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Pre-war electric lighting poles, incredible century-old fire hydrants with bas-relief inscriptions, gas lanterns, manhole covers with inscriptions from the most famous shipyard in the port city. Such details of the city, for incomprehensible reasons, have remained on the outskirts of heritage sites for decades, unprotected and without inventory.
The situation has only started to change recently, when most of the historical remains of M históricosmelis have already been destroyed or stolen. Even the residents of Klaipeda took up the rescue of small architectural elements.
Offer a model
Many postcard albums with old images of Klaipėda have been published, iconographic photos are stored in various collections, so there is a lot of material about the port city from before the war. It is also widely advertised on social media, so it’s easy to imagine what the city was like before WWII and the Soviet occupation that accompanied it, during which not only important buildings (stock exchange, former fire station, customs building, etc.) were swept away, but also destroyed.
“We will no longer recreate some of the elements, but there are small details in the city that allow you to touch that authentic image. For example, a line of power poles from before the war has survived on Kalvos Street. Walking through the station area and looking at our feet, we will see sewer covers with the inscriptions “LINDENAUWERFT-MEMEL” made at the Paulius Lindenau Shipyard. Hydrants have survived in several places. The problem is that these objects are disappearing and are not included in the register of cultural heritage, ”Vitalijus Juška, Head of the Department of Heritage Protection of the Klaipėda Municipal Administration, told the“ Weekly Express ”.
According to the official, it is not possible to provide legal protection for each lighting pole or sewer cover, so Klaipeda residents now offer the Department of Cultural Heritage (CRD) to assess the situation on the principle of specific territories.
“If an old gas lamp is part of a heritage house, it is protected. But what to do with those pillars that have fallen around the city and are not near the protected house nor do they have protection themselves? We propose to name all those technical and engineering relics as valuable elements of the territories of the old town and the new town, the so-called historical part of the city. This is very important for urban projects. When developing those covers, the posts would be taken into account and when designing something you should already take into account that there are protected details on that street. Now it is possible that the designers themselves do not know them and cause the relics to simply be dismantled, ”said the specialist.
He also provided a real example: recently, only due to the active care and indifference of Klaipeda residents, plans to possibly destroy the pre-war electricity pillar during the Rumpiškės street management were abandoned.
“We have provided a list of CRDs, naming sections of streets, individual objects. In our opinion, environmental management should take into account how authentic it was. Because that’s the history of the city. Suppose you don’t use the covers of Rectangular registers that were installed on Daržų Street. The old survivors have to dictate the fashion, and their examples and new ones must be produced, as this is related to the prevailing trends before the war. Such as the hues of the lighting on the helmet old: new ones are made according to the examples of old lamps ”, taught V. Juška subtleties.
History of “unlocks”
When asked why these details are important, the interviewers emphasized not only respect for history, but also the added value it creates in the development of tourism.
“I run city tours mainly for locals. Believe me, that surviving engineering, technical heritage is very interesting to people. Often he is not even able to identify that, lo and behold, a pre-war light pole is standing in his yard or day by day passing through the manhole cover made at P. Lindenau’s factory. When you tell those details to the exhibition, tourists even begin to appreciate their surroundings differently, to be more proud, to keep the relics. These are small details, but through them a lot can be told, revealed and somehow “unlocked” the nuances of the city’s history, “guide Agnė Jonikaitė-Abramovičienė told the” Express of the Week “.
According to her, people are fascinated by the opportunity to physically touch a relatively insignificant and inadvertent heritage that dates back to the pre-war era and perhaps survived only by happy chance.
V. Juška also admitted the guide, confessing that when he travels abroad, visiting ancient cities, he always looks for and pays attention not only to the magnificent buildings, but also to the details that lurk in their shadows.
They also create a certain historical setting, an aura. Some old pavement, fire hydrant, post, lamp … At the same time it is also urban decorative elements, because they are ornate. And more complex forms than the current ones. Review them and feel that you are walking through a very old town, ”he said.
Laisvūnas Kavaliauskas, chief specialist of the Klaipėda branch of the CRD, also drew attention to the fact that objects of technical heritage are often of great interest even to filmmakers.
“Such a relic is interesting in its uniqueness, and very few of them have survived on Klaipeda. Under a lamppost, you can imagine what the street was like, which now you only see on old postcards. But the pillar remained. This gives the city a certain charm, charm, because the elements survived the wars, all the misfortunes ”, said L. Kavaliauskas.
Daiva Masiliauskienė, the chief specialist of the Department of Heritage Protection of the Municipal Administration of the Port City, is convinced that the charming technical heritage objects could serve tourism in a similar way to the sculptures in Klaipėda.
“There are a variety of games where guests are asked to find certain objects. I think it would be interesting to tour the city and discover electric poles, even sewer covers. We must protect what we have, because we can restore at any time, we just need to have something to restore. Through tourism, it is possible to interest people in the ancient heritage and its environment. Of course, it is very important that it is also protected by the locals, so attention to detail can encourage it to do so ”, thought D. Masiliauskienė.
Few have survived
Speaking to specialists interested in the history of Klaipeda, no one could answer whether at least one tram pole has survived. They appear to have been destroyed.
According to the director of the Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor (MLIM) dr. John Genius, this fact alone reflects the current situation.
“The small technical architecture is important to Klaipeda because we have so few. After all, they cut off all the old power poles in the harbor area. They could not be moved to the museum if someone thought so. This heritage must remain in place. original and preserved. Otherwise, it will repeat what has already happened: if it interferes with a project, it simply dismantles it. Protection must be disciplined, because now we see that the engineering objects of ancient Klaipeda have remained on the sidelines of the system protection of heritage. Strange situation … As if you wanted to see only large objects, buildings, bridges. I hope we can protect at least those crumbs that remain, “said J. Genys.
The only thing that can be eloquent is that there are only four pre-war lighting poles in the entire old town: one in the Market Square, the other in Melmelburg Castle, the third on the Chain Bridge and the fourth even masked because it is painted blue, unrecognizable in the place.
“When I came to live in Klaipeda 35 years ago, I saw many more manhole covers with the inscription ‘Memel’. Now there are a few dozen left. Metal stolen at the time of the robbery. Who took it to the shops, who took it to the If those covers had had legal protection, perhaps the owner of the shopping center, seeing the inscription “Memel”, would have thought and not accepted such a thing “, considered L. Kavaliauskas.
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