Znamensk

Znamensk (Russian: ????????, German: Wehlau, Polish: Welawa, Lithuanian: V?luva) is a small municipality in the Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia. It is located on the right bank of the Pregolya River at its confluence with the Lava River some 50 km east of Kaliningrad. Its population as of 2004 is 4,100.

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The site of Znamensk originally held an Old Prussian fort, with a settlement named Velowe nearby. The Teutonic Order fortified the area and began to colonize the region with Germans, giving the settlement the name Wehlau. It received its civic charter in 1339 and became a center for horse stables.

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In the Treaty of Welawa signed in the town in 1657, the margrave of Brandenburg received sovereignty over Ducal Prussia. In 1818 it became the seat of the Landkreis Wehlau in East Prussia.

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In early 1945 the town was overrun by the Soviet Red Army. The old town center was almost completely destroyed, and the German population was removed during the evacuation of East Prussia. It became part of the Kaliningrad Oblast and was renamed Znamensk, losing its civic rights in the process.

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One of the greatest mathematicians, David Hilbert, was born here in 1862.

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