Buildings

There are around 3,000 buildings on the Curonian Spit which have been built in different eras and are used in different ways. This map presents part of the research results. For each building, the location and 13 characteristics describing different features of the building were determined. The data was processed and analysed from a statistical and geographical point of view.

On this page, selected characteristics of the buildings are presented in an interactive map image: Construction period, building type, use, monument status and the presence of the so-called Nidden style.

The geographical distribution of the material cultural heritage on the Curonian Spit varies greatly. The villages are of very different sizes and they differ in terms of the composition of the age of the buildings and the influence of the Nidden style on the townscape. Some of these differences are very difficult to see on the building map, so they are all the better illustrated by some statistics.

Number of buildings per village

A total of 2321 buildings on the Curonian Spit were mapped with regard to various features. With 1263 buildings located in three localities, the number of buildings on the Russian side of the Curonian Spit was somewhat larger. This compares to 1058 buildings in five localities on the Lithuanian half of the Curonian Spit. The largest place by number of buildings is Lesnoy (Sarkau). The largest place in the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit is Nida (Nidden). In Lithuania, the smallest spit towns by number of buildings are Pervalka (Perwelk), with 94 buildings, and Smyltinė (Sandkrug), with 82 buildings. 

Distribution of buildings by area on the Curonian Spit

Buildings by period of construction

The classification of the buildings in terms of their period of construction is based on the historical breaks that have influenced the Curonian Spit. These are also related to stylistic developments and features. A distinction is made between the periods of construction:

1. Buildings constructed before 1918, i.e. until the end of the German Empire and before the founding of the Memel region and the accompanying separation of the Curonian Spit into halves with different nationalities.
2. Buildings constructed from 1919 to 1945, i.e. in the north buildings from the period of the Memel Region (1919-1923), the Lithuanian Republic of the interwar period (1923-1939) and the Third Reich (1939-1945). In the south, from the period of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and the Third Reich (1933-1945).
3. Buildings constructed between 1945 and 1990, i.e. from the time of the Soviet Union, whereby the northern part belonged to the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR), while the southern part was part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR).
4. Buildings dating from the period after 1991, i.e. after the establishment of the Republic of Lithuania and the Russian Federation.

The number of buildings from the different eras varies greatly from town to town. While in the Lithuanian part most of the buildings were constructed during the Soviet era, the Russian part is more strongly influenced by the post-communist era. This can be explained by the restrictive granting of building permits in Lithuania due to the National Park. There are also striking differences between the two countries when comparing the towns with each other. On the Russian side, for example, it is noticeable that there was a particularly high level of building activity in Lesnoy (Sarkau) in the post-socialist period. Buildings from this period make up the highest proportion in this town. In the other two Russian villages, Rybachy and Morskoe, there are more buildings from the interwar period than in Lesnoy. On the Lithuanian side, for example, it is noticeable that Juodkrantė has a high concentration of buildings from the period before the First World War, which indicates its past as a Baltic Sea resort. That is why permanent buildings were constructed here earlier than in other towns on the Spit.

Buildings by period of construction in Russia

Buildings by period of construction in Lithuania

 Buildings by type of building

This text, including statistics, still needs to be added

Buildings under monument protection

The monument protection of buildings on the Curonian Spit shows a striking difference between the Russian and Lithuanian parts. Initially, the monument protection status of the buildings was recorded during the mapping by means of badges attached to the houses. This survey was later cross-checked and controlled via lists of monument protection.

The monument protection of buildings in the Russian part of the Spit is much less pronounced than that in the Lithuanian part. This difference already existed during the time of the Soviet Union, as can be seen from the badges, some of which still originate from the Soviet Union. In the Russian part of the Curonian Spit, only one house is marked as a monument, while in Lithuania there are 86 buildings, which is significantly more.

Buildings under monument protection in Russia

Buildings under monument protection in Lithuania

Number of buildings in Nidden style

In the survey of buildings in the Nidden style, two groups can be distinguished: buildings that were constructed in the original Nidden style and buildings that show an imitation, interpretation or only individual elements of the Nidden style. The latter have either been supplemented with these elements later or were already planned with them. They point to the continuing importance of this style up to the present day.

In the distribution of buildings in the Nidden style or its imitation, a similar pattern can be found as with the monument protection status of the buildings. Thus, the original Nidden style can be found almost exclusively in the north in the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit. In the Russian part, on the other hand, only three houses exist in this style. The highest number of buildings in the Nidden style can be found in Nida (Nidden), Juodkrantė (Schwarzort) and Preila (Preil). It can be assumed that the Nidden style originated in the northern part of the Curonian Spit in the period from the turn of the century to the early interwar period. The concentration north of the border is probably a remnant from the interwar period, when the style presumably originated.

It is also striking that on the Russian side there are hardly any houses with imitations, interpretations or elements of the Nidden style. Again, there are considerably more houses in the Lithuanian part of the Spit that exhibit these. This is due to the building regulations imposed by the Spit Municipality in cooperation with the Lithuanian National Park. The requirements state that new buildings must fit stylistically into the respective settlements.

Buildings in Nidden style in Russia

Buildings in Nidden style in Lithuania