From the Postwar Times to Nowadays

In the summer of 1944, with the front line drawing closer, majority of inhabitants fled to Germany. Till the beginning of 1945, practically all of the local residents, most of whom came from Central Russia, had left, and civilians started to inhabit the Curonian Spit,. The Curonian Spit of the postwar times represented ill communication with the mainland, bad roads or absence of the latter, wasted and ravished the land. For newcomers, the Curonian Spit was an alien land for a long time. Nida, Preila, and Juodkrante’s neighbourhoods functioned prior to the foundation of the town. On November 15, 1961, the LSSR Supreme Council issued a decree “Regarding Nida, Preila, and Juodkrante’s Summerhouses Liquidation and Neringa Town Foundation, Subordinate to the Republic”. The concerns of the first town head were to provide Neringa with electricity, telephone communication lines, as well as to reconstruct the road Nida - Smiltyne. At that same time, the foundation for the development of Neringa as a resort was laid. Special attention was paid to the border regime and establishment of a life-saving station.

In 1966, the status of a unique landscape reservation came into effect, which practically equals the status of the national park. The latter definition was avoided due to the fear to use the word “national.”

In 1967, the hurricane cut a swath through the Spit, unthreading 21 thousand cubic meters of the most beautiful forest. The speed of wind reached 35-40 m/sec.

 

In 1968, the territory of Neringa town was started to be managed according to the certified general plan (the plan was prepared by the Architectural and Construction Institute of Kaunas, head Ph.D. V. Stauskas).

In 1970, a secondary school started to function, and in 1973 – music school and residential district were built on the Taikos street.

In 1972, a canteen and a trading center was built in Juodkrante. A gym and a wing of the Nida secondary school was built. Traffic communication with Kaliningrad has improved. The most important projects: construction of dwelling houses in the Kopu district and foundation of the Museum of Miniatures in Juodkrante.

In 1976, LSSR Cabinet Council confirmed provisions about the Curonian Spit management. The same year, State Forest Park was established.

In 1979, Neringa town complex children-youth sports school SSD “Zalgiris” was opened in Nida. Even prior to the establishment of the sports school, Nida yachtsmen were well-known in Lithuania and former USSR.

In 1988, the churches of Nida and Juodkrante were returned to Evangelical-Lutheran parishes. That same year, 110 KW electric transfer line was laid. In September 1988, “Sajudis” was formed in Neringa. That was a new democratic force. The entire Lithuania, including Neringa, experienced a great ethnic and spiritual upsurge.

In 1991, the National Park of the Curonian Spit was established, according to the LR Supreme Council resolution. In July, yachting final competition among Lithuanians of the World took place in Neringa.

 

From 1995, the most focal turning point happens in the town’s infrastructure development. Special attention was paid to the cultural tourism and solution of inhabitants’ social problems. In that time frame, municipality considerably improved the town’s infrastructure. In 2001, the biggest infrastructure object in Lithuania was yielded – Juodkrante quay. In 1995, the quay clearing works were started. Prior to 1995, that bank of the Curonian Lagoon was unkept, unaesthetic, and untidy, which caused the raised Lagoon’s waters to flood the road. Nowadays, the quay is the most visited place, where one can not only walk, but also admire Lithuanian and foreign artists’ stone sculptures. Municipality pays considerable attention to the renovation of the apartment houses – houses facades were changed, span roofs, traditional for this land, were fitted instead of flat roofs, environment was cleaned up.

When Lithuania regained independence, a lot of work has been done in the cultural tourism sphere. Most of events organized in Neringa became traditional. Those are holiday of the Summer Season Opening, international folklore festival “Tek sauluze ant maraciu”, Fisherman’s Holiday, international Thomas Mann art festival, opera and symphonic music festival “Musical August at the Seaside”, chamber music festival “The Curonian Spit”, Christmas and New Year cycle, etc.

 

By the end of 2000, the Curonian Spit territory was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list as a cultural landscape object. This recognition is the best evaluation of cultural inheritance, nature protection, and infrastructure improvement works being done on the territory of the Curonian Spit.

In 2002, Nida’s beach was awarded with the Blue Flag. In 2001, World orientation sport veterans’ championship successfully took place in Neringa, where more than 2,600 sportsmen from 35 countries took part. That was the biggest sports forum in Lithuania.