Lithuania Minor, the Cradle of the Written Lithuanian Language

From the preface of the monograph The Lietuvininkai Land:

<...> Western Lithuanians used to call themselves Lietuvininkai, and the land they lived in was called Lithuania Minor. The settled territory (17 000 – 18 000 km²) occupied the lower reaches of the Nemunas and the middle and the upper reaches of the Prieglius: from Klaipėda via Geldapė to the shores of Šventapilis Aistmariai. The heart of Lithuania Minor was the Klaipėda, the Tilžė, the Ragainė, the Įsrutis and the Labguva areas. From times immemorable these areas were settled by the Baltic tribes: Lithuanians, Skalvians, Nadruvians, Sembians, Kurshians, et.al., which formed the ethnic composition of the Lietuvininkai in the 6-15 centuries. In the 13th century the Lietuvininkai land was conquered by the German (Teutonic) Order. The former remained under the domain of the Order with signing of the Meln peace after the Žalgiris battle. The Lietuvininkai land was sometimes called Prussian Lithuania after the great Order's magistrate Albrecht of Brandenburg had adopted Protestantism instead of Catholicism and had declared the Order's state the Duchy of Prussia in 1525. In the Duchy of Prussia (Kingdom from 1701 to 1918) Lithuania Minor became as if a separate state settled by people with different ethnic culture. Despite unfavourable conditions they nevertheless managed to preserve their language, customs, the Lithuanian way of life, and created peculiar culture which had its influence on the culture of Greater Lithuania. Lithuania Minor became motherland of the first printed Lithuanian book, Catechism by M. Mažvydas (1547), the Bible was translated into Lithuanian (by Bretkūnas in 1579 – 1590), D. Klein wrote the first grammar book of the Lithuanian language (1653). The 17th century was famous for the descriptions of the Lithuanian life, customs and beliefs by E. Wagner, M. Pretorij, K. Hartknoch, T. Lepner. In the 18th century the first classic masterpiece of Lithuanian literature, the poem "Metai" ("The Year") by K. Donelaitis appeared. However, after the epidemic of plague in 1709 – 1711 the German colonization of Lithuania Minor started. About 23 000 colonists, mostly German farmers, moved to Lithuania's territory in 1710 – 1736. The rights and freedoms of Lithuanians as well as the people's culture were neglected. In 1872 – 1876 the use of the Lithuanian language in schools and in all state institutions was banned. The policy of the "germanisation" of the territory reached its aim: in 1736 Lithuanians of the Klaipėda, the Tilžė, the Ragainė, the Įsrutis and the Labguva areas made up 80% of the whole population, in 1837 – about 33%, and in 1900 – about 20%. Lithuanians were persecuted and their culture destroyed in the 20-ieth century with the Nazi's accession to power in 1933; and the fatal blow was delivered by the World War II and the post-war Soviet occupation. Most Lithuanians were scattered over Europe and Syberia, their territory was settled by new colonists from the Soviet Union. The lands were devastated and the names of places were changed into Slavic ones. Only after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and with the rebirth of the Lithuanian people did the movement of the Lietuvininkai from all over the world to their historical land and revival of the culture start.<...>

Norbertas VĖLIUS