The parish here was founded in 1693. Sermons were held in a wooden building that was blown down by a storm in 1713. In 1757 a church was built that began functioning in 1759. The last Protestant church was built in 1773. Its dimensions were 29 x 15 m. The sacristy was on the east, the porch on the south, the tower on the west. Seven windows in segmental arches, the doors in round arches.
A hurricane in 1818 tilted the tower, and in 1827 it was partly demolished and covered with a temporary roof; in 1910 a new one was built, with a square turret and a tall spire on its roof. The late 17th-century pulpit was placed above the altar of 1649. The confessional dated from 1559. The church had an organ and two bells.
In 1807 the French used the church as a stable, and the altar furnishings were stolen.
During the Second World War the church tower, according to some sources, was damaged; according to others, it was intact and was demolished down to the level of the roof ridge only in the post-war years.
The church building itself was used as a cinema. The sacristy and porch were destroyed. The windows were bricked up and plastered. A room was added on the north side. The gate in the wall that once surrounded the church has survived. The cemetery has not survived. In the late 1990s the church was handed over to the Orthodox Church. After repairs, the church began to function.
Another church has survived in the little town, a Lutheran one built in 1925.
(pictured above).
It is a small building in the Gothic style. In the 1990s it was handed over to the Catholic Church. After repairs, services are held in it. During the repairs, documents, newspapers, a Bible, coins and so on were found in a glass jar.
Photos on this page: Bildarchiv Ostpreußen, bildarchiv-ostpreussen.de
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
