Editing Neman (section)

==Significance in culture==
[[Ptolemy]] referred to Neman as Chronos (although competing theories suppose Chronos was in fact [[Pregolya]]).

The river has lent its name to the [[Neman Culture]], a [[Neolithic]] archaeological subculture.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Rimutė |last=Rimantienė |title=The Neolithic of the eastern Baltic |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |publisher=Springer Netherlands |date=March 1992 |volume=6 |pages=97–143 |doi=10.1007/BF00997586|s2cid=162896841 }}</ref>
[[File:Crossing the Neman in Russia 1812 by Clark.jpg|Napoleon and his army crossing the Neman in June 1812, by [[John Heaviside Clark]]|thumb|right]]

In [[German language|German]], the part of the river flowing through historic [[Prussia]] has been called ''{{lang|de|die Memel}}'' at least since about 1250, when [[Teutonic Knights]] built ''{{lang|de|Memelburg}}'' castle and the town of ''{{lang|de|Memel}}'' at the mouth of the Curonian Lagoon, naming it after the indigenous name of the river, Memel. The city of Memel, now in Lithuania, is known today as [[Klaipėda]] (confusingly, another city of Memel was on the Dange River, now called the [[Danė]]). In German road maps and lexika, only the {{convert|112|km|sp=us|adj=on}} section within Prussia (starting at [[Schmalleningken]]) was named Memel; the bulk of the river was Niemen.

The border between the [[State of the Teutonic Order]] and Lithuania was fixed in 1422 by the [[Treaty of Lake Melno]] and remained stable for centuries. The [[Treaty of Tilsit]] between [[Napoleon]] and [[Tsar]] [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] was signed on a raft in the river in 1807.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McLynn |first=Frank |title=Napoleon: A Biography |year=1998 |publisher=Pimlico |url=https://archive.org/details/frank-mclynn-napoleon-a-biography-2003}}{{page needed|date=October 2020}}</ref> Napoleon's crossing at the outset of the 1812 [[French invasion of Russia]] is described in ''[[War and Peace]]''<ref>{{cite book |title=War and Peace |url=https://archive.org/details/warandpeacevolu00tolsgoog |quote=niemen river war and peace. |publisher=J.M. Dent |year=1915 |author=Leo Tolstoy |page=[https://archive.org/details/warandpeacevolu00tolsgoog/page/n214 200] }}</ref> and also mentioned in ''[[Pan Tadeusz]]''. In 1919, the [[Treaty of Versailles]] made the river the border separating the [[Memel Territory]] from German [[East Prussia]] as of 1920. At that time, Germany's [[Weimar Republic]] adopted the ''{{lang|de|[[Deutschlandlied]]}}'' as its official [[national anthem]]. In the first stanza of the song, written in 1841, the river is mentioned as the eastern border of a (then politically yet-to-be united) [[Germany]]:
[[File:Druskininkai Neman.jpg|thumb|right|The Nemunas in [[Druskininkai]]]]
{|
! width=250px | German lyrics !! Approximate English translation
|-
| ''{{lang|de|Von der Maas bis an die Memel,<br />Von der Etsch bis an den Belt}}''
| From the [[Meuse]] to the Memel,<br />From the [[Adige]] to the [[Little Belt|Belt]]
|}

Lithuanians refer to Nemunas as "the father of rivers" (''Nemunas'' is a masculine noun in Lithuanian). Countless companies and organizations in Lithuania have "Nemunas" in their name, including a [[folklore]] ensemble, a weekly magazine about art and culture, a [[sanatorium]], and numerous guest houses and hotels. Lithuanian and Polish literature often mention the Nemunas. One of the most famous poems by [[Maironis]] starts:
{|
! width=250px | Lithuanian lyrics !! Approximate English translation
|-
| ''{{lang|lt|Kur bėga Šešupė, kur Nemunas teka}}'' || Where the [[Šešupė]] runs, where the Nemunas flows
|-
| ''{{lang|lt|Tai mūsų tėvynė, graži Lietuva}}'' || That's our homeland, beautiful Lithuania
|}

Smaller rivers and rivulets in Lithuania with names [[morphological derivation|morphologically derived]] or [[cognate (linguistics)|cognate]] are the Nemunykštis, Nemuniukas, Nemunynas, Nemunėlis and Nemunaitis.

The [[etymology]] is disputed: some say that "Nemunas" is an old word meaning "a damp place",<ref>Aleksandras Vanagas. Lietuvių hidronimų etimologinis žodynas. 227 psl., – Vilnius: Mokslas, 1981.</ref> while others that it is "mute, soundless river" (from ''nemti, nėmti'' "to become silent", also ''memelis, mimelis, mėmė'' "slow, worthless person").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ve.lt/naujienos/kultura/kultura/memelis-ar-klaipeda-1481368/ |website=[[Vakarų ekspresas]] |title=Mėmelis ar Klaipėda? |first=Jurga |last=Petronytė |date=2016-08-02 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-08-04 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160804000208/http://www.ve.lt/naujienos/kultura/kultura/memelis-ar-klaipeda-1481368/ }}</ref> The name is possibly derived from the Finnic word ''niemi'' "cape".<ref>Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński. O pochodzeniu i praojczyźnie Słowian. – Poznań, 1946.</ref>

Art critics praised its depiction in the paintings by [[Michał Kulesza]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Pejzaż, Michał Kulesza |journal=Tygodnik Petersburski |year=1847 |first=Józef Ignacy |last=Kraszewski |volume=18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Grabowski |first1=Michał |title=Artykuły literackie, krytyczne, artystyczne. (Dalszy ciąg Literatury, Krytyki, Korespondencyi itd.) |chapter=5 |publisher=S. Orgelbrand |year=1849 |location=Warsaw }}</ref>