Nautzau has been known since 1405. After 1436 it is mentioned as Nawczo, around 1540 as Nautzaw, around 1542 as Nutzau, and after 1565 as Nauzau.
In the 19th century Nautzau was a Vorwerk in the Gutsbezirk Grünhoff (Roshchino) of the Landkreis Fischhausen (from 1939 the Landkreis Samland). The Vorwerk belonged to the church parish of Rudau (Melnikovo). In 1874, as part of the Gutsbezirk Grünhoff (Roshchino), the Vorwerk Nautzau was included in the newly established Amtsbezirk Grünhoff. At the beginning of the 20th century a brickworks was opened near Nautzau (54°54'35'' N 20°24'02'' E). After the Gutsbezirk Grünhoff was abolished on 30 September 1928 and incorporated into the new rural community of Grünhoff, the Vorwerk Nautzau came to belong to this rural community.
Administratively, Dollkeim consisted of the estate of Adlig Dollkeim and the village of Königlich Dollkeim. The estate formed a Gutsbezirk, and the village a rural community, in the Landkreis Fischhausen (from 1939 the Landkreis Samland). Adlig Dollkeim and Königlich Dollkeim belonged to the church parish of Rudau (Melnikovo). In 1874 the Königlich Dollkeim community and the Gutsbezirk Adlig Dollkeim were included in the newly established Amtsbezirk Kirschnehnen (Vasilkovo). On 30 September 1928 the Königlich Dollkeim community and the Gutsbezirk Adlig Dollkeim were merged with the rural community of Saßlauken (Vasilkovo, part) and the abolished Gutsbezirke of Kirschnehnen (Vasilkovo), Nadrau (Nizovka) and Sergitten (Seryozhkino) into the new rural community of Kirschnehnen (Vasilkovo).
On 3 March 1945 Nautzau was taken by Red Army troops.
On 17 November 1947 Nautzau was renamed the settlement of Kovrovo. Adlig and Königlich Dollkeim were not officially renamed and de facto became part of the settlement of Kovrovo. At first the settlement was part of the Kholmy Village Council. In 1955 Kovrovo had 24 houses. From 1959 it was in the Vishnyovoye Village Council. In 1988 the village council administration moved to Kovrovo, and Kovrovo became its centre. In the late 1990s the settlement had about 120 houses. In 2000 the Vishnyovoye Rural Okrug was renamed Kovrovo. As of 2018 the settlement had a wood and amber manufactory, a kindergarten, an outpatient clinic and a bakery.
Coordinates of the settlement: 54°54'33'' N 20°24'07'' E (Nautzau), 54°54'03'' N 20°23'55'' E (Dollkeim).
Population change: 1984 – 410, 2002 – 622, 2010 – 657 inhabitants.
Population of Nautzau: 1905 – 93 inhabitants.
Population change of the Gutsbezirk Adlig Dollkeim: 1905 – 35, 1910 – 6 inhabitants.
Population change of the Königlich Dollkeim community: 1905 – 70, 1910 – 77 inhabitants.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
