It is notable for being the easternmost settlement of the old German Reich, before the region was annexed into the Soviet Union after World War II.

Being the easternmost settlement of Prussia, it was the country's first town to see sunrise, a fact that was incorporated into its former coat of arms, which featured a Prussian eagle atop a rising sun.

It suffered extensive damage during the ultimately unsuccessful Russian invasion of East Prussia in World War I — as did its cross-border sister city Kudirkos Naumiestis – but was quickly rebuilt under the supervision of the Königsberg architect Kurt Frick.

The few German inhabitants still remaining in the shelled-out town were expelled[citation needed] in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement, and Schirwindt was renamed Kutuzovo in honour of the Napoleonic era Russian general Mikhail Kutuzov, who crushed the invading forces of Imperial France in 1812.

The foundations of the old village church (Immanuelkirche), designed by Friedrich August Stüler and blown up by the Soviets in 1947, can still be seen in the town centre.