Folklore Life in Multicultural City of Klaipeda (1990-2015)

Abstract

The fatal social disasters have taken place in the city of Klaipėda by the end of the Second World War. After 1945, very few local bilingual (Lithuanian and German speaking) people could be found in Klaipėda. Almost all of the survivors had moved to Germany to escape the Soviet occupation. Soviet authorities created favourable social conditions for skilled volunteers, who came to deserted city from other regions of Lithuania, and from all over the Soviet Union, to work in Klaipėda port and to restore the entire marine industry in the 1950s–1960s period. The Russian, Belorussian, German, Jewish, Ukrainian, Polish, Latvian, Tartar, Armenian, Azerbaijani, and other national minorities have become an integral part of the social and cultural life in contemporary Klaipėda. In the light of these historical facts, the goal of the article is to discuss the possibilities of the most representative national societies to maintain and promote their ethnic roots, traditions and the authentic folklore in the city at present times.