Nida (, Kursenieki: Nīde) is a resort settlement in Lithuania, the administrative centre of Neringa municipality. Located on the Curonian Spit between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea, it is the westernmost point of Lithuania and the Baltic states, close to the border with the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast exclave. In 2025, it had around 1500 permanent residents.

History

thumb|left|Exposition of ancient life in Nida

A settlement area of the Baltic Curonians, the original place called nida ("fluent" in the Old Prussian language) was first mentioned in 1385 documents issued by the Teutonic Knights, who ruled the lands within their Monastic State. The original settlement on the road along the Curonian Spit from Königsberg to Memel was located about south of its today's position near the Hohe Düne (High Dune) at Cape Grobštas (from Old Prussian: grabis, "hill"). In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), the fishing village became a part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights until 1525, and by Ducal Prussia afterwards, and thus was located within the Polish–Lithuanian union and Commonwealth.

From 1701, it was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1709 nearly all of the population died from a bubonic plague epidemic. Continuously threatened by sand drifts, the village was moved away from the approaching dune to today's position in the 1730s. Incorporated into the Prussian Province of East Prussia in 1773, it became part of the German Empire upon the German unification of 1871. In 1874 a lighthouse on Urbas hill was built, later destroyed in the war and rebuilt in 1945 and 1953. In 1878, the village had a population of 655, mostly living off fishing, with fish being sold mainly to nearby Klaipėda and other coastal settlements.

Artists' colony

thumb|left|"A view to Purvynė Pier" (circa 1938, by Carl Knauf) nicknamed by contemporaries as the "Italian view"

thumb|left|[[Thomas Mann's summer house, now a museum]]

From the late 19th century, the dune landscape became popular with landscape and animal painters from the Kunstakademie Königsberg arts school. The local inn of Herman Blode was the nucleus of the expressionist artists' colony (Künstlerkolonie Nidden). Lovis Corinth sojourned there, as did Max Pechstein, Alfred Lichtwark, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and Alfred Partikel. Painters from Königsberg such as Julius Freymuth and Eduard Bischoff visited the area, as did poets such as Ernst Wiechert and Carl Zuckmayer.

|source 2 = NOAA (extremes)

{|style="width:100%;text-align:center;line-height:1.2em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" class="wikitable"

|-

!Colspan=14|Coastal temperature data for Nida

|-

!Month

!Jan

!Feb

!Mar

!Apr

!May

!Jun

!Jul

!Aug

!Sep

!Oct

!Nov

!Dec

!style="border-left-width:medium"|Year

|-

!Average sea temperature °C (°F)

| style=""|3.2<br/>(37.76)

| style=""|2.4<br/>(36.32)

| style=""|1.6<br/>(34.88)

| style=""|4.2<br/>(39.56)

| style=""|9.6<br/>(49.28)

| style=""|15.0<br/>(59.00)

| style=""|18.5<br/>(65.30)

| style=""|19.2<br/>(66.56)

| style=""|17.0<br/>(62.60)

| style=""|12.6<br/>(54.68)

| style=""|9.1<br/>(48.38)

| style=""|5.8<br/>(42.44)

| style=""|9.9<br/>(49.73)

|-

!Colspan=14 style="background:#ffffff;font-weight:normal;font-size:100%;"|Source 1: Seatemperature.org

|}

Tourism

thumb|[[Port of Nida with yachts]]

thumb|[[Saint Jonas's Festival in Nida]]

thumb|Nida's famous [[Nida nudist beach|nudist beach]]

The settlement is an upmarket holiday resort, hosting about 200,000 to 300,000 tourists each summer, mostly Lithuanians, Germans, Latvians, and Russians. It is characterized by low-key entertainment and a distinct family focus. However, during recent years it has become a decent point of interest for fine electronica music and modern art shows at an eclectic forest retreat.

Since 2001, Nida Jazz Festival has been held every year. A local radio station Neringa FM streams live beats over FM and online. There are also interesting places to see nearby, including some of the highest sand dunes in Europe, a large sundial (which has been restored after being damaged by a Baltic gale), Fisherman's Ethnographic Homestead, gallery-museum of amber and a German Protestant (Evangelische) Brick Gothic church (built in 1888). There is also a campsite.

The settlement is known for Nidden Kurenwimpel — German for "Curonian pennants" — ornate carved flags particular to local families resident on the Curonian Spit. The flags, replicas of which can be seen around Nida, feature animal and human figures as pictograms reminiscent of a pagan writing tradition. At the local cemetery, examples of krikštas (pl. krikštai), pagan burial markers in place of tombstones, can still be seen.

Nida's beach participates in the Blue Flag Programme. Nudists make use of parts of the beach near Nida for nude bathing. Nida's nudist beach is frequently featured in various rankings of world's best nudist beaches.

Transportation

thumb|Bus station in Nida

Nida Airport is located in the settlement, but it has no scheduled routes and only capable of handling small aircraft. Nida also has a seaport which is used for ferries and fishing boats.

The only road which runs along the whole length of the Curonian Spit, connecting Zelenogradsk and Smiltynė (where a ferry connection to Klaipėda exists), passes through the edge of Nida. An hourly bus runs between Nida and Smiltynė ferry terminal on that road, and intercity buses to various cities like Kaliningrad, Klaipėda, Kaunas and Vilnius exist.

Notable people from Nida

  • Tadas Sedekerskis (born 1998), Lithuanian basketball player

<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px">

File:Kurenwimpel aus Nidden (2004).JPG|Kursenieki flag

File:Nidos žvejo etnografinė sodyba (2).jpg|Fisherman's Ethnographic Homestead

File:Nidos žvejo etnografinė sodyba, Nida, Neringa, Litva 2.jpg|Ethnographic house

File:Kurenhaus.jpg|Kursenieki house

File:Nidden Evangelische Kirche 01.JPG|Lutheran Church (built in 1888)

File:Krikstas.jpg|Krikštai (pagan burial markers) in the cemetery

File:Itališkas vaizdelis 01.jpg|The "Italian view" in Skruzdinė

File:Nida in winter.jpg|Nida in winter

File:Rozhledna Highlight v Nidě (Nidos apžvalgos bokštas „Highlight“), Neringa, Litva.jpg|Observation tower

File:Parnidžio pažintinis takas, Nida, Neringa, Litva 04.jpg|Parnidis Dune trek

File:Výhled na Litevsko-ruskou hranici, Parnidžio kopa, Litva 01.jpg|Parnidis Dune

File:Pláž Nida, velké vlny, Nida, Litva.jpg|Nida beach

</gallery>

See also

  • Nida Lighthouse

Notes

References