In September, eight red brick buildings and routes in the city of Klaipėda will become eight different stories about the people of this city, culture, faith, education, everyday life, and connections with the world.
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Historian Prof. Dr. Vasilijus Safronovas from Klaipėda University will speak in his lecture about the place of red brick in the architectural history of Klaipėda: “Red brick has long become a kind of business card revealing the uniqueness of Klaipėda. In the late Soviet period, it was turned into an almost mandatory component of the ‘Klaipėda’ color scheme in construction. Architects of that time tried to justify this with a local construction ‘tradition.’ But how much of such a tradition really existed?” asks Prof. V. Safronovas. Raising this question, he promises to review design and construction trends in Klaipėda from 1854 to 1944, revealing organizational and stylistic nuances of the architecture of that time, clarifying where red brick was really used, what such expression aimed to achieve, and whether all red brick buildings in Klaipėda are really associated only with historical Gothic imitations.
The project is carried out by the public institution “Red Bricks” with a team of fifteen volunteers organizing the presentation event, tours, and accompanying educational activities. The head of the institution, Edita Valinčienė, says that with this project the organization wants to help people look at buildings not only as beautiful and old architecture but to learn more about the people of Klaipėda: “By looking at the red brick schools of the Klaipėda region, we can learn how children’s education was organized in this region a hundred or more years ago. The railway station buildings tell how quickly people could reach major European cities from Klaipėda before the war, post offices show how people maintained connections, and the church – what and how they believed. Through buildings and their stories, we talk about people and their destinies.”
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From September 5, residents of Klaipėda and city guests will be invited to educational tours of eight red brick buildings or routes. Each tour will reveal a different layer of the history of the Klaipėda region and allow viewing buildings as documents in which one can read the life stories of people. Each tour will be accompanied by an educational session “History in a cup of coffee” or “Red Brick Stories,” aimed at families.
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WHAT? Presentation-lecture of the project “Red Brick Stories of Klaipėda”
WHERE? Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Klaipėda University
(In the White Hall, 2nd floor, address: S. Nėries St. 5, Klaipėda)
WHEN? September 3, 2026, 5:30 PM
