Bagrationovsk

 ( Cities And Towns In Kaliningrad Oblast ) 

In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. During the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, in 1455, Teutonic Knights regained control of the settlement. The castle was besieged on 24 May 1455 by troops of the Prussian Confederation under the command of Remschel von Krixen, but the garrison repulsed the attack. After the war, in 1466, the settlement became a part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights.Górski, pp. 96–97, 214–215 During the Horsemen's War in 1520, the castle was unsuccessfully besieged by troops of the Polish Kingdom, who devastated the settlement. Following the war, it remained a part of Poland, now as a fief held by newly established secular Ducal Prussia. Preußisch Eylau received its civic charter in 1585.

The Battle of Eylau (7–8 February 1807) during the Napoleonic Wars involved the French troops of Napoleon, the Russian Empire troops of General Bennigsen, and the Prussian troops of General Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq. Only 3 inhabitants of Eylau died in the battle, but 605 persons died due to hunger and diseases in 1807 (with the average death rate in "normal" years being around 80–90). Napoleon used the local courthouse as his headquarters in Eylau on 7–17 February 1807.

On 1 April 1819, the town became the seat of the administrative district Preußisch Eylau (Kreis Pr. Eylau). In 1834, a Teachers' Seminary was founded, educating every teacher until it was closed down in 1924. The town was connected to the railway on 2 September 1866. In the late 19th century, four annual and two weekly markets were held in the town.

After 1933, large barracks were built by the Wehrmacht, and in 1935 Infantry and Artillery units were stationed there.

On 10 February 1945, during the Soviet Union Red Army's East Prussian Offensive, the town was occupied by troops of the 55th Guards "Irkutsk-Pinsk" Division commanded by Major General Adam Turchinsky.

In June 1945, the town was handed over to Poland, and Polish officials took over the administrative power. Under its historic Polish name Iławka, the town became a county seat, but Poles left again in December 1945, as the new borderline between the Soviet Union and Poland was set just at the southern outskirts of the town. The county seat was then moved to Górowo Iławeckie (now a twin town of Bagrationovsk), however it retained the name of Iławka County until 1958.

In January 1946, the town became a part of the newly established Kaliningrad Oblast within the Russian SFSR and the town was given its present name, honoring General Pyotr Bagration, who was one of the senior Russian leaders in the Napoleonic Wars and is also the namesake of the 1944 Operation Bagration offensive. The German population that had not already fled during the evacuation of East Prussia during the war was subsequently expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, with the last transport leaving on 23 November 1947. The NKVD established a prison camp for German civilians inside the former Wehrmacht barracks in 1945–1949. It held an estimated 13,000 inmates, of whom some 6,000 people died.

Today the main border crossing point between Russia and Poland (Bezledy/Bagrationovsk) is south of the town. Since April 2007, government restrictions on visits to border areas have been tightened and travel to Sovetsk and Bagrationovsk is only allowed with special permission, unless in transit.