On the loss of Lithuanian in former East Prussia

This article discusses the history of the Lithuanian language as spoken (and written) in the territories of former East Prussia and its recent decline. At the present time, this language has practically disappeared from the region (i.e. today’s Kaliningrad Oblast) even though it successfully coexisted with other languages there for many centuries. Beginning with the importance of Prussian Lithuanian for the development of the Lithuanian language tout court, this contribution aims to reconstruct the orientations of the various language policies that have alternated from the 16th century until today. In particular, the relationship of unequal bilingualism with the long-term hegemonic language of the area, German, will be examined. Since the Second World War, Russification policies (involving demography, regional languages, toponymy, etc.) have created the conditions for a sort of “linguistic necrosis”, i.e. the localised death of this language – which, happily, still remains very much alive in the Republic of Lithuania. The historical trajectory of Prussian Lithuanian has found a symbolic conclusion in the recent closure of the section for Lithuanian studies at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad.