Klaipėdos universitetas

A number of different Midsummer celebration models can be distinguished in Lithuania Minor: the most archaic (14th to 19th century), 20th century, and the modern St John’s Day celebration models. The most archaic celebrations were rich in vestiges of the Baltic world-view and mythology: nature, fire and water were worshipped, and people cast spells to protect themselves from evil forces and ensure a good harvest and a happy life. The 20th-century ritualistic St John’s Day tradition of Prussian Lithuanians lost its existential importance as rituals became customs with new forms and symbolic meanings. The most important features of the celebration are the burning of witches in St John’s fire, and general merriment for youth. In the modern celebration model, there is an attempt to combine ethnic traditions with the needs of the consumer society. Fireworks replace ritual Midsummer fires, as bonfires lose their mythological significance. Although the institutionally organised Midsummer celebrations follow a more or less Lithuania-wide scenario; the centralised organisation of cultural events may be beneficial in fostering local forms of the Lithuanian celebratory tradition by highlighting typical elements of St John’s Day in the region of Lithuania Minor.

The article analyzes the links between the hymnals of Prussian Lithuanians (M. Mažvydas, B. Vilentas, A. F. Šimelpenigis and others) and local German publications until 1750. It is assumed that the Prussian Lithuanians prepared their official hymns by using books relied on indigenous Germans. The main conclusion was that Prussia and all diferent national groups had a common treasure of hymns, which could be freely adjusted and supplemented.

The present article presents analysis of the dances Heiduka and Szala rutele of the inhabitants of the Lithuania Minor described by Matas Pretorijus in the 17th century. The article discusses the parallels between the dances hereinabove with the later variants of these dances described in the territory of the Lithuania Minor – in Klaipėda region and a certain part of Königsberg area (current Kaliningrad Oblast) – and in Samogitia in the 17–20th centuries. The interrelationship and change of the purpose, forms and figures of dances are analyzed.

The article analyzes the issue of East Prussian meanings in the environment of Prussian Lithuanians in terms of their “mental maps” and “symbolical geography”. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the communication channels that affected the process of mental appropriation of “our own region” – East Prussia – by the ethnic group of Prussian Lithuanians. The significance of the historical tradition related to the reformationist provision of protection of the status of the Lithuanian language in churches and schools of Prussian Lithuania, as well as of the periodicals published in Lithuanian at the turn of the 20th c. in East Prussia, is emphasized, as it is considered to be a significant communication channel that formed the conception of East Prussia, a close and “one’s own” space from the geographical, administrative-political, and civilization viewpoints. The analysis is oriented towards the problem of “appropriation of the past”, and it contributes to the understanding how the meanings of East Prussia topical for Prussian Lithuanians formed and which symbols marked the presently imaginary spaces identified with East Prussia and Prussian Lithuania/ Lithuania Minor as its part.