History of Nida

In the beginning of 20th century, Nidden became famous as a colony of German expressionists (Künstlerkolonie Nidden). Artists such as Max Pechstein, Alfred Lichtwark, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and Alfred Partikel visited Nidden. Painters from Königsberg such as Julius Freymuth and Eduard Bischoff stayed in the area, as did poets like Ernst Wiechert and Carl Zuckmayer. Other guests included Ernst Kirchner, Ernst Mollenhauer, Franz Domscheit, and Herrmann Wirth. The painters usually took accommodations at the Herman Blode hotel, and left some of their works with him.

Nidden became part of Lithuania together with the northern half of the Curonian Spit in 1919 after World War I and was officially renamed Nida. Nevertheless the village remained a German-majority settlement - the border with East Prussia's half of the Spit lay only a few kilometres to the south. Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann lived in Nida during the summers of 1930–32. Part of Joseph and His Brothers (Joseph und seine Brüder) was written here. Mann's summer cottage survived and in the Soviet era hosted a library open in summer only, with residential quarters of the visiting librarian posted from Klaipėda upstairs and public areas downstairs. It is presently a culture center dedicated to the writer, with a memorial exhibition.

The town is known for Nidden Kurenwimpel, ornate carved flags peculiar to local families resident on the Curonian Spit. The flags, replicas of which can be seen around