place of the former castle, the Butler family had built a spacious two-storeyed Baroque styled manor house. On the ground floor there was a large guest-hall and 16 rooms. On the first floor there were 11 additional rooms and a sizable great hall. Yet over the course of the next century, the Prienai manor house was gradually abandoned. At the onset of the 20th century, only rubble remained. The first wooden church in Prienai was built in 1604. Thanks to the active personal involvement of a priest named Vaitiekus Izdebskis, seventy years later, later a newer and much larger church was built to replace the old one. The present Baroque styled church was built in 1750, though it was refurbished and slightly expanded in 1875. Prussia, Napoleon and the Russian Empire Following the third partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Prienai was invaded and occupied by Prussia. Prussia ruled there during the years 1795-1807 and made Prienai part of New East Prussia. At the end of the eighteenth century, Prienai underwent rapid economic growth. During that time a glass factory and a paper mill, one of the largest in Lithuania, were established near the town. The paper mill produced extraordinary high quality white, coloured and wrapping paper, which was often exported to cities as distant as Warsaw and Saint Petersburg. After Napoleon defeated Prussia, Prussian occupied Lithuanian territories were transferred to the newly established Duchy of Warsaw. During the years 1807–1813, Prienai belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw. The Napoleonic code was then introduced in this region, which abolished serfdom and guaranteed equality before the law. Following the demise of Napoleon in 1815 and the Congress of Vienna, Prienai together with its surroundings, were annexed by the Russian Empire. The town dwellers of Prienai, together with the inhabitants of neighbouring towns and villages, actively participated in the November Uprising of 1830-1831 and the January Uprising of 1863–1864, both of which sought to liberate Lithuanians from the Russian yoke. Republic of Lithuania Following Lithuania's restoration of independence in 1918, Prienai became the center of the county and witnessed unprecedented expansion. By 1937 Prienai had a population of around 4,200, there were 4 banks, 2 pharmacies, 121 shops, 5 mills, a number of sawmills and countless workshops in the city. At that time the mayor of the city was Julius Greimas, the father of the world renowned Lithuanian-French literary scientist and