Welcome to Klaipėda!

Klaipėda is Lithuania’s third biggest city, situated at the mouth of the Curonian Lagoon to the Baltic Sea. It is Lithuania's only seaport, with major ferry connections to Sweden, Denmark and Germany. Throughout its history, the town has belonged as Memel to Prussia and Germany, and since 1923 as Klaipėda to Lithuania. Some of its older buildings have picturesque frameworkarchitecture similar to that found in Germany, England, and Denmark. The population shrank from 207,100 in 1992 to 187,442 inhabitants in 2005. Popular seaside resorts found close to Klaipėda are Nida to the south on the Curonian Spit, and Palanga to the north. The port of Klaipėda handles some 20 million tons of cargo each year.
From 1252–1923 and from 1939–1945 the town and city was named Memel; between 1923 and 1939, and since 1945, it has had the Lithuanian name of Klaipėda. Memel is found in most sources from the 13th century, while Klaipėda is commonly used in Lithuanian sources from the 15th century. The former notion that Memel is a place-name of German etymology is argued by Lithuanians to be contradicted by their evidence that the lower reaches of the Neman River were named either Memele or Memela by local inhabitants. The name "Klaipėda" is seemingly a Samogitian appellation which may refer to the boggy terrain of the town.

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„At the beginning there was a sea and a coast. Then, contours of a castle showed up in the swampy ground, in the lower reaches of the river. And a windborne city – as open and unpredictable as the horizon – sprang up.

- Opening phrase from the booklet „Signs of culture in Klaipėda“