Žeimeliai Evangelical Lutheran Church

Church in 1540 built by Kaspars von Tyzenhausen, the elder of Dunamind. The church was wooden, one of the oldest Lutheran churches both in Latvia and Lithuania. in 1653 the church was rebuilt in brick, in 1742. renovated.1753-1759 The Latvian folklorist priest Gothards Frydrich Stenderis (1714–1796) lived and worked in Žeimelis, where he created the first grammar of the Latvian language in German. in 1761 the future field marshal of Russia, Barclays de Tol, was baptized in the church. Teodoras Grotusas (1785–1822), the first Lithuanian physicist-chemist who lived in Gedučiai, who was the first to describe the theory of electrolysis, belonged to the parish.Until 1783 the church belonged to the Curonian Consistory of Bauska Diocese. in 1783 A separate Lithuanian consistory, Collegium Synodale repraesentativum, was established in Vilnius (its project was prepared by the famous writer and priest Konradas Šulcas, for which he received the rank of General Senior of Lithuania).The construction of the current Gothic church began in 1786. under the leadership of priest K. Šults. During the construction of the church, the stones were pulled up by horses, and for that purpose, a sloping board platform was made, the beginning of which was near the big inn. It was completed in 1793. and in the same year St. consecrated on St. Michael's Day (September 29). The tower was built in 1889-1890. From the same material in 1862. a parsonage was also built. After graduating from the University of Jena, 1795-1800 The parish of Žeimelos was served by Fr. Son of Konrad Schulz, Lybegot Otto Konrad. Father Konradas Šultacs (1731–1802) was buried in the church under the pulpit after his death (from 1883 to 1910, his namesake Fr. Konradas Šultacs served in Žeimelis).1806-1814 Karl Johann Bider (1777–1824), a pupil of the University of Jena, served the parish.[2]1911-1928 served by Fr. Johan Julius Ekertas (1861–1939)[3], and in 1929–1949 - priest senior Erik Leijeris, 1951 died in exile. In his memory, a monument was built in the town cemetery, and the street is named after him.