Memorial Marks of Famous People in Tauragė

Tauragė is a border city, established near the old Hanseatic road, which used to connect Saint Petersburg, Riga and other cities with Western Europe. The city was the home of many famous people and even more of them have travelled by, including historical figures and world-famous writers. Locals have decorated the city squares with monuments and memorial boards in memory of those people, as well as named various objects after them.
Walking around the city centre on the route of the Memorial Marks of Famous People in Tauragė, you will visit 9 objects and get to know the biographies of these people.
Start on the intersection of Dariaus ir Girėno and Jūros streets, not far from the monument for Vladas Putvinskis-Pūtvis, founder of the Riflemen’s Union, located not far from the Culture Centre. After getting know the short biography of this figure and the history of the monument, continue on the other side of Dariaus and Girėno Street. The front façade of the Tauragė Post Office features a memorial board, stating that on 10 October 1843 this building hosted the famous French writer Honoré de Balzac. Near the Tauragė Birutė Baltrušaitytė Public Library on the nearby Respublikos Street you can admire the sculptural ex-libris for The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway – the work of the sculptor Regimantas Midvikis, a winner of the National Prize of Lithuania. When you are done, continue your route to the city centre. Near the Martynas Mažvydas Evangelical Lutheran Church (M. Mažvydo Avenue) there is a park, named after the Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Jonas Viktoras Kalvanas. At the park, you will find a monument for Vincas Kudirka, the author of the Lithuanian Anthem, and the second work of the small plastics in the city – a sculptural ex-libris for Vydūnas. After having a rest near the almost 200-year-old oak at the park, continue to Stoties Street. The memorial plate for Antanas Smetona, the first President of the Republic of Lithuania, was opened near a building at Stoties Street 7 on 16 February 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Lithuanian statehood. Finish the route by visiting one of the oldest and most beautiful places of the city – Wiemer Hill. The citizens of Tauragė respectfully refer to the hill on the picturesque bank of the Jūra River at the outskirts of Tauragė Old Town as the hill of August Wiemer, an Evangelical Lutheran priest and promoter of education in this area.
By taking this route, you will walk about 1.8 km and it will take about 1 h and 15 min.