Pioneer

The first mention of the area where Neukuren is located dates back to 1254. The Teutonic Order's Chronicle speaks of the village of Rantau (now the village of Zaostrovie, located within the city limits of Pionersky). The name Neukuren appears in historical documents much later and is interpreted differently by historians. Some say that it was formed by the merger of two words: new and kurenThe Teutonians presumably named this area after the Baltic tribe of the Kurs - Kursa. According to another version, the name is based on the name of the process of erecting wooden buildings - "Buttaskura" from "kura" - to create, to build, that is, literally - a new building.

The founders of Neukuren - the crusaders of the Teutonic Order came to the land of the Prussians around 1252. The very history of the ancient region begins 4 thousand years before those events at the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C., when the lands around the present-day Pionersky were inhabited by the ancient ancestors of the Prussians. Gradually the culture of the Western Baltic barrows was formed here. The land around Pionersky was considered sacred, it was protected, burial mounds were built on it, some of them are still being studied by scientists. The Prussians worshipped mighty oaks. The dunes around Pionersky were also considered sacred, because only here there is a cluster of springs with crystal clear drinking water. The dunes were perceived as an area close to the afterlife, from where sacred water comes to the human world. Settlers, who are considered by some scientists to be the ancestors of the modern Slavs, arrived in the neighborhood, attracted by the possibility of amber fishing. At the beginning of our era, the Prussians first began to extract amber by quarrying and founded the settlement of Rantava.

The settlement of this territory in antiquity is evidenced by the presence of numerous archaeological monuments of various periods: the Bronze Age burial mounds near the village of Zaostrovie, the burial ground of II - VIII centuries "Dobroe", where was found a sanctuary of the end of the III millennium BC, the village of VII - XII centuries within the city limits, the settlement "Helle" X - XIII centuries to the east of the city, on a promontory at the confluence of the stream into the river Zabava and others surveyed by V. I. Kulakov in 1975.

The village lost almost all of its inhabitants in 1709 due to a plague epidemic. At the end of the 18th century Neukuren again had 107 inhabitants living in 16 housesThe village had 39 houses and 140 inhabitants in 1858. The rapid development of Neukuren from a fishing village to a popular vacation spot was primarily due to the establishment of the spa in Kranz in 1816. Many Königsberg families began to visit the relatively conveniently located Neukuren. Since there were no wells at that time - water was obtained from cisterns - it was necessary to make separate arrangements for its purchase, which increased the price of accommodation.

In 1837, Neukuren became a well-known balneological spa for family vacations. The first four buildings of the spa complex were founded in the village by the merchant Douglas, who had previously been engaged in amber mining. The amber reserves were exhausted and he started the spa business.

Travel to Neukuren was quite cumbersome before the construction of the railroad in Zamland. The opening of the railway line Königsberg - Neukuren - Warniken in 1899 caused a sharp increase in the number of vacationers in Neukuren. For example, in 1926 there were up to 5 thousand people per season.

In 1900, two railroad lines to Königsberg and Kranz (present-day Zelenogradsk) were introduced. In 1900, composer Herbert Brust (Herbert Brust, 1900 - 1968), author of the East Prussian anthem Ostpreussenlied, was born in Neukuren.

In 1902, a fishing port was built in Wanger Bay and a salmon spawning area was organized.

In 1906, 15 coastal protection structures - breakwaters - were built to strengthen the beaches.

Immediately after the opening of both railroad lines, the second to Kranz was built in 1907The growth of vacationers visiting Neukuren became even more noticeable. Soon new country houses and guesthouses appeared. The largest of these, the Strandotel ("Hotel on the Coast"), burned down after construction and only the Strandhalle ("Hall on the Coast") survived. Also the Richter guest house burned down in 1905, but six months later the community bought a plot of land next to the gardens to build a kurhaus on this area until spring 1907, which later became one of the most beautiful buildings in Zamland. The community and the patrons of the arts who patronized the spa shared the costs.

In the 1920s, due to the changed political and economic situation, the Kurhaus proved to be of little value to the Neukuren community.

Among the other public buildings in Neukuren are the gasworks and the waterworks, which were built in 1913. Previously, in the summer months, services were held in the hall of the Kurhaus or in its garden structures; later, Königsberg pastors preached every second Sunday in the Kurhaus in summer and in the house of Empress Augusta Victoria in winter. The desire for separation from the main church of St. Lorenz was pronounced, a church was envisioned in Neukuren and even a site for it was identified, but World War I disrupted these plans.

The Landscape Designers' Society was active in improving the landscape of Neukuren in cooperation with the municipality. It took care of the Seeberg buildings, currently the Czech Republic. Neukuren owes its landscape designers the acquisition of a small pine forest in 1919, which was declared a protected natural monument. The society initiated the adoption of local regulations that required all houses to have a front garden and defined the protection of old tree plantations, all in order to preserve the character of the garden city.

A colony of villas was soon built around the train station towards the seaside. Among the hotels, the Kurhaus with its marine aquarium with 34 separate aquariums with marine plants, fish and animals stood out. In addition, Neukuren had five more hotels and four boarding houses in 1926, and six boarding houses and the same number of hotels in 1935. Among the famous architects who worked in Neukuren and its surroundings are K. Frick, M. Schönwald and others.

Despite the rapid development of Neukuren as a resort, it remained specialized in fishing, although the Zamland coast was not always favorable for fishing. For example, between 1886 and 1896, the residents of Neukuren lost one steamship, one sailing vessel, four salmon boats, 32 fishing boats and four other vehicles to storms.

When in the 1890s plans were made to build a protective harbor of refuge on the Zamland coast, Neukuren was chosen. Two 300 to 400 m long breakwaters were built here. At the time, this small fishing harbor was the only one on the coast from Pillau to Memel. The depth of the harbor was 3.5 m and was suitable for small steamships. Unfortunately, the harbor commissioned in 1904 proved to be dangerous for ships entering the harbor in strong winds. Additional funds had to be invested to equip the port into a safe haven for ships. Despite its shortcomings, the port still provided great support to the marine fisheries. Among other things, twenty motorboats were assigned to it, which in some years had a very profitable catch.

Next to the Heinrichsschlucht Gorge in Noykuren there was an amber-bearing vein and an amber quarry. On its dumps the buildings of the harbor building authority were built, and in 1921 seven semi-detached houses of fishermen colonists appeared.

A significant event for the protection of the Neukuren seashore was the construction of fifteen long breakwaters, twelve of which were to be maintained by the state and three by the community, which began in 1906. The buns had a favorable effect on the expansion of the beach strip, which reached a width of about 100 m and turned out to be the widest on the entire Zamland coast. Neukuren's advantages also included a beautiful view of the harbor, many playgrounds and tennis courts, and a nature reserve in the valley of the Salmon Creek. Because of the excellent mineral water, the spa was especially appreciated by diabetics, and the sea bathing and quiet life in this small spa town were prescribed by doctors for people suffering from nervous diseases.

In 1910 the Kurhaus (now Pionersk Sanatorium) was built - the center of resort life in the settlement. Numerous game, billiard and swimming halls, several dozen aquariums with flora and fauna of the Baltic Sea were at the disposal of vacationers.

In 1924 the construction of the seaport harbor closed by the breakwaters was completed.

In 1935, a ground airfield was built on the outskirts of the settlement, whose auxiliary services stretched from Neukuren to Rantau within the boundaries of the modern town of Pionersky. The barracks buildings of the airfield were used as a cantonment site for a military aviation regiment, and a pilot school was also located here.

All these changes in the life of the formerly quiet fishing village caused the number of local inhabitants to increase from 1,030 in 1935 to 3,000 in 1942. Neukuren belonged to the Zamland district of the governmental district of Koenigsberg.

Neukuren was occupied by units of the 292nd and 576th Rifle Regiments of the 115th Division (commander Major-General A. P. Blinov) in the afternoon of April 14, 1945. The city was defended by the 551st Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht, which had retreated to Neukuren. However, as a result of skillful actions of the personnel of the 115th Division with minimal losses, all nine divisions of the 2nd Guards Army lost 94 killed on April 14, only in Neukuren alone more than 500 German soldiers and officers were taken prisoner. On the same day, units of the 292nd Regiment took the town of Rauschen. The exemplary actions of the 115th Kholm Red Banner Division became an example of breaking through the prepared enemy defenses and became a subject of study in military science.

In modern Pionersky the names of war heroes who fought in the skies above the Baltic are immortalized. Among them are N. F. Afanasyev, E. G. Geptner, A. Y. Efremov, P. A. Kolesnik, V. A. Merkulov, A. I. Renzaev, S. I. Smolkov, P. F. Streletsky, A. P. Chernyshyov, I. G. Shamanov and others.

The resort Neukuren was slightly damaged during the hostilities. The decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of June 17, 1947 "On the formation of rural councils, towns and working settlements in the Kaliningrad region" and of July 25, 1947 "On the administrative-territorial structure of the Kaliningrad region" fixed its renaming into the resort village of Pionersky, which became part of the Primorsky district. Pionersky became a town five years later, although the regional executive committee in August 1950, in connection with the significant development of the economy and population growth in the resort village appealed to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR with a petition to refer Pionersky to the number of cities of district subordination.

In 1947, the Pioneer Settlement Council of Workers was established, which was subordinate to the Primorsky District Council. The primary task of the local authorities was to establish the town economy. Although since the fall of 1946 there was already working here initially children's bone tuberculosis sanatorium of the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR, presumably, it was its children's profile that determined the choice of the name of the settlement, there was no talk of any other development of resort infrastructure.

As of September 1947, there was a railroad station and a non-freezing harbor, and a fish processing plant had been in operation since July 1945.

In 1947, the Trawl Fleet Department (TFD) was separated from the fish processing plant into an independent enterprise, an enterprise that defined the life of Pionersky and its residents for many years. At the same time, a seaport was established on the site of the harbor, and construction of its facilities began in 1948.

The main task of the UTF was fishing. In 1948, the enterprise had 61 trawler vessels and employed 456 people. The catch for the first year of the UTF's existence amounted to 40 thousand quintalswhich was a successful result. In 1951 the fleet of the enterprise was enlarged with medium-sized fishing trawlers, which were used to reach the Atlantic waters.

On December 26, 1952, the resort village of Pionersky was transformed into a city of district subordination, still being a part of Primorsky District. In 1953, the first elections to the city council of deputies of laborers were held, which resulted in the election of the Pionersky City Executive Committee consisting of 9 people.

The life of the townspeople of those years was complicated by the lack of water (the problem of water supply was solved only by 1955) and electricity, the actual absence of trade organizations, the deterioration of the housing stock, etc. In the first half of the 1950s in the city appeared offices of the city water supply and improvement, were opened elementary school, bathhouse, kindergarten for 100 seats, built more than 50 houses. Radiofication of the city, reconstruction of power grids, two artesian wells were launched, works on the development of the fish port were in full swing. The only retail outlets in the city for a long time remained stores of the Pioneer fish cooperative. The network of health care institutions by the mid-1950s consisted of a doctor's office, sanitary epidemiological station and a 15-bed hospital with a maternity ward, which opened in March 1948.

By the end of the 1950s, the city had everything for comfortable living: a hospital, secondary, evening and correspondence schools, three kindergartens, nursery schools, two libraries, a hotel, a canteen and a restaurant were under construction. Recreation of citizens was provided by the house of culture of sailors with auditorium and dance halls. The Zelenogradsk - Romanovo - Pionersky and Svetlogorsk - Pionersky highways were repaired. Transport connection with the regional center was established.

In the early 1960s, the city was noticeably transformed, the park was landscaped, flower beds were laid out, and a large number of green plants were planted. In terms of sanitary condition, Pionersky ranked first among the cities of the Zelenograd zone.

In 1963, the trawl fleet department was renamed the Pioneer Oceanic Fishing Fleet Base (POBORF). At the time of its establishment the base had a fishing fleet of 75 vessels, its catch in 1963 amounted to 613 thousand quintals, and the number of employees was 1787 people.

According to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR "On enlargement of districts of the Kaliningrad region" of February 1, 1963, Pionersky City Council was subordinated to the Zelenograd City Council, and two years later, according to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of January 12, 1965, it was transferred to the Svetlogorsk City Council. All the following decades of the Soviet era, until 1993, Pionersky was a part of the Svetlogorsk resort-industrial zone.

By the decision of the Kaliningrad Oblast Executive Committee in 1963, the city boundaries were approved, and in 1965 the Pionersky planning project was approved, while the detailed planning project was approved in 1971. The document proposed the division of the city into a southern residential area, where most of the population would live, and a central resort area with the organization of residential districts and neighborhoods. The plan determined the growth of the city population in the future up to 20 thousand people. The area of the city at that time was 7 km².

In the sixties of the twentieth century much attention was paid to the development of social sphere and improvement of cultural and everyday services of the population. In these years the city house of culture and music school were opened; a new store "Culinaria and semi-finished products" was opened, the fishermen's rest house was put into operation after reconstruction, an emergency medical aid station was organized at the hospital, the railway line Kaliningrad - Pionersky Resort was put into operation, a number of houses were gasified. New trade pavilions for selling vegetables, juices, ice cream were opened. Trading organization of the city fishing cooperative in 1966 was awarded the Red Banner of the republican consumer cooperative. By that time there were no problems with supplying the population with goods and products.

By the mid-1960s, consumer services had improved. The consumer services center could offer residents the services of an atelier, hairdresser's, watch and shoemaker's shops, and photography.

Despite the presence of a children's orthopedic sanatorium, which was one of the country's largest institutions of its profile, where the famous surgeon M. B. Dribinsky performed many operations, Pionersky had very little in common with what is commonly understood by the word resort. Of course, there was a wide beach and the sea, but there were also border guards, several military units, a school of aviation mechanics, and later a school of junior aviation specialists. Even the release in 1971 of the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR on granting Pionersky the status of a resort of republican importance had little influence on the formation of conditions for organized recreation here. Pionersky, of course, continued to be developed, but it was the development of social, cultural and household infrastructure more like a town of fishermen and military men than a resort. In the early 1970s were built a new hospital for 120 beds, equipped with modern medical equipment, a pharmacy, a movie theater "Mayak", a repair station for complex household appliances, completed construction of a new building of a music school. Among the resort activities we can name only the arrangement of the beach, construction of a dance ground, opening of the city park, appearance of children's attractions, active landscaping of the city.

The main achievements of the pioneers were related to the development of fishery. In the 1970s, the Pioneer Ocean Fleet Base became known far beyond the region's borders. At that time it was the largest fish processing enterprise in the country, its vessels fished throughout the Atlantic and in some areas of the Pacific Ocean. Three times in 1977 its team was awarded the first place in the All-Union socialist competition and the Red Banner of the Ministry of Fishery of the USSR and the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Food Industry Workers.

The 1980s were the years of Pionersky's progressive development. The construction of integrated treatment facilities with biological purification for three resort towns on the coast was in full swing. It was decided to put out of operation 30 small city boiler houses, building one, working on gas. A 1200-meter long water pipeline was laid, the reconstruction of the Dolphin restaurant was completed, and in 1980 Pionersky became one of the points on the route of the 1400-mile yacht race for the Baltic Sea Cup (Leningrad - Tallinn - Pionersky - Riga). The town was becoming more and more attractive for living, but the urban population was growing slowly: in 1989 Pionersky was home to about 12,000 people with a slight increase in area to 7.7 square kilometers. The town-forming enterprise remained the Pioneer Oceanic Fleet Base, which by its fortieth anniversary had turned into a major fishing and fish-processing enterprise of the Western Basin, which included the Leningrad Region, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In 1987, PBORF owned a fishing fleet of 90 units, the workforce consisted of 5413 people, the volume of fish production was 184 thousand tons per year, the production of fish products was 123 530 tons per year.

The city residents met the new decade with attempts of self-determination. First, in 1990, the deputies of the City Council raised questions about changing the status of the city and about the withdrawal of the Pionersky City Council from subordination to the Svetlogorsk City Council of People's Deputies. The following year, a decision was adopted "On granting the city of Pionersky the status of a city of regional subordination", which provided for an appeal to the Svetlogorsk City Council with a request to delegate proper powers to the Pionersky City Council, and to the Oblast Executive Committee with a request to grant Pionersky the status of a city of regional subordination. On June 12, 1991, a city referendum was held, at which 80 % of the population voted for the administrative independence of the city.

As part of the reform of the city management system, the first head of the Pionersky City Administration, P. V. Doronin, was appointed in 1992, and the Executive Committee of the Pionersky City Council of People's Deputies was abolished. The City Council continued to function, becoming since 1993 exclusively a representative body of local self-government. In the same year Pionersky gained independence, becoming a city of regional subordination. In 1996, the status of the city as an administrative-territorial unit of the Kaliningrad Oblast of the municipal formation of the city of Pionersky was established.

During this period the townspeople faced very serious problems, connected, first of all, with the situation at the town-forming enterprise of the Ocean Fishing Fleet Base. In 1990s the enterprise was corporatized, having received the name of joint-stock company "Pioneer base "Oceanrybflot", but not receiving state subsidies for industrial fishing in remote fishing areas, the enterprise became unprofitable and soon disintegrated into a number of small organizations of non-state form of ownership. Life in the city came to a standstill: debts on wages appeared, construction of some important objects for the city was suspended: the long-awaited promenade, sports complex and others.

At the same time, in the 1990s the life of the town was filled with events of a different tone. For example, in 1985-1992, the Baltic expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences worked on the outskirts of Pionersky, on Mount Velikanov, the oldest burial place of the Prussians. Its findings turned out to be very valuable, some of them dated back to the IV - V centuries BC. The main array of finds was transferred to the Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Art, and the finds, which came from the burials previously looted by the black trackers, were presented to the city. On December 1, 1993 the presentation of the city historical and archaeological museum "Rantava", named after the ancient name of this place, the main part of the exposition of which was made up of unique archaeological finds, took place.

In the 2000s, production in Pionersky slowly began to revive. Of course, it was far from the former scale, but there was still hope for overcoming the depression in the economy. A new impetus was given to the construction of small vessels at the Pionersky Shipyard LLC. The port has started working again, on the basis of which CJSC "Port" was established. Organized in the late 1990s on the basis of the production department of the Oceanrybflot base, Fishery Service successfully developed in the field of production and supply of fishing equipment, fishing gear, and general supplies, becoming a leader among similar manufacturers not only in Russia but also in Europe in the 2000s.

In 2004, the municipal formation of Pionersky was granted the status of an urban district, which was confirmed by the regional law of 2009. The executive body of the local government became known as the Administration of the Pionersky Urban District. In 2000, R. A. Sagaeva was elected as the head of the local government (mayor). The Council of Deputies of the Pionersky Urban District, Chairman A. S. Kuzin, became the representative body of local self-government.

Despite all economic vicissitudes, the leading place in the industrial sector was still occupied by the food industry: extraction, processing and processing of fish, production of canned and frozen fish products. The traditional fish processing was supplemented by the production of meat products. Sectoral employment of the urban population as of 2007 was as follows:

• 8 % - food, processing industry,
• 3 % - production of fishing gear,
• 5 % - Fishing organization,
• 16 % - Trade and Catering.
• 15 % - Education, Culture,
• 13 % - Housing and Utilities,
• 11 % - Ensuring Military Security,
• 5 % - Other.

In the 2000s, positive dynamics in the sphere of housing construction began to be observed, although, as a rule, commercial construction. In 2005-2007, 29 thousand km² of housing was commissioned in Pioneer Urban District. The city was fully provided with the necessary power, water, gas and sewerage capacities, but the utility networks requiring reconstruction were still characterized by a high degree of wear and tear.

For many years, a promenade has been under construction in Pionersky, which also performs a coastal protection function. Now its length is 1.5 km.

In 2009, construction of the state residence of the President of the Russian Federation "Yantar" started in Pionersky.