Vilkaviškis

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Town in Suvalkija,Lithuania

title: "Vilkaviškis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["vilkaviškis", "municipalities-administrative-centres-of-lithuania", "cities-in-marijampolė-county", "cities-in-lithuania", "holocaust-locations-in-lithuania", "vilkaviškis-district-municipality"] description: "Town in Suvalkija,Lithuania" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilkaviškis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in Suvalkija,Lithuania ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement "]

FieldValue
nameVilkaviškis
settlement_typeCity
image_skyline{{multiple image
borderinfobox
total_width270
image_styleborder:1;
perrow1/2/2/2
image1Greenery near the Vilkaviškis Cathedral in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania in 2024.jpg
caption1Greenery near the Vilkaviškis Cathedral
image2Vilkaviškis Train Station in 2008.jpg
caption2Vilkaviškis Train Station
image3Church of the Holy Cross in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania in 2024.jpg
caption3Church of the Holy Cross
image4Vilkaviškio Švč. Mergelės Marijos Apsilankymo katedra, klebonija.JPG
caption4Clergy house of the Vilkaviškis Cathedral
image5Vilkaviškis District Municipal Public Library in 2024.jpg
caption5Vilkaviškis District Municipal Public Library
image6Vilkaviškis District Municipality Headquarters in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania in 2024.jpg
caption6Vilkaviškis District Municipality Headquarters
image7SoutokŠeimenyVlevoS VilkaujouVilkaviškis.JPG
caption7Confluence of Vilkauja (right) and Šeimena (left) rivers
pushpin_mapLithuania
pushpin_label_position
pushpin_map_captionLocation of Vilkaviškis
image_flagVilkaviškis vėliava.svg
image_shieldVilkaviškis CoA.svg
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1Ethnographic region
subdivision_name1Suvalkija
subdivision_type2County
subdivision_name2[[File:Marijampole County flag.svg
subdivision_type3Municipality
subdivision_name3Vilkaviškis district municipality
subdivision_type4Eldership
subdivision_name4Vilkaviškis city eldership
subdivision_type6Capital of
subdivision_name6Vilkaviškis district municipality
Vilkaviškis city eldership
Šeimena eldership
established_date1561
established_titleFirst mentioned
established_date21660
established_title2Granted city rights
population_total12,645
population_as_of2025
timezoneEET
utc_offset+2
timezone_DSTEEST
utc_offset_DST+3
websiteVilkaviskis.lt
::

|name = Vilkaviškis |settlement_type = City |image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | total_width = 270 | image_style = border:1; | perrow = 1/2/2/2 |image1 = Greenery near the Vilkaviškis Cathedral in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania in 2024.jpg |caption1 = Greenery near the Vilkaviškis Cathedral |image2 = Vilkaviškis Train Station in 2008.jpg |caption2 = Vilkaviškis Train Station |image3 = Church of the Holy Cross in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania in 2024.jpg |caption3 = Church of the Holy Cross |image4 = Vilkaviškio Švč. Mergelės Marijos Apsilankymo katedra, klebonija.JPG |caption4 = Clergy house of the Vilkaviškis Cathedral |image5 = Vilkaviškis District Municipal Public Library in 2024.jpg |caption5 = Vilkaviškis District Municipal Public Library |image6 = Vilkaviškis District Municipality Headquarters in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania in 2024.jpg |caption6 = Vilkaviškis District Municipality Headquarters |image7 = SoutokŠeimenyVlevoS VilkaujouVilkaviškis.JPG |caption7 = Confluence of Vilkauja (right) and Šeimena (left) rivers |pushpin_map = Lithuania |pushpin_label_position = |pushpin_map_caption = Location of Vilkaviškis |image_flag = Vilkaviškis vėliava.svg |image_shield = Vilkaviškis CoA.svg |coordinates = | image_flag. = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = |subdivision_type1 = Ethnographic region |subdivision_name1 = Suvalkija |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_name2 = [[File:Marijampole County flag.svg|20px]] Marijampolė County |subdivision_type3 = Municipality |subdivision_name3 = Vilkaviškis district municipality |subdivision_type4 = Eldership |subdivision_name4 = Vilkaviškis city eldership |subdivision_type6 = Capital of |subdivision_name6 = Vilkaviškis district municipality Vilkaviškis city eldership Šeimena eldership |established_date = 1561 |established_title = First mentioned |established_date2 = 1660 |established_title2 = Granted city rights |population_total = 12,645 |population_as_of = 2025 |timezone = EET |utc_offset = +2 |timezone_DST = EEST |utc_offset_DST = +3 |website = Vilkaviskis.lt

Vilkaviškis () is a city in southwestern Lithuania, the administrative center of the Vilkaviškis District Municipality. It is located 23 km northwest from Marijampolė, at the confluence of and rivers.

The city got its name from the Vilkauja River. Initially named Vilkaujiškis, the name was later changed to an easier-to-pronounce form, Vilkaviškis.

Until 1941, the city had a large Jewish community, which was killed by the German military and their local collaborators.

This is the city from which the 2016 cost-of-living Cauliflower Revolution originated.

It is the capital of Vilkaviškis District Municipality, Vilkaviškis city eldership, and Šeimena eldership.

Names

The names of the city as it is called or was formerly called in other languages spoken by non-Lithuanian ethnic groups which have lived or live in or around the town include: ; ; . Other spelling variants include Vilkavishkis and Wilkowyszki.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Vilkaviškis_Manor.jpeg" caption="Early 20th-century view of the [[Vilkaviškis Manor]], place of stay of [[Napoleon]] in 1812"] ::

The city was granted city rights in 1660 by the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, John II Casimir Vasa. The coat of arms was granted by King Augustus II the Strong in 1697.

During the Kościuszko Uprising, in 1794, it was the site of a battle between Polish insurgents and Prussian troops. It remained in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1795 when, in the Third Partition of Poland, it was annexed by Prussia. In 1807, the city was incorporated into the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw. On 19–23 June 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in the city. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, the city became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland, as part of the Augustów Voivodeship, and later Suwałki Governorate. In 1856, the vast majority of the city's population was Jewish, with 4,417 Jews and 834 Christians. During the January Uprising, on October 30, 1863, it was the site of a skirmish between Polish insurgents and Russian troops.

During World War I, the city was captured by German forces and held until 1918, when the place became part of independent Lithuania. An American-Lithuanian wrote of his observations when returning to the city in 1919:

| text = I saw that Lithuania is more devastated than Belgium. The Germans crossed through Belgium once only, while Lithuania had been the regular battlefield for the German and Russian armies. It was alternately captured and recaptured by the contending armies. When the Russian army was fleeing it destroyed whatever opportunity afforded, likewise the German army in its retreat carried everything in its wake, pillaged, burned and destroyed whatever it could not take. I noticed in particular one village which had been, only a few trees were visible. Numerous farm houses had been destroyed and burned to the ground. People now live in huts made partly of straw, old boards and clay. Not only the war, but nature has made changes in Lithuania. Rivers, such as the Šeimena and Širvinta, are only brooks. As we approached Vilkaviškis, my native city, the passengers called my attention to the station. My imagination failed to picture the rudely constructed hut as the same station of former years, which had been entirely destroyed by the invading army.}}

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Vilkavishkis_(WWI_Fieldpost_1916,_Postcard).jpg" caption="City centre in 1916"] ::

During the interwar period, a rail line was constructed running through nearby Marijampolė, which caused that town to become the regional centre, replacing Vilkaviškis in its traditional role. Since 1926, the Vilkaviškis Priest Seminary was operating in the city.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-732-0137-14,_Ostpreussen,_Wilkowischken,_Schützenpanzer.jpg" caption="German units in the city during World War II"] ::

Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the control of the area fell to the Soviets, between 1940 and 1941, on the basis of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact. In 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, invaded Lithuania, and occupied the city. Between June and September 1941, the Germans, along with Lithuanian collaborators, destroyed almost all the houses in the city and murdered more than 3,000 people, most of them Jews. Many of the males were shot on 28 July, and the women and children following on the Fast of Gedalia on 24 September.

The city was the scene of a successful counter-attack by the German Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland in the autumn of 1944, and the aftermath of the fighting was the scene of several propaganda photographs in which the name of the city was prominently featured. The city was captured by the Red Army in August 1944. After the war, it was part of the Lithuanian SSR within the Soviet Union.

When Lithuania regained its independence in 1991, the city became the capital of the newly established Vilkaviškis district municipality. The Vilkaviškis Priest Seminary was restored by the Bishop Juozas Žemaitis in 1999 and operated until 2005, when its clerics were transferred to the Kaunas Priest Seminary. In the late 20th century, the Curia of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vilkaviškis was moved to Marijampolė.

In 2020, Vilkaviškis won the Lithuania Village Flower Show, as voted by the board of Pakruojis Manor.

Notable people

The town and the surrounding district.

References

References

  1. "Vilkaviškis".
  2. [http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/vilkovishk/Shtetlinks_site/_.html Jewish Gen, ShtetLinks, "VILKOVISHK, Lithuania"]
  3. . (1895). "Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIV".
  4. "Welcome to Panevėžys!". City of Panevėžys.
  5. . "Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIV".
  6. . "Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIV".
  7. "Napoleonas Vilkaviškio mieste".
  8. "The Jewish Community of Vilkaviskis". ANU Museum of the Jewish People.
  9. Zieliński, Stanisław. (1913). "Bitwy i potyczki 1863-1864. Na podstawie materyałów drukowanych i rękopiśmiennych Muzeum Narodowego w Rapperswilu". Fundusz Wydawniczy [[Polish Museum, Rapperswil.
  10. "Thirty days in Lithuania in 1919: Being an account of personal experiences and observations encountered in a trip extending from August 30, 1919, to February 16, 1920".
  11. "Vilkaviškio vyskupija".
  12. "Vilkaviškio Palaimintojo Jurgio Matulaičio kunigų seminarija".
  13. Oleksy, Czesław. (1983). "Homiletyczno-kaznodziejski dorobek księdza biskupa Czesława Falkowskiego". Studia Teologiczne.
  14. Spaeter, Helmuth ''History of the Panzerkorps Großdeutschland'' Volume 3
  15. Joseph Rosin, English edited by Sarah and Mordechai Kopfstein, "Vilkovishk (Vilkaviskis)", [http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/vilkovishk/vilkovishk1.html]
  16. "About Vilkaviškis".
  17. https://welovelithuania.com/en/the-biggest-summer-event-in-pakruojis-manor/ Lithuania Village Flower Show

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vilkaviškismunicipalities-administrative-centres-of-lithuaniacities-in-marijampolė-countycities-in-lithuaniaholocaust-locations-in-lithuaniavilkaviškis-district-municipality