In the Kaliningrad region, Lithuanian culture must be preserved, as the region is historically part of Minor Lithuania, stated the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda.
"No matter how hard Russia tries, Karaliaučius will never become Kaliningrad!" Nausėda wrote on the social media platform X.
https://x.com/GitanasNauseda/status/1876978545852862804
He opposed the renaming of the museum dedicated to Lithuanian poet Kristijonas Donelaitis, located in the Kaliningrad region.
"What comes next? The burning of books?" the Lithuanian president asked.
According to him, it is necessary to preserve the heritage of Minor Lithuania in the region, even though its inhabitants "have long disappeared."
Minor Lithuania is a historical ethnographic region of Prussia, later East Prussia in Germany, where Prussian Lithuanians lived. It was located in the area of the modern Kaliningrad region. Karaliaučius is the Lithuanian name for Kaliningrad. In May 2023, Lithuanian parliamentarians Viljus Semeska and Paule Kuzmecene proposed changing the names of Kaliningrad region and city in Lithuanian, claiming that the current names serve as "part of the Russian narrative." However, the idea was considered politicized at Klaipeda University.
"If we only use old, traditional names, we will confuse people. A person looks at a map and can't find these names," explained Professor Dalia Kiseliūnaitė.
The museum in question is located in the village of Chistyye Prudy near Kaliningrad. It is housed in a former Lutheran church. In the 18th century, poet Kristijonas Donelaitis, the founder of realism in Lithuanian literature, lived and worked here. The museum complex was opened in 1979, and its collection currently includes over 200 exhibits. On January 9, the Kaliningrad Regional Historical and Art Museum announced that the museum was renamed "The Literary Museum in Chistyye Prudy." However, the name of the Lithuanian poet is still preserved in the exhibitions, and guides continue to tell visitors about him.
