Lithuanian Impressions 1 – Klaipeda, Kaunas, Rumšiškes

It’s quite some time we last had a real Back with Booty post due to that Evil C and some private reasons. But this year I did a longer tour outside Germany and spent two weeks in Lithuania.

Klaipeda, Theatre Square
One way to get to Lithuania is to take the ferry from Kiel to Klaipeda, so Klaipeda (formerly the German Memel) was my first stop on the way.

Pretty lane in Klaipeda
Klaipeda is predominantly a rather large harbour city, but it has an old town with some charming cobblestone lanes and older houses. Usually a quiet place, it sometimes gets swarmed by cruise tourists for a few hours.

At the river Danė
The river Danė runs through the town, offering some nice photo motives, especially when the sun came out the second day and would never leave during the rest of my tour (except at night, of course).

Remains of Klaipeda Castle (Memelburg)
Klaipeda had a castle dating to the 13th century, founded by the Teutonic Knights, but today only some ruins remain, and an earthen wall that had been re-fortified in the 18th century. The keep of the castle is presently being recontructed.

Beach on the Curonian Spit
It is only a short crossing from Klaipeda to the Curonian Spit with its dunes, pine forests and lovely beaches with fine sand – and not so many visitors in September. A nice place to walk around.

Kaunas, Laisvės alėja (Liberty Avenue)
Next stop on the tour was the city of Kaunas; the second largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, at the confluence of the Neris and the Nemunas rivers.

Of course, I’ll post more about all the places I’ve visited; this is only a short teaser post that won’t cover all the interesting buildings.

Kaunas, the town hall
The town hall of Kaunas is a mix of Gothic and Renaissance elements. Its outstanding feature is a 53 metres high tower which gave the building the nickname ‘White Swan’. Unfortunately, most of it was scaffolded in.

Kaunas, St. Michael’s Church
Another pretty white building. This church was built in early 19th century in the neo-Byzantine style as orthodox church for the Russian garrison. Today it is a Catholic church.

Lane in the Old Town of Kaunas
The settlement at the river confluence dates back to the 11th century and received town rights in 1408. The area was contested between the Lithuanian grand dukes and the Teutonic Knights, so it comes as no surprise that there is a castle.

Kaunas, remains of the castle
The history of the castle is complicated; it was built by the grand dukes, taken by the Teutonic Knights, destroyed, reconquered and rebuilt .... The present remains represent mostly the castle from the late 14th century with some older foundations.

Kaunas Castle
The castle was considerably larger than the – partly reconstructed – remains, but the earthen and stone walls and the keep give an impression what it must have looked like in the later Middle Ages.

Rumšiškes Open Air Museum; market square in the 19th century town
An interesting and very photographable (is that a word, lol?) place is the Open Air Museum of Lithuania in Rumšiškes, not far from Kaunas. A pleasant way to spend a sunny, warm afternoon by walking around (the complete way is almost 8 km) and look at old houses.

A house in the Rumšiškes museum
The museum was opened in 1966 and has been expanded over time. It represents town houses, farmsteads and other buildings from the 18th to early 20th century – all of them have been transplanted from their original sites.

A farmstead
The museum encompasses 195 ha, with houses from all regions of Lithuania, including the matching interior furnishing. Most of the houses are still open – in summer, people in period dress would show historcial crafts and ways of working a farm, smithy etc. – but in September, there was not much activity.

Village lane
On the positive side, I met barely a dozen other visitors during my visit of several hours, which made for an almost private hike through forests and fields with extra motives.

Rumšiškes, view out of a farmhouse
The second part of my Lithuanian Impressions about my visit to Vilnius and some other places will follow in the next days.