Pub. online:15 Dec 2025Type:Source PublicationOpen Access
Journal:Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis
Volume 46 (2025): Nexuses of Interaction in the Borderland between Lithuania and Prussia in the Pre-Industrial Period = Sąveikos mazgai Lietuvos ir Prūsijos pasienyje ikiindustrinėje epochoje, pp. 175–188
Abstract
The work provides a translation of the report on the trade situation and statistics of the Baltic Sea ports of Klaipėda, Königsberg, Elbing, Gdansk and Szczecin (belonging to Prussia at the time) in 1863, prepared by the Ottoman Consulate General in Gdansk in early 1864, and sent by the envoy of the Ottoman Empire in Berlin to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Empire. This is the only document of this type on the Baltic Sea ports in the 19th century so far found in Turkish archives prepared by the diplomatic missions of the Ottoman Empire, which gives us an insight into the trade situation and statistics of the Baltic Sea region. In the document, a brief descriptive contextual assessment of trade, as well as the main export and import statistics, are provided in evaluating each city. Additionally, the document also provides information about the role of Klaipėda port in Baltic Sea trade in the middle of the 19th century.