Editing Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast (section)

==History==
The settlement of Gumbinnen (from {{langx|lt|Gumbinė}}: [[pumpkin]]) in the [[Duchy of Prussia]], a vassal duchy of the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], was first mentioned in a 1580 deed.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}} A [[Protestant Reformation|Protestant]] parish was established in Gumbinnen at the behest of the [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] thanks to Duke [[Albert, Duke in Prussia|Albert of Prussia]] about 1545 and the first church was erected in 1582. It became part of [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] in 1618, remaining a fief of Poland.

===18th and 19th centuries===
[[File:Кирха Зальцбургская.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Salzburg Lutheran Church]]
From the 18th century, it was part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]]. Between 1709 and 1711 the area was devastated by the [[Great Northern War plague outbreak]]<ref name=sgk>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom II|year=1881|language=pl|location=Warszawa|pages=505–506}}</ref> and had to be redeveloped under the rule of the "Soldier King" [[Frederick William I of Prussia]], who granted Gumbinnen [[German town law|town privileges]] in 1724 and from 1732 resettled the area with [[Salzburg Protestants]], refugees from [[Archbishopric of Salzburg|Salzburg]], who had been expelled by Prince-Archbishop [[Count Leopold Anton von Firmian]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U8dBDwAAQBAJ&q=Firmian&pg=PA94|title=Salzburger, Ostpreußen - Integration und Identitätswahrung |first=George |last=Turner|date=August 2017 |publisher=BWV Verlag |isbn=9783830537878 |language=de}}</ref> From 1710, the French Reformed congregation was formed, whereas the German Reformed congregation was founded in 1739, and in 1808 the French congregation was incorporated into the German one.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gresch|first=Eberhard|title=Im Blickpunkt der Geschichte der Reformation: Evangelisch-Reformierte in (Ost-)Preußen|year=2012|pages=26–27|language=de}}</ref> The first [[filial church]] of the [[Salzburg Protestants]] was erected in 1752, and was rebuilt in 1840 in a [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] style according to plans designed by [[Karl Friedrich Schinkel]]. The church was restored in 1995 by the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia]]. In 1810, a public library was opened.<ref name=sgk/>

From 1815, Gumbinnen was the capital of [[Gumbinnen (region)|Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen]], an administrative district of the [[Province of East Prussia]], and became part of the [[German Empire]] upon the [[unification of Germany]] in 1871. In 1860 the Prussian State railway line from [[Königsberg]] to Stallupönen (now [[Nesterov]]) was built and the route passed through Gumbinnen, causing the town to grow in economic importance in the region. By the end of the 19th century, Gumbinnen had a [[foundry]], a machine shop, a furniture factory, a clothing mill, two [[sawmills]], several [[brickworks]], and a [[Dairy farming|dairy]].

===20th century===
[[File:Гусев Gumbinnen Luftaufnahme.jpg|left|thumb|Aerial view in the early 20th century]]
During [[World War I]] the town was the site of the [[Battle of Gumbinnen]], a major battle on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]]. The battle took place nearby in the opening days of the war in August 1914, and Gumbinnen was subsequently occupied by the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian Army]] for several months. After the war, a [[power plant]], the Ostpreußenwerk, was built in Gumbinnen and powered much of East Prussia. At the beginning of the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi era]], Gumbinnen was designated a [[Military region|military sub-region]] of the Königsberg military area. Near the end of [[World War II]], in 1944, the first of Gumbinnen's 24,000 residents began to flee from the advancing [[Red Army]], and a Soviet air attack on 16 October 1944, caused heavy damage to the inner town area. On 22 October 1944, the town was taken by Soviet forces, who engaged in numerous vengeful atrocities against the civilian population before the [[Wehrmacht]] retook the town two days later. Although the German forces [[Gumbinnen Operation|retook Gumbinnen and managed in late October to stabilize the battle line]] east of the town, it was quickly re-conquered by the Red Army during the great Soviet [[East Prussia offensive]] on 21 January 1945. During the [[Evacuation of East Prussia]], the surviving German residents fled or were [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–50)|expelled]].

Following the end of the war, under border changes promulgated at the [[Potsdam Conference]] in 1945, the northern part of the former province of East Prussia became a part of the Soviet Union, including Gumbinnen. The town was renamed Gusev, in honour of a Red Army [[captain]], Sergei Ivanovich Gusev, who was killed in action near Gumbinnen in January 1945, and was posthumously given the award of [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] on 19 April 1945.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}