Europe's second highest Giant Cedar, with a height of 18 metres (59 ft), is located in Kintai.

[2] Kintai began to appear in the 16th century, when it was located within the Polish–Lithuanian union, soon elevated to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as a fief of Poland held by Ducal Prussia.

Between the 18th and 19th century there was a big fish and cattle market, where even fishers from the Curonian Spit went to, to sell their goods.

Near the end of 1922 the eldest minor Prussian-Lithuanian rescue committee was founded and in 1923 the "Ruta" Society; together they had 20 members.

Kintai suffered badly during the Second World War and during Soviet rule (about 75% of the building's were destroyed).

The population changed as well, the Lietuvininkai and Germans that moved to the west, made room for people from all over Lithuania.

There was a cheese factory, a forestry, an ambulatory care clinic, a pharmacy, a cultural centre (since 1957) and a library (since 1949).

After the restoration of Lithuania's independence the Kintai Lutheran Church was rebuilt and given to the Catholic community (1990), the Kintai art school for children (a branch of the Šilutė art school) was founded (1994), the Vydūnas Museum opened (1994), the Kintai Charity Organization "SOS vaikai ir neturtingieji" (1996) was established and the Vydūnas Culture Centre opened (1997), which was reopened in 2002 as a public institution.