Pravdinsk

Pravdinsk (, prior to 1946 known by its German name '', , ), is a town and the administrative center of Pravdinsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is on the Lava River and is east of Bagrationovsk and southeast of Kaliningrad. Population figures:

==History== Pravdinsk was founded in 1312 at a ford across the Lava River after the local Natangian tribe in Prussia was subdued by the Teutonic Knights, and received town privileges in 1335 under Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig. It was known by its German language name Friedland'' ("peaceful land"). In 1440 the town joined the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation, at the request of which Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454. The town was devastated during the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars. After the war, per the peace treaty signed in Toruń in 1466, it became a part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights. The town's seal was attached to the documents of the peace treaty. In 1525, the town became a part of the Duchy of Prussia, a vassal duchy of Poland, after the secularization of the State of the Teutonic Order. From 1618, it was ruled by Dukes of Brandenburg from the Hohenzollern dynasty, remaining under Polish suzerainty until 1657, when Prussia gained independence. It was again damaged by Swedish troops in the course of the Second Northern War 1655–1660.