Klaipėdos universitetas

The article focuses on ethical dilemmas caused by accidentally found artefacts from the necropolises of Klaipėda Region that no longer have clear attribute references (tombstones or details of their decoration, epitaph tables, fragments of crosses, etc). The problems are related to the identification of such findings, the establishment of their environmental protection and museum value (whether they are to be protected, exhibited, or valueless), their potential use (as objects of research or of technological interest, memorial objects, raw materials for restoration, etc.), and their fate. As proved by experience, part of the artefacts are a valuable source of information about the materials used by the craftsmen of the 19th to mid-20th c., details of decoration, the skills, and technological and colourist resolutions. The artefacts with no clear attribute references can be used for instrumental analysis: for the identification of the composition and structure of ceramics, metal, paints, and glaze; however, the fate of an artefact primarily depends on the moral decision of a person who found (appropriated, or dismantled) it.

The key topics discussed in the article are related to the dating of the commencement of construction of Kriegsmarine coastal defence and antiaircraft (Flak) artillery batteries in Memel (Klaipeda). The author argues that the most important goal of Kriegsmarine was to protect the port entrance channel from attacks or blocking from the sea. Therefore, the period of March 1939 to the early 1940 discussed in the article could have been used to build fortifications for coastal defence batteries. Stationary fortifications for Flak batteries around the city could have been built in a later period. Until then, temporary emplacements for Flak guns could have been constructed in the surrounding areas. Field research data on Tauralaukis Flak battery gave more credibility to the presumptions presented in the article. Some shell remains revealed ammunition marks stating that this ammo was made in 1941.

Technical and technological construction questions of Memel / Klaipėda tunnel bombshelters of the World War II are analyzed in the following article. These questions help to reconstruct historical aspects of function and presumable purpose of these bombshelters during the siege of the town. The researches allowed to systematize the attributes, typical of such constructions. For the research of bombshelters’ constructions and materials, a comparative method was used: the received results were compared with analogous research results of Memel / Klaipėda and its surroundings’ structures – antiaircraft (Flak) and coast artillery battery – which functioned during the World War II. The constructions of remained German bombshelters are more than modest; the technological mistakes allow suppose, that the builders of the shelters didn’t dispose such material and human resources like ones of the batteries. Beside this, the durability of the bombshelters leads to believe that builders used some building materials of high quality, for example, the slag cement, the waterproof concrete and plaster.