It is located on the south eastern foothills of the Samogitians highland, some 5 km (3.1 mi) north from the Kaunas–Klaipėda highway.

Raseiniai is one of the oldest communities in Lithuania – the name of the settlement was mentioned for the first time in 1253.

In 1253 Grand Duke Mindaugas ceded one part of the Samogitia territory, including some of the district around Raseiniai, to the Livonian Order, and the rest to the first bishop of Lithuania, Kristyan.

At the end of the 14th century, the town became important centre, and its representative participated with others from the region in signing the peace treaty of Königsberg in 1390.

In 1580 the local aristocrats met there in order to choose their representatives to the General Sejm (parliament) in Warsaw.

[1] Following the third partition of the Commonwealth in 1795, Raseiniai was annexed by the Russian Empire and its town rights were annulled.

It was among the first Jewish communities established in Lithuania, and the town, which is known in Yiddish as Raseyn, became known as the "Jerusalem of Zamut."

The Bavarian cavalry division swept through Raseiniai on April 14 en route to Šiauliai.

Refugees from Raseiniai appeared in Šiauliai on the morning of April 15 warning of the German advance.

During World War II, Raseiniai was virtually ruined – approximately 90% of the buildings were destroyed.

The sculpture serves as a symbol of the Samogitia ethnographical zone – a strong man resolutely stepping forward after having tamed a bear (an allusion to the 1831 Rebellion).

In June 1941, near Raseiniai, roughly 20 Kliment Voroshilov tanks (KVs) of the Soviet 3rd Mechanized Corps met the assault of the 6th Panzer Division, with approximately 100 vehicles.

A single KV-1 tank managed to hold off the German advance for a full day while being pummeled by a variety of antitank weapons, until finally the KV-1 ran out of ammunition and was knocked out.

Raseiniai was captured on 23 June 1941 by troops of the German Army Group North.

Raseiniai was recaptured on 9 August 1944 by Soviet troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front in the course of the Kaunas Offensive.