The settlement itself was first mentioned as Stallupoenen, or Stallupönen, in 1539, named after a nearby river called Stalupė in Lithuanian.[citation needed] At that time, with the secularization of the Order's Prussian lands in 1525, Stallupönen had already become part of the Duchy of Prussia, a Polish fief which in 1618 was inherited by the Hohenzollern margraves of Brandenburg. Stallupönen then belonged to Brandenburg-Prussia and became a part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. The population was decimated during the Great Northern War plague outbreak in 1710.[11] The settlement was resettled by Lithuanian and German colonists in the following years.[11] King Frederick William I granted it town privileges in 1722.[2] Lithuanian poet Kristijonas Donelaitis was the rector of the local school in 1740–1743.[11] Like other cities in the region during the Seven Years' War between 1757 and 1762, it was occupied by the Russian forces. It became part of the newly formed province of East Prussia in 1773. During the Prussian-led unification of Germany, Stallupönen became a part of the German Empire in 1871. In 1885, the town had a largely Lithuanian-speaking population of 4,181, often employed in agriculture.[7] With the construction of railways, the town became well-acquainted to travelers, as it was the last stop on the German-Russian frontier. Here, travelers made the transfer from standard gauge railway carriages of western Europe to the broad gauge carriages of Russia.
In August 1914, the city and the surrounding area were a focal point of Battle of Stallupönen between Russian and German armies, an opening battle on the Eastern Front of World War I. It was occupied by the Russian Army between August 18, 1914 and February 18, 1915.
Because of the Lithuanian minority living there, Lithuania tried unsuccessfully to obtain the town from Germany after regaining independence following World War I. Because "Stallupönen" sounded too "un-German", the Nazi regimerenamed the town Ebenrode in 1938.[citation needed]
^"Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
^Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
^ abSłownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XI (in Polish). Warszawa. 1890. p. 368.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish and Latin). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. pp. 96–97, 214–215.
^ abcSłownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XI, p. 369
Правительство Калининградской области. Постановление №640 от 30 августа 2011 г. «Об утверждении реестра объектов административно-территориального деления Калининградской области», в ред. Постановления №877 от 21 ноября 2011 г «О внесении изменения в Постановление Правительства Калининградской области от 30 августа 2011 г. №640». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Калининградская правда" (вкладыш "Официально"), №170, 15 сентября 2011 г. (Government of Kaliningrad Oblast. Resolution #640 of August 30, 2011 On the Adoption of the Registry of the Objects of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of Kaliningrad Oblast, as amended by the Resolution #877 of November 21, 2011 On Amending the Resolution of the Government of Kaliningrad Oblast #640 of August 30, 2011. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
Калининградская областная Дума. Закон №258 от 30 июня 2008 г. «Об организации местного самоуправления на территории муниципального образования "Нестеровский городской округ"», в ред. Закона №370 от 1 июля 2009 г «О составе территорий муниципальных образований Калининградской области». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Калининградская правда", №124, 11 июля 2008 г. (Kaliningrad Oblast Duma. Law #258 of June 30, 2008 On the Organization of the Local Self-Government on the Territory of the Municipal Formation of "Nesterovsky Urban Okrug", as amended by the Law #370 of July 1, 2009 On the Composition of the Territories of the Municipal Formations of Kaliningrad Oblast. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).