had only 17490 inhabitans in 1861), and there were no other important trading centres in the region. The entire economics of Klaipėda substantially depended on the opportunity to intercede in trading between Russia and other European countries. Howewer, those opportunities were constricted because of the rivalry with Königsberg, which was the centre of East Prussia, and the protectional politics of Russian Empire. The Russian governance was developing Liepoja (Libau) port in the latter part of the 19th century, thus nurturing another strong contestant to Klaipėda. Therefore, the trading set of Klaipėda’s Region was not able to hoard up a large capital and hesitated to invest in modern branches of economics. The enterprisers of other regions of Germany established almost all of the first major industrial corporations of Klaipėda.

Oddly enough, but the mining company laid the foundations for the heavy industry in the region of scarce resources. The corporation named Stantien & Becker used industrial method to mine the amber from the bottom of the Curonian Lagoon near Juodkrantė (Schwarzort) from 1862 until 1891. The company wringed 2250 tons of amber during that period. Throughout the working years, it was the biggest company in the land of East Prussia. The amber was realised in Southeast Europe and Asia.

Union, the factory of chemical production that manufactured artificial fertilizers, was another big industrial company in Klaipėda’s region. The fabrication required a great deal of stock and a fair amount of it was transported from Spain, USA and even Australia.

At the end of the 19th century, two more great industrial companies were established – the corporation of wood manufacturing and the cellulose factory. The latter one soon became the biggest company in the region. The factory produced more then thirty thousand tons cellulose per year, before the World War I, and the greatest part of production realised in foreign countries.