Abschwangen was a small village near Preussisch Eylau

Bagrationovsk

Bagrationovsk is a town and the administrative center of Bagrationovsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of Kaliningrad. Population: -History:...

 in East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

 some 30 km south of Königsberg

Königsberg

Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...

, today Kaliningrad Oblast

Kaliningrad Oblast

Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 and the scene of a massacre of German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 civilians in August 1914.

Prelude

After Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n troops started their first World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 offensive in East Prussia in August 1914, they reached the small village of Abschwangen on August 27, 1914 without struggle, and marched through. On August 29, 1914 a German Cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 unit of 4 Soldiers came to the unoccupied village, facing a Russian car crossing through and opening fire on this automobile. One Russian Officer, a member of the Trubetskoy

Trubetskoy

Trubetskoy , Трубецкой , Трубяцкі , Trubecki , Trubetsky , Трубецький , Troubetzkoy , Trubezkoi or Trubetzkoy , is a Ruthenian Gediminid gentry family of Black Ruthenian stock, like many other princely houses of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later prominent in Russian...

 family, was killed, and the car moved back to the village of Almenhausen (now Kashtanovo), some 5 km east of Abschwangen.

The massacre

After the return of the car to Almenhausen, the Russian troops executed 9 civilians (Mayor Prang, Farmer Stadie, Hermann Marienberg and 6 unknown refugees), who were by chance standing next to them and burned down 70 buildings out of 81 existing houses.
At the same time some other troops marched to Abschwangen, where they started to execute the male inhabitants and burned down houses and farm buildings. In Abschwangen 78 buildings out of 101 existing were destroyed.
During the massacre, 65 people (28 locals, 37 refugees from southern East Prussia) were killed in Abschwangen.

Aftermath

Due to the German success at the Battle of Tannenberg

Battle of Tannenberg (1914)

The Battle of Tannenberg was an engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of World War I. It was fought by the Russian First and Second Armies against the German Eighth Army between 23 August and 30 August 1914. The battle resulted in the almost complete...

, Russian troops retreated from the Abschwangen region, and the village was recaptured without a struggle by German troops

German Army (German Empire)

The German Army was the name given the combined land forces of the German Empire, also known as the National Army , Imperial Army or Imperial German Army. The term "Deutsches Heer" is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the German Bundeswehr...

 on September 3, 1914. A memorial was built to the 74 killed civilians in 1924, but it, like the whole village, was destroyed during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

in 1945.