Christmemel (Latin: Christi Memela, Kyrsmemel, Kirsmomela) was a frontier fortress (Ordensburg) of the Teutonic Knights on the banks of the Neman River.
[1] Christmemel, manned by some 400 men,[2] was to serve as a base for further attacks during the Lithuanian Crusade against pagan Samogitia and Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
German chronicler Peter von Dusburg recorded an act of pagan loyalty: when the Lithuanians returned to the castle to claim the corpse of their leader, they were met with volleys of Teutonic arrows.
Peter von Dusburg claimed that the fortress was damaged by "shaking earth", which could be erosion or mudslide.
[6] This would place the fortress on the right bank of the Neman River – the Lithuanian side of the natural front line.