Plungė
5 km
30 min
18 min
12 min
App
The city of Plungė, referred to in written sources since 1567, was granted Magdeburg rights in 1792, although it never managed to exercise them. After the third division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Plungė was ruled by the Zubovai (Zubov) family, who were counts, from whom Plungė Manor was acquired at the end of the 19th century by the Oginskiai (Ogiński) family who founded one of the first music schools in Lithuania inside the manor as well as a park.
In 1923, Lithuanians accounted for 55% of the city’s residents, and Jews 44%. The Jews also owned most of the city’s businesses, with the richer families located in Vytautas Street, which was built during the interwar period. Between the wars, the development of the city was greatly influenced by a new railway line, the Kučiskis–Pabedinskiai flax and cotton factory, and other Jewish businesses and crafts, and agricultural products of the local Samogitians. In 1941, almost the entire Jewish community of Plungė was destroyed. After the war, the face of Plungė changed dramatically. The plan was for Plungė to become the industrial centre of the entire region, but this never happened. Today, you can take a stroll through the historic part of the city.
During the interwar period in Plungė Park, next to the Babrungas river and at the very end of Laisvės (Freedom) Avenue, there was a state forest enterprise, which was located in an old wooden building with white shutters. In 1930, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Vytautas the Great, the oak of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas, was planted next to the building.
Later the wooden house was demolished. In 1939, in exactly the same place, a two-storey building with a cellar was built in which the forester himself was said to have lived. The second storey balcony of the forest enterprise, supported by slender columns and functioning as the roof of the central entrance, forms the image of a solid, representative building.
It’s believed that at the beginning of the post-war period the building was owned by war commanders, and Soviet soldiers who were thought to have done something inappropriate were held in the cellars, as evidenced by the writing that’s since been found there.
Later, the Plungė District Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party moved into the building. In 1978, in the former state forest enterprise, the Central Library of Plungė District was opened.
During the years of Lithuania’s revival, Sąjūdis (the Reform Movement of Lithuania) was founded in the library. It’s exactly above this building, that dates back to the period of the first Independent Republic of Lithuania, that the three-coloured Lithuanian flag was raised for the first time in Plungė on October 30, 1988. In 2012, when the Plungė District Public Library’s adult unit was moved to the recently renovated clock tower-orangery in Plungė Park, the Children’s Department was established here. In 2018, both the interior and the exterior were repaired.
The city of Plungė, referred to in written sources since 1567, was granted Magdeburg rights in 1792, although it never managed to exercise them. After the third division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Plungė was ruled by the Zubovai (Zubov) family, who were counts, from whom Plungė Manor was acquired at the end of the 19th century by the Oginskiai (Ogiński) family who founded one of the first music schools in Lithuania inside the manor as well as a park.
In 1923, Lithuanians accounted for 55% of the city’s residents, and Jews 44%. The Jews also owned most of the city’s businesses, with the richer families located in Vytautas Street, which was built during the interwar period. Between the wars, the development of the city was greatly influenced by a new railway line, the Kučiskis–Pabedinskiai flax and cotton factory, and other Jewish businesses and crafts, and agricultural products of the local Samogitians. In 1941, almost the entire Jewish community of Plungė was destroyed. After the war, the face of Plungė changed dramatically. The plan was for Plungė to become the industrial centre of the entire region, but this never happened. Today, you can take a stroll through the historic part of the city.
During the interwar period in Plungė Park, next to the Babrungas river and at the very end of Laisvės (Freedom) Avenue, there was a state forest enterprise, which was located in an old wooden building with white shutters. In 1930, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Vytautas the Great, the oak of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas, was planted next to the building.
Later the wooden house was demolished. In 1939, in exactly the same place, a two-storey building with a cellar was built in which the forester himself was said to have lived. The second storey balcony of the forest enterprise, supported by slender columns and functioning as the roof of the central entrance, forms the image of a solid, representative building.
It’s believed that at the beginning of the post-war period the building was owned by war commanders, and Soviet soldiers who were thought to have done something inappropriate were held in the cellars, as evidenced by the writing that’s since been found there.
Later, the Plungė District Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party moved into the building. In 1978, in the former state forest enterprise, the Central Library of Plungė District was opened.
During the years of Lithuania’s revival, Sąjūdis (the Reform Movement of Lithuania) was founded in the library. It’s exactly above this building, that dates back to the period of the first Independent Republic of Lithuania, that the three-coloured Lithuanian flag was raised for the first time in Plungė on October 30, 1988. In 2012, when the Plungė District Public Library’s adult unit was moved to the recently renovated clock tower-orangery in Plungė Park, the Children’s Department was established here. In 2018, both the interior and the exterior were repaired.
