A town since 1724 and a district centre since 1818. Until 1724 it was a village. According to legend, the first church was built in 1582 on the castle hill, which later came to be called the “Mühlenberg”, the mill hill. In all likelihood, the first church burned down. The second church was built in 1644–50 between the last church and the town hall. A hundred years later it had become so decrepit that it threatened to collapse, and so it was pulled down. Friedrich II the Great ordered a third church to be built. Construction was completed in 1758, and on 25 June it was consecrated. The church was built of fieldstones, with a small wooden tower and a pyramid roof. The church measured 31.5 x 17 m. Each wall had five shallow-arched windows. A sacristy was added on the east.
The handsome clock tower was built in 1910.
Inside, the central nave had a boarded barrel vault, the side aisles a flat ceiling. The altar of 1649 came from the old church. A 17th-century pulpit. The altar and pulpit were combined. Altar plate of the 17th and 18th centuries. The last organ was installed in 1910.
During the Second World War the town was heavily destroyed, and the church was destroyed too. The remains were cleared after the war, and a memorial to fallen Soviet soldiers was erected on its site.
Photos: Bildarchiv Ostpreußen, bildarchiv-ostpreussen.de.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
