population of the Vorwerk Rosenort: 1905 – 4 inhabitants.
Population of the Vorwerk Zapelwipp: 1905 – 4 inhabitants.
Population of the unnamed Vorwerk: 1905 – 34 inhabitants.
Modern photos by Mikhail Ogorodnikov.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
