Along the Širvinta River, near Kudirkos Naumiestis, a border stretching for centuries separated those living in different empires or states, while two towns—Schirwindt and Kudirkos Naumiestis—known as “twins,” shared their daily lives and were the closest of neighbors. Schirwindt was the easternmost town belonging to Germany, symbolizing the tragedy of East Prussian history: the destroyed signs of German culture, place names, human destinies, and physical cities. Schirwindt is one of these vanished towns. 

The museum “Širvintos kampelis” (The Schirwindt Corner) was born from a personal connection to history—from the impression of a town that once lay across the river and vanished without a trace. Teacher and local historian Antanas Spranaitis was born and raised in Kudirkos Naumiestis. Childhood memories and his parents’ stories about the town of Schirwindt always sparked curiosity and wonder. It was for this reason that he and his wife, Irena, traveled extensively through the former East Prussian region (renamed Kaliningrad), where German heritage was uncontrollably decaying and even intentionally destroyed during the Soviet era. The spouses collected surviving German items that were considered worthless at the time (dishes, household items, tools, etc.). The Spranaitis family accumulated and preserved them right in their home, in one of the rooms. In 1997, encouraged by friends, they organized the exhibition “Monuments Destroyed by People and Time,” dedicated to the friendship of the twin towns. The exhibition was visited by a large crowd interested in the history of the vanished town. Following this exhibition, expatriates from the town of Schirwindt, who had repatriated to Germany after World War II, reached out. A friendship blossomed with the Spranaitis family, thanks to whom the descendants of Schirwindt donated their preserved relics to the museum. 

For many years, the founders of “Širvintos kampelis,” Irena and Antanas Spranaitis, collected fragments of the history of the destroyed town of Schirwindt. We are grateful to the Spranaitis family for the opportunity to tell the story of Schirwindt’s destruction and to exhibit the items they gathered over many long years. 

Creative Team

Curator 

Aurimas Kanapkis  

Architects 

Eimantas Ludavičius 
Giedrė Narbutienė  

Graphic Designer 

Jurga Karosaitė  

Exhibition Coordinator 

Vida Palionienė  

Conservators 

Rasa Nazarovaitė 
Lina Kregždienė 
Ieva Monika Stanionienė 
Asta Jakštienė 
Anželika Juodišienė  

Text Editor 

Nijolė Deveikienė  

Multimedia 

Arvydas Repšys  

Display Cases and Installation 

Virgilijus Adomavičius 
Edmundas Jazgevičius  

Lighting 

Vladas Dabkevičius  

Exhibition Installation 

Rimas Gecevičius  

Partners 

Irena Spranaitienė 
Darius Spranaitis  

Special Thanks 

Iveta Aušvicaitė 
Maximilian Dolny  

Media Partners 

Šakių rajono laikraštis „Draugas“ 
Vilkaviškio rajono laikraštis „Santaka“  

Organizer 

The National Museum of Lithuania