Treading down the Walkways of Prussian Queen Louise
This route takes you on a journey to find all of the signs within the Old Town left by Queen Louise of Prussia.
From 1807 until 1808, Memel was the temporary capital of Prussia, so the royal family resided here. The Klaipėda City Hall has a bass-relief of Queen Louise on one of its walls. The area in front of the City Hall is where the Borussia Monument used to stand, now replaced by a statue of a fisherman. The beginning of Liepų st., near where the duck market used to stand, was the location of a monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I. This was where Prussian guardsmen used to march and where Queen Louise used to take walks with her retinue. It is known that whenever Queen Louise was walking to St. John’s Church, she had to cross the Birža Bridge. A bit further down Tiltų st., before reaching St. John’s Hill, is the location where the St. John’s Evangelical Church used to stand. It was the largest church in the area and very important to the citizens of Klaipėda. There are plans to rebuild the it in the future.
At this point it is wise to grab a bicycle and to travel to Tauralaukis, which is 7 kilometres away. If you take the newly built bicycle path along the Danė River and all of its spectacular landscapes, you will eventually reach the location where a monument to Queen Louise once stood. Unfortunately, it does not exist any more. However, people can still stroll along the pathways and locations that Queen Louise once walked through and visit the Klaipėda University Botanical Garden and hug Queen Louise’s Oak Tree.
The route is 8.7 kilometres long.
For information on bicycle rental, contact the Klaipėda Tourism and Culture Information Centre.
For information regarding the Botanical Garden and its work hours, go to:
Submitted: Klaipėdos apskrities viešoji I.Simonaitytės biblioteka