Jurbarkas
city in Tauragė County, Lithuania
Jurbarkas (; Samogitian: Jorbarks, known also by several alternative names) is a city in Tauragė County, in Samogitia, Lithuania. Jurbarkas is located in the historic land of Karšuva. It is on the right-hand shore of the Nemunas at its confluence with the tributaries Mituva and Imsrė. The town became an important road junction after a bridge was built over the Nemunas in 1978.
Etymology
The name Jurbarkas is derived from the Ordensburg castle, Georgenburg, built in the 13th century.
Jurbarkas has also been known by many derivate spellings in various languages throughout its history. The most notable non-Lithuanian names for the city include: in Samogitian Jorbarks, in German Georgenburg, Jurgenburg, and Eurburg, in Polish, Jurbork, and in Yiddish יורבורג (Yurburg).
History
Although Jurbarkas is said to have been a seat of Lithuanian princes from the Palemonids legend, it was first documented in 1259 as the Teutonic Knights' Ordensburg castle of Georgenburg ("George's castle") southwest from the confluence of Mituva and Nemunas. This castle was constructed 3 km (1.9 mi) west of the current town on a hill now known as Bišpiliukai, while the Lithuanians built a castle on Bišpilis hill by the river Imsrė.
The castle of Georgenburg was destroyed by the Grand Duke Vytautas in 1403 and was never rebuilt.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jurbarkas” as city in Tauragė County, Lithuania. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in Tauragė County, Lithuania. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q835838. VIAF identifies the subject as 123296877. Authority coordinates are 55.083, 22.767. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978, 1259 and 1403.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jurbarkas”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jurbarkas primary sources, Jurbarkas archive and Jurbarkas research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jurbarkas”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jurbarkas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.