Klaipeda is Lithuania's only major commercial port. The town is situated at the inlet of the Curonian lagoon (Kurisches Haff).

Klaipeda has a shifting political past, sometimes a part of Germany, sometimes a part of the independent Lithuania.

Until World War I, Klaipeda (ger. Memel) was a northern town in Prussia. Between the wars it became, first a "free" city under the League of Nations, later Lithuanian. Then the nazis came to power in Germany, Memel was one of their first targets, and the town became German again.

World War II meant the end of a century long German influence in the area. The city survived the war without being totally destroyed. In the city center, you today find many old German and Lithuanian buildings.

The dominating architecture is definitely of German origin. It is a city of mixed styles, as well as a mixed history.