Kaunas

Name	Kaunas
Nickname	Laikinoji sostinė
Settlement type	City municipality
Map caption	Location of Kaunas
Image shield	Kaunas city COA.png
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name
Subdivision type1	Ethnographic region
Subdivision name1	Aukštaitija
Subdivision name2	Kaunas County
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name3	Kaunas city municipality
Subdivision type3	Municipality
Subdivision type6	Capital of
Subdivision name6	Kaunas CountyKaunas city municipalityKaunas district municipality
Part type	Elderships
P1	Aleksotas
P2	Centras
P3	Dainava
P4	Eiguliai
P5	Gričiupis
P6	Panemunė
P7	Petrašiūnai
P8	Šančiai
P9	Šilainiai
P10	Vilijampolė
P11	Žaliakalnis
Established date	1361
Established title	First mentioned
Established date2	1408
Established title2	Granted city rights
Population total	355,550
Population as of	2008
Population metro	673,706 (Kaunas County)
Area total km2	157
Timezone	EET
Utc offset	+2
Timezone dst	EEST
Utc offset dst	+3
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates type	region:LT_type:city(355000)
Website	kaunas.lt

Kaunas (; , see also other names, is the second largest city in Lithuania and a former temporary capital. It is the seat of the Kaunas city municipality and of the Kaunas district municipality. It is also the capital of Kaunas County. Kaunas is located at the confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers, the Nemunas and the Neris, and near the Kaunas Reservoir, the largest body of water entirely in Lithuania.

Etymology and other names

The city's name is of Lithuanian origins and most likely derives from a personal name.

Before Lithuania regained independence, the city was generally known in English as Kovno, the traditional Slavicized form of its name; the Polish name is Kowno; the Belarusian name is Koўнa. An earlier Russian name was Ковно, although Каунас has been used since 1940. The Yiddish name is Kovne (קאָװנע), while its names in German include Kaunas and Kauen. The city and its elderates also have names in other languages (see and names of Kaunas elderates in other languages).

Legendary story

An old legend claims that Kaunas was established by the Romans in ancient times. These Romans were supposedly led by a patrician named Palemon, who had three sons - Barcus, Kunas and Sperus. Palemon fled from Rome because he feared the mad Emperor Nero. Palemon, his sons and other relatives travelled all the way to Lithuania. After Palemon's death, his sons divided his land. Kunas got the land where Kaunas now stands. He built a fortress near confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers, and the city that grew up there was named after him. There is also a suburban region in the near named "Palemonas".

Coat of arms

On June 30, 1993 the historical coat of arms of Kaunas city was established by a special presidential decree. The coat of arms features a white auroch with a golden cross between his horns, set against a deep red background. The auroch is the original heraldic symbol of the city since 1400. The heraldic seal of Kaunas, introduced in the early 15th century during the reign of Grand Duke Vytautas, is the oldest city heraldic seal known in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The current emblem was the result of much study and discussion on the part of the Lithuanian Heraldry Commission, and realized by the artist Raimondas Miknevičius. An aurochs has replaced a wisent, depicted in the Soviet era emblem, used since 1969.

History

Early history

According to the archeological excavations, the most affluent collections of ceramics and other artefacts found at the confluence of the Nemunas and the Neris rivers are from the second and first millennium BC. During that time people settled in some territories of the present Kaunas: the confluence of the two longest rivers of Lithuania area, Eiguliai, Lampėdžiai, Linkuva, Kaniūkai, Marvelė, Pajiesys, Romainiai, Petrašiūnai, Sargėnai, and Veršvai sites.

Inter-war Lithuania

After Vilnius was occupied by the Russian Bolsheviks in 1919, the government of the Republic of Lithuania established its main base here. Later, when the capital Vilnius was forcibly annexed by Poland, Kaunas became the temporary capital of Lithuania, a position it held until October 28, 1939, when the Red Army handed Vilnius back to Lithuania.

Between the World Wars industry prospered in Kaunas; it was then the largest city in Lithuania. Under direction of the mayor Jonas Vileišis (1921–1931) Kaunas grew rapidly and was extensively modernised. A water and waste water system, costing more than 15 million Lithuanian litas, was put in place, the city expanded from 18 square kilometers to 40, more than 2,500 buildings were built, plus three modern bridges over the Neris and Nemunas rivers. All the city's streets were paved, horse-drawn transportation was replaced with modern bus lines, new suburbs were planned and built (Žaliakalnis neighborhood in particular), and new parks and squares were established. The foundations for a social security system were laid, three new schools were built, and new public libraries, including the Vincas Kudirka library, were established. J. Vileišis maintained many contacts in other European cities, and as a result Kaunas was an active participant in European urban life.

During the inter-war period Kaunas had a Jewish population of 35,000-40,000, about one-fourth of the city's total population. Jews made up much of the city's commercial, artisan, and professional sectors. Kaunas was a center of Jewish learning, and the yeshiva in Slobodka (Vilijampolė) was one of Europe's most prestigious institutes of higher Jewish learning. Kaunas had a rich and varied Jewish culture. There were almost 100 Jewish organizations, 40 synagogues, many Yiddish schools, 4 Hebrew high schools, a Jewish hospital, and scores of Jewish-owned businesses. It was also an important Zionist center.

First Soviet occupation

In 1940 Lithuania was invaded by the Soviet Union and was annexed as the Lithuanian SSR. 14 June 1941 marked the beginning of mass Soviet arrests, executions and deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia and other parts of Russia.

Nazi occupation

After the outbreak of German invasion into USSR on 22 June, the June Uprising against the retreating Red Army began in Kaunas and a short-lived period of independence was proclaimed in Kaunas on 23 June 1941. During the battles with the Red Army, Lithuanian rebels secured government offices, police stations, shops, warehouses, and attempted to re-establish order in the city. On June 25, the main German forces marched into the city without opposition and almost in parade fashion. The Nazi Germans did not recognize the new provisional government, but they did not take any actions to dissolve it until the establishment of a German civil administration on 17 July. The government's powers were taken over by the new occupants.

Kaunas' Jews fate

Jewish life in Kaunas was first disrupted when the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in June 1940. The unwelcomed occupation was accompanied by arrests, confiscations, and the elimination of all free institutions. Jewish community organizations disappeared almost overnight. Soviet authorities confiscated the property of many Jews, while hundreds were exiled to Siberia. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Activist Front, founded by Lithuanian nationalist émigrés in Berlin, disseminated anti-semitic literature in Lithuania. Although guerrilla warfare ended at the time of 1953, Lithuanian opposition to Soviet rule did not. In 1956 people in the Kaunas region supported the uprising in Hungary by rioting. On All Souls' Day in 1956, the first public anti-Soviet protest rally took place in Kaunas: citizens burned candles in the Kaunas military cemetery and sang national songs, resulting clashes with the Militsiya. The event broke into a politically-charged riot, which was forcibly dispersed by KGB, and Militsiya. It led to new forms of resistance: passive resistance all around Lithuania. The continuous oppression of the Catholic Church and its resistance caused the appearance of The Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. In strict conspiracy catholic priest Sigitas Tamkevičius (now the Archbishop Metropolitan of Kaunas) implemented this idea and its first issue was published in the Alytus district on 19 March 1972. The Kronika started a new phase of resistance in the life of Lithuania's Catholic Church and of all Lithuania fighting against the occupation by making known to the world the violation of the human rights and freedoms in Lithuania for almost two decades. On November 1, 1987, a non-sanctioned rally took place near the Kaunas Cathedral Basilica, where people gathered to mark famous Lithuanian poet Maironis' 125th birthday anniversary. On June 10, 1988, the initiating group of the Kaunas movement of Sąjūdis was formed. On October 9, 1988, the Flag of Lithuania was raised above the tower of the Military Museum.

Restored Independence

After World War II Kaunas became the main industrial city of Lithuania – it produced about a quarter of Lithuania's industrial output.

After the proclamation of Lithuanian independence in 1990, Soviet attempts to suppress the rebellion focused on the Sitkūnai Radio Station. They were defended by the citizenry of Kaunas. Pope John Paul II made the Holy Mass for the faithful of the Archdiocese of Kaunas at the Kaunas Cathedral Basilica and held the meeting with the young people of Lithuania at S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, during his visit to Lithuania in 1993. Kaunas natives Vytautas Landsbergis and Valdas Adamkus became the Head of state in 1990, and, respectively, in 1998 and 2004. Since the restoration of independence, improving substantially air and land transport links with Western Europe have made Kaunas easily accessible to foreign tourists.

Geography

The city covers 15,700 hectares. Parks, groves, gardens, nature reserves, and agricultural areas occupy 8,329 hectares.

Administrative divisions

Kaunas is divided into 12 elderates: {| |

Aleksotas

Centras

Dainava (Kaunas)

Eiguliai

Gričiupis

Panemunė

||

Petrašiūnai

Šančiai

Šilainiai

Vilijampolė

Žaliakalnis

Kalnieciai

|}

Neighborhoods

The oldest part of Kaunas city is the Old Town located to the east of the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers. The formation of the new rectangular structure of the New Town started in Kaunas since 1847. The construction of the Kaunas Railway Tunnel and Railway Bridge across the Nemunas river helped move goods from the eastern part of Russian Empire west to the German Empire and Kaunas grew rapidly in the second part of 19th century. The oldest part of Kaunas was connected with Žaliakalnis neighborhood in 1889. The city have increased once more when it was connected by bridges with Aleksotas and Vilijampolė districts in the 1920s.

Climate

Despite its northern location, the climate in Kaunas is relatively mild compared to other locations in similar latitudes, mainly because of the Baltic Sea. Because of its latitude, daylight in Kaunas extends 17 hours in midsummer, to only around 7 hours in midwinter. The Kazlų Rūda Forest, west of Kaunas, create a microclimate around the city, regulating humidity and temperature of the air, and protecting it from strong western winds.

Summers in Kaunas are warm and pleasant with average daytime high temperatures of and lows of around , but temperatures could reach on some days. Winters are relatevely cold, and sometimes snowy with average temperatures ranging from , and rarely drop below . Spring and autumn are generally cool to mild.

Cityscape

Points of interest

Central Kaunas is defined by two pedestrian streets: the 2-km-long Laisvės alėja (Liberty Avenue), a central street of the city, lined by linden trees, and its continuation, Vilnius Street, leading to the oldest part - Old Town of Kaunas. Some of the most prominent features in Kaunas include:

the Kaunas Castle, a 14th century fortification;

the Vytautas' Church, one of the oldest churches in Lithuania and the oldest in Kaunas;

the St. Gertrude Church in Kaunas;

the Kaunas Cathedral Basilica, the largest Gothic building in Lithuania, with a late Baroque interior;

the St. George's Church, which was rumoured to have been turned into a dance studio during the Soviet Occupation;

the Pažaislis abbey, an impressive complex in Baroque style;

the massive Neo-Byzantine church of St. Michael the Archangel;

the Christ’s Resurrection Church with an unfolding panoramic view of the city;

Kaunas Zoo, the only state-operated zoo in Lithuania;

Kaunas Fortress, one of the largest defensive structures in Europe, occupying 65 km2 (25 sq mi), a 19-20th century military fortress, which includes a Holocaust site of the Ninth Fort;

Kaunas Botanical Garden;

Napoleon's Hill;

Kaunas Synagogue;

House of Perkūnas;

Kaunas Town Hall and the square;

Interbellum functionalism architecture complexes;

The Žaliakalnis Funicular Railway and the Aleksotas Funicular Railway;

Kaunas Mosque;

Ąžuolynas Park and the valley of Girstupis River named after Adam Mickiewicz;

the Memorial Petrašiūnai Cemetery;

the Lithuanian open-air Ethnographic Museum displaying the heritage of Lithuanian rural life in a vast collection of authentic resurrected buildings is situated east of Kaunas on the bank of Kaunas Reservoir in a town of Rumšiškės;

Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital.

Museums

Kaunas is often called a city of museums, because of the abundance and variety of them. The museums in Kaunas include:

the War Museum of Vytautas the Great;

the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, commemorating the work of the early 20th century avant-garde artist who sought to combine painting and music into a single artistic medium;

a gallery of works collected by Mykolas Žilinskas at the Kaunas Art Gallery;

the Žmuidzinavičius Museum (best known as the Devils' Museum), which houses a collection of more than two thousand sculptures and carvings of devils from all over the world, most of them of folk provenance. Of particular interest are the Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin devils, together doing the dance of death over a playground littered with human bones;

Lithuanian Aviation Museum;

Ceramics Museum in the Town Hall of Kaunas;

Communications History Museum;

Kaunas Picture Gallery, with a little exhibition about George Maciunas, founding member of the Fluxus-movement, born in Kaunas;

Lithuanian Sports Museum;

Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy;

Historical Presidential Palace, displaying exhibits from the interwar period

Kaunas Museum for the Blind;

Museum of Exiles and Political Prisoners;

Povilas Stulga Museum of Lithuanian Folk Instruments;

Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum;

Sugihara house-museum;

The so-called AB underground printing house was a part of the nonviolent resistance press during the Soviet times. Now it is the branch of the Military Museum, located 8 km north of Kaunas in Saliu village, near the town of Domeikava. Although the AB printing house worked regularly, it was never detected by KGB.

Museum of Gemology;

The apartments of some famous Kaunas natives, including Paulius Galaunė, Adam Mickiewicz, Juozas Grušas, Balys Sruoga, Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, Salomėja Nėris, Juozas Zikaras, Vincentas Sladkevičius, Balys Sruoga have been turned into public museums.

Theatres

Kaunas is notable for the diverse culture life. Kaunas Symphony Orchestra is the main venue for classical music concerts. There is an old circus tradition in Kaunas. There was established static circus in Vytautas park of Kaunas in the beginning of 19th century. The only professional circus organization in Lithuania - Baltic Circus was founded in Kaunas in 1995. Kaunas theatres has played an important role in Lithuanian society. There are at least 7 professional theatres, lots of amateur theatres, ensembles, abundant groups of art and sports. Some of the best examples of culture life in Kaunas are theatres of various styles:

Kaunas State Drama Theatre

Kaunas State Musical Theatre

Kaunas Pantomime Theatre

Kaunas Chamber Theatre

Kaunas Dance Theatre Aura

Kaunas State Puppet Theatre

Kaunas Little Teatre

Parks and cemeteries

The city of Kaunas has a number of parks and public open spaces. It devotes 7.3% of its total land acreage to parkland. Ąžuolynas (literally, "Oak Grove") park is a main public park in the heart of Kaunas. It covers about 63 hectares and is the largest urban stand of mature oaks in Europe. In order to protect the unique lower landscape of Kaunas Reservoir, its natural ecosystem, and cultural heritage Kaunas Reservoir Regional Park was established in the eastern edge of Kaunas in 1992. By the initiative of a prominent Lithuanian zoologist Tadas Ivanauskas and biologist Konstantinas Regelis the Kaunas Botanical Garden was founded in 1923. It serves not only as a recreational area for public, but also serves as a showcase for local plant life, and houses various research facilities.

Lithuania's premiere last resting place formally designated for graves of people influential in national history, politics, and arts is Petrašiūnai Cemetery in Kaunas. It is also the burial site of some signatories of the 1918 Act of Independence.

Public art

statue near city municipality]] A lot of sculptuary is on display in the public areas of Kaunas.

Economy

Kaunas is a large center of industry, trade and services in Lithuania. The most developed industries in Kaunas are: food and beverage industry, textile and light industry, chemical industry, publishing and processing, pharmaceuticals, metal industry, wood processing and furniture industry. Information technology and electronics have become an important area of business activities in Kaunas. Kaunas also has large construction industry in Lithuania, including commercial, housing and road construction. Primary investors in Kaunas are companies from the USA, Finland, and Estonia. Head offices of several major International and Lithuanian companies are located in Kaunas, including "Kraft Foods Lietuva", largest Generic Pharmaceuticals producer in Lithuania "Sanitas group", producer of sportsweare AB "Audimas", one of the largest construction companies "YIT Kausta", JSC "Senukai", largest producer in Lithuania of strong alcoholic drinks JSC "Stumbras", Finnish capital brewery JSC "Ragutis", JSC "Fazer Gardesis", largest wholesale, distribution and logistics company in Lithuania and Latvia JSC "Sanitex", JSC "Stora Enso Packaging", "UBIG group" - a management company of diversified holdings which operates in the property development, banking, aluminium, mining, logistics, textiles, sports, financial intermediary and other sectors; producer of pharmaceuticals, and the only producer of homoeopathic medicines in Lithuania JSC "Aconitum". There are also some innovative companies located in Kaunas, such as leading wholesaler of computer components, data storage media "ACME group", internet and TV provider, communications JSC "Mikrovisata group", developer and producer original products for TV and embedded technologies JSC "Selteka". Joint Lithuanian-German company "Net Frequency", based in Kaunas, is a multimedia and technology service provider. Kaunas is also home to JSC "Baltijos Programinė Įranga", a subsidiary of No Magic, Inc., producing world-leading software modeling tools. Kaunas Free Economic Zone established in 1996 has also attracted some investors from abroad. Before its disestablishment, Air Lithuania had its head office in Kaunas. Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant is the largest one in Lithuania.

Some notable changes are under construction and in the stage of disputes. The construction of a new landmark of Kaunas - the Žalgiris Arena - began in the autumn of 2008 and is due to be completed by December 2010. Currently discussions are underway about the further development of the Vilijampolė district on the right bank of the Neris river and the Nemunas River, near their confluence.

Demography

Historical population

{|class="wikitable" border="1" |- !Year!!Inhabitants |- |1796||8,500 |- |1813||3,000 |- |1825||5,000 |- |1840||8,500 |- |1860||23,300 |- |1897||71,000 |- |1923||92,000 |- |1940||154,000 |- |1959||214,000 |- |1966||275,000 |- |1989||418,087 |- |2001||378,943 |- |2004||366,652 |- |2005||361,274 |}

Ethnic composition

1897 Russian census revealed the following ethnic composition in the city (by mother tongue, out of 70,920): # Jews 25,052 - 35% # Russians 18,308 - 26% # Poles 16,112 - 23% # Lithuanians 4,092 - 6% # Germans 3,340 - 4.5% # Tatar 1,084 - 1.5% #Other 2932 - 4%

Today, with almost 93 percent of its citizens being ethnic Lithuanians, Kaunas is one of the most Lithuanian cities in the country. Kaunas has a higher proportion of ethnic Lithuanians than Vilnius, and more ethnic Lithuanians than Riga has ethnic Latvians or Tallinn has ethnic Estonians.

Ethnic composition in 2001, out of a total of 378,943: #Lithuanians 352,051 #Russians 16,622 #Ukrainians 1,906 #Poles 1,600 #Other 6,764

Municipality council

Kaunas city municipality council is the governing body of the Kaunas city municipality. It is responsible for municipality laws. The council is composed of 41 member elected for four-year terms.

The council is the member of The Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania.

Mayors

commemorative coin dedicated to Kaunas city]]

1921-1931 - Jonas Vileišis

1931 - Juozas Vokietaitis

1932–1933 - Antanas Gravrogkas

1933–1939 - Antanas Merkys

1940 - Antanas Garmus

1990–1991 – Vidmantas Adomonis

1991–1992 – Vilimas Čiurinskas

1992–1995 – Arimantas Račkauskas

1995 – Rimantas Tumosa

1995–1997 – Vladas Katkevičius

1997 – Alfonsas Andriuškevičius

1997–2000 – Henrikas Tamulis

2000 – Vytautas Šustauskas

2000 – Gediminas Budnikas

2001–2002 – Erikas Tamašauskas

2002–2003 – Giedrius Donatas Ašmys

2003–2007 – Arvydas Garbaravičius

since 2007 – Andrius Kupčinskas

Infrastructure

The city is located in the centre of Lithuania, making it highly significant from a logistical point of view.

Airports

Kaunas International Airport (KUN) is one of the biggest airports in the Baltic states. In 2009 it handled 456,698 passengers and 2,119 tonnes of cargo. In 2010 Ryanair announced Kaunas Airport as their 40th base and first in the region. In 2011 they believe that the airport will handle up to one million passengers. The smaller S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport, established in 1915, is located about three kilometers south of the city center. It is one the oldest still functioning airports in Europe used for tourism and air sports purposes and hosts the Lithuanian National Aviation Museum.

Highways

Kaunas is served by a number of major motorways. European route E67 is a highway running from Prague in the Czech Republic to Helsinki in Finland by way of Poland, Kaunas Lithuania, Riga (Latvia), and Tallinn (Estonia). It is known as the Via Baltica between Warsaw and Tallinn, a distance of 670 kilometres (420 mi). It is the most important road connection between the Baltic states. Kaunas also is linked to Vilnius to its east and Klaipėda, on the Baltic Sea, via the A1 motorway and Daugavpils (Latvia), via E262(A6) highway.

Other national status roads passing through Kaunas include:

Kaunas - Alytus

Kaunas - Šakiai

Kaunas - Jurbarkas - Šilutė - Klaipėda

Kaunas - Vandžiogala

Kaunas - Žeimiai - Šėta

Bridges

Since Kaunas is located at the confluence of two rivers, there were 34 bridges and viaducts built in the city at the end of 2007, including:

Vytautas the Great Bridge, connecting Old Town with Aleksotas across the Nemunas;

M. K. Čiurlionis Bridge, an automotive bridge across the Nemunas;

Petras Vileišis Bridge, connecting Old Town with Vilijampolė across the Neris River;

Varniai Bridge, connecting Žaliakalnis with Vilijampolė across the Neris River;

The Green railway bridge, built in 1862.

Railways

Kaunas is an important railway hub in Lithuania. First railway connection passing through Kaunas was constructed in 1859-1961 and opened in 1962. It consisted of Kaunas Railway Tunnel and the Railway bridge across the Nemunas river. Kaunas Railway Station is an important hub serving direct passenger connections to Vilnius and Warsaw as well as being a transit point of Pan-European corridors I and IX. Some trains run from Vilnius to Šeštokai, and, Poland, through Kaunas. International route connecting Kaliningrad, Russia and Kharkiv, Ukraine, also crosses Kaunas. The first phase of the Standard gauge Rail Baltica railway section from Šeštokai to Kaunas is under construction, and it is expected to be completed by 2013.

Public transportation

Kaunas has well developed public transportation system. There are 16 trolleybus routes, 49 bus routes (), a wide shared taxi carrier network - see Kaunas Public Transport. In 2007 new electronic monthly tickets began to be introduced for public transport in Kaunas. Until 2010 regular paper tickets, which are valid for single journeys on Kaunas public buses and trolleybuses, can be purchased from newspaper kiosks and bus/trolleybus drivers. It is available to purchase Kaunas electronic card in shops and newspaper stands and have it credited with an appropriate amount of money. The monthly E-ticket cards may be bought once and might be credited with an appropriate amount of money in various ways including the Internet. Previous paper monthly tickets were in use until August 2009. Kaunas is also one of the major river ports in the Baltic States and has two piers designated for tourism purposes and located on the banks of Nemunas river and Kaunas Reservoir - the largest Lithuanian artificial lake, created in 1959 by damming the Neman River near Kaunas and Rumšiškės.

Sports

Sports in Kaunas has a long and distinguished history. The city is home to a few historic clubs such as: LFLS Kaunas football club (est.1920), LFLS Kaunas baseball club (est.1922), Žalgiris basketball club (est.1944). Ice hockey was started to play in Lithuania in 1922. The first Lithuanian ice hockey championship composed of four teams (LFLS, KSK, Kovas, and Macabi) was held in Kaunas, in 1926. Kaunas is home to some of historic venues such as: the main stadium of the city - S.Dariaus ir S.Girėno Sporto Centras (total capacity 9,000), which is also the Lithuanian soccer club FBK Kaunas's and Lithuanian national football team home stadium established in 1923, and, Kaunas Sports Hall, completed in 1939 for the Third European Basketball Championship. The university status Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education founded during the Interwar period is the only state-supported institution of tertiary physical education in Lithuania. Žalgiris basketball club, one of Europe's strongest, now plays in the Euroleague. Kaunas will host the knockout stage of the European Basketball Championship of 2011. The city is also the birthplace or childhood home of many of the country's top basketball stars, among them Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, Linas Kleiza and Šarūnas Jasikevičius. It is also used as the only large athletics stadium in Lithuania. The largest indoor Žalgiris Arena in the Baltics is under construction in Kaunas. The arena will be used to host sports games as well as concerts. Granitas Kaunas is the strongest men team handball club in Lithuania. First golf club "Elnias" in Lithuania was opened in Kaunas in 2000. Nemuno žiedas is the only in Lithuania motor racing circuit, situated in Kačerginė, a small town near Kaunas. A yacht club operates in the Kaunas Reservoir Regional Park.

Education

Rectorate]] Kaunas is often referred to as a city of students; there are about 50,000 students enrolled in its universities. The first parochial school in Kaunas was mentioned in 1473. A four-form Jesuit school was opened in Kaunas in 1649. It was reorganized into a college in 1653. The oldest still functioning institution of higher education is Kaunas Priest Seminary, established in 1864.

ISM University of Management and Economics

Vytautas Magnus University founded in 1922 as an alternate national university.

Kaunas Business College

Kaunas University of Applied Sciences (Kaunas College)

Kaunas University of Medicine

Kaunas University of Technology - the largest technical university in the Baltic States

Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education

Lithuanian University of Agriculture

Lithuanian Veterinary Academy

Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty of Humanities

Kaunas Art Institute

Annual events

Kaunas is best known for the Kaunas Jazz Festival, International Operetta Festival, Photo Art Festival "Kaunas photo" or Pažaislis music festival, which usually run from early June until late August each year. The open-air concerts of the historical 49-bell Carillon of Kaunas are held on weekends. Probably the longest established festival is the International Modern Dance Festival, which first ran in 1989.

Kaziukas Fair Kaunas fork (beginning of March)

International open-air "Kaunas Jazz Festival" (April–May)

International dance competition "Amber Couple" (beginning of May)

Day of Kaunas city (middle of May)

International poetry festival "Spring of poetry" (end of May)

Pažaislis music festival (June–August)

Kaunas Photo festival (September–October)

Traditional folk music competition "Play, Jurgelis" (November)

Christmas tree lighting (end of November)

Kaunas Textile Art Biennial

Bike Show Millenium (middle of June)

International Hanseatic Days (end of August)

Notable residents

Valdas Adamkus

Aharon Amir

Donatas Banionis

Aharon Barak

Antanas Baranauskas

Montague Maurice Burton

Marija Gimbutas

Emma Goldman

Juozas Grušas

Joseph Gurwin (1920–2009), American philanthropist.

Žydrūnas Ilgauskas

Tadas Ivanauskas

Valdas Ivanauskas

Šarūnas Jasikevičius

Romas Kalanta

Kęstutis Kemzūra

Linas Kleiza

Vytautas Landsbergis

Emmanuel Levinas (philosopher)

George Maciunas

Maironis, Lithuanian romantic poet

Abraham Mapu, Hebrew novelist of the Haskalah movement

Šarūnas Marčiulionis

Adam Mickiewicz

Hermann Minkowski

Oskar Minkowski

Yitzhak Olshan, second President of the Supreme Court of Israel

Vlado Perlemuter (pianist)

Vladimir Romanov, businessman, chairman of UBIG Investments

Michał Pius Römer (lawyer, judge)

Arvydas Sabonis

Sidney Shachnow

Mykolas Sleževičius, Lithuanian lawyer, political figure, and journalist

Ladislas Starevich

Jonas Vileišis

Edita Vilkeviciute, Lithuanian model

Vytautas Žalakevičius, film director and writer

L. L. Zamenhof (inventor of the Esperanto language)

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Kaunas is twinned with: {| cellpadding="10" |- valign="top" | Brno, Czech Republic Los Angeles, California, United States Wrocław, Poland Łomża, Poland Trabzon, Turkey Myślibórz, Poland Tartu, Estonia || Tampere, Finland Odense, Denmark Grenoble, France, since 1997 Linköping, Sweden Kharkiv, Ukraine Brescia, Italy Ferrara, Italy || Hordaland, Norway Växjö, Sweden Cava dei Tirreni, Italy Tyumen, Russia Xiamen, China Antignano, Italy |}

Honours

A minor planet 73059 Kaunas discovered by Lithuanian astronomers Kazimieras Černis and Justas Zdanavičius in 2002 is named after the city of Kaunas.

Footnotes and references

Notes

:This article incorporates text from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and has been released under the GFDL.

External links

Website of Kaunas city

Kaunas Web Page by Jose Gutstein

Kaunas tour overview

Kaunas In Your Pocket City Guide (also a downloadable PDF guide)

The city of Kaunas

A short description of Kaunas

Historic images of Kaunas

Kaunas International Airport

Kovno site and Kovno stories links by Eilat Gordin Levitan

Museums in Kaunas

The Kaunas Jazz festival

The Kaunas ower bird flight

Kaunas Textile Art Biennial

Kauno mozaika - the project of urban photography

Public transportation in Kaunas (omnibuses, trolleybuses)

Tourist Information Centre of Kaunas region

Kaunas Travel Guide (tips about Kaunas)

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Kovno

Category:Capitals of Lithuanian counties Category:Cities in Lithuania Category:Cities in Kaunas County Category:Former national capitals Category:Hanseatic League Category:Municipalities of Kaunas County