Vilnius - Georg Forster

Vilnius is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of about 600.000. Before WWII, Vilnius was one of the largest Jewish centers in Europe which led to the nickname "the Jerusalem of the North".

The city was first mentioned in written sources as Vilna in 1323 as the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, built a wooden castle on a hill in the city. The city became more widely known after he wrote a circular letter of invitation to Germans and Jews to the principal Hansa towns in 1325, offering free access into his domains to men of every order and profession. At this time Vilnius was facing raids of the Teutonic Order, although they never captured the castle, large portions of the town were burned down between 1365 and 1383. English king Henry IV spent the full year of 1390 supporting the unsuccessful siege of Vilnius by Teutonic Knights with his 300 fellow knights.

Between 1503 and 1522, the city was surrounded by a city wall to protect it from Crimean Tatar attacks. The city reached the peak of its development during the reign of Sigismund II. Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, settled here in 1544. After the foundation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the city experienced a further boom, as Stephen Báthory, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, founded the Jesuit College of Vilnius (= Vilnius University) in 1579.

The university soon developed into one of the most important scientific and cultural centers in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Today, the university still offers degree programs with internationally recognized content. There are even 3 Bachelor's and 16 Master's programs in English, which attract many "international" students. Today there are more than 20,000 students.

Georg Forster who had accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster on James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific, taught at this university from 1783 - 1787.

His report "A Voyage Round the World", contributed significantly to the ethnology of the people of Polynesia, and made him a kind of celebrity. His lectures were popular not only among students but as well the city´s aristocraty

He donated a couple of his collections to the university when he left. Here are seashells from the Pacific