Viešvilės evangelikų liuteronų parapijos lietuvininkų pasakojamosios tautosakos keliais

LTKuo ypatinga ši buvusi istorinio-etnografinio Prūsijos, o vėliau Mažosios Lietuvos regiono Ragainės apskrities Viešvilės evangelikų liuteronų parapija taip pat ir valsčius? Kodėl tyrinėtini šio arealo tautosakos keliai ir kryžkelės? Vienas iš atsakymų: anuomet Viešvilės parapijai priklausė didelė teritorija tiek dešinėje, tiek ir kairėje Nemuno pusėse. XIX a. viduryje Viešvilės parapijai ir valsčiui priklausė 63 kaimai, vienkiemiai ir mažosios girininkijos. Antras – iš gausiai gyvenamos vietovės su išvystyta vietine pramone, amatais, turinčios vokiškų mokyklų, administracinių įstaigų tinklą, kuriose dirbo tik vokiečiakalbiai, galima susidaryti gan išsamų vaizdą apie to laikotarpio lietuvybės būklę ir visoje Mažojoje Lietuvoje. Deja, istorijos kirčiai šiam kraštui buvo pražūtingi. Straipsnyje koncentruojamasi į veiklą asmenų, susijusių su Ragainės apskritimi, kurios administracijai ir bažnytinėms institucijoms buvo pavaldi Viešvilės parapija ir valsčius. [Iš straipsnio, p. 2398]

ENThe narrative folklore of Prussian Lithuanians of the Viešvilė Evangelical Lutheran Parish, Ragainė County, Lithuania Minor, written between the middle of the 19th century and beginning of the 21st century is analysed in the article. This topic has not been addressed by anyone, and there is almost no material in the local history museums of Viešvilė about Lithuanian narrative folklore. The current residents of Viešvilė are not very aware that the parish and district of Viešvilė contained also the areas on the left side of the Nemunas, now in the Russian Federation. Information has been presented about the resonance of the interest in the Lithuanian language and folk art in Ragainė County in Lithuania Minor in the 17th-18th centuries. The merits of the advanced German and Lithuanian society in protecting the spiritual culture and language of Lithuanians from destruction in the unfavourable years of historical events and processes in the 19th and 20th centuries have been described. From the narrative folklore of Viešvilė parish, it can be seen how Prussian Lithuanians perceived the world, nature and the phenomena taking place in it. Various experiences and established moral norms accumulated over the centuries have been passed on. An analysis of the prevalence of written texts in the parish villages was performed. It can be assumed from this analysis that in some of the villages of Viešvilė parish, Germanisation had already come to an end during the mentioned period.This is especially evident in areas with more developed industries, crafts, as well as where there were administrative offices. The minimal historical knowledge about the genocide committed by the Soviets and the subsequent Russification in the Königsberg region was presented, due to which the opportunity to study the remaining unwritten folklore texts in the villages of Viešvilė parish on the left side of the Nemunas was lost. After the eviction of local inhabitants of Klaipėda Region in 1944 in order to protect them from the Soviet army, there were almost no folklore performers left in the villages of Viešvilė parish on the right bank of the Nemunas. After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, this gap was somewhat filled by former Viešvilė residents who came from Germany. Keywords: fairy stories, tales, Germanisation, Lithuania Minor, Ragainė county, Gaµbrasčiai, Viešvilė Parish, J. Basanavičius, K. Jurkšaitis, V. Kalvaitis, H. E. fon Knoblochas, A. Leskynas, A. Šleicheris. [From the publication p. 2741]