Apie Didįjį Klaipėdos gaisrą

Abstract

2024-aisiais sukanka 170 metų nuo Klaipėdą nusiaubusio Didžiojo gaisro. Tokia proga paskatino prisiminti šią XIX amžiuje uostamiestį ištikusią nelaimę. Apžvalgos tikslas – remiantis Lietuvos mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių bibliotekoje saugomais dokumentais, periodine spauda ir istorikų darbais, pristatyti Didžiojo Klaipėdos gaisro mastą, pasidalinti amžininkų prisiminimais bei liudijimais. Esminiai žodžiai: Didysis Klaipėdos gaisras; Klaipėda; Johann Sembritzki; masonai; ložė Memphis; Heinrich Schliemann; Johanas Ferdinandas Kelkis; Emilija Beniovskytė-Vrublevskienė.

2024 marks the 170th anniversary of the Great Fire that devastated Klaipėda. This city has suffered more than one fire, and not only at wartime. Historians have written extensively about it in periodicals and publications on the history of the Klaipėda region. The greatest calamity befell Klaipėda in the mid-19th century. On 4 October 1854, a warehouse owned by the merchant Wilhelm Muttray (1806–1864), which was full of hemp and tallow, caught fire. Aided by strong wind, the fire soon spread not only to the quays, but also to a large part of the city, which housed warehouses full of flax, hemp, timber and other goods in demand at the time. The fire caused considerable damage to Klaipėda, burning residential houses, warehouses, churches, schools, public buildings, etc. After the fire, the city of Klaipėda was left in heavy debt. The Masonic lodges in Klaipėda and Königsberg (Memphis, Zum Totenkopf, Phönix) contributed to the relief effort to aid the victims. The Great Fire of Klaipėda was mentioned in autobiography of Heinrich Schliemann (1822–1890), a merchant, a famous German archaeologist, and the discoverer of the city of Troy described by Homer. Emilia z Beniowskich Wróblewska (1830–1886) wrote about the fire in her diary. One of the first reports in the history of Lithuanian-language journalism is related to the Great Fire of Klaipėda. It was written by Johann Ferdinand Kelch (1801–1877), a well-known man of letters and educator. Based on documents, periodicals and history works kept in the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, this review looks at the scope of the Great Fire of Klaipėda, drawing on remembrances and testimonies of contemporaries. Keywords: Great Fire of Klaipėda; Klaipėda; Johann Sembritzki; masons; Lodge Memphis; Heinrich Schliemann; Johann Ferdinand Kelch; Emilia z Beniowskich Wróblewska.