"Ragnita" (from Old Prussian: "ragas", "spur"), founded in 1288, was a settlement of the Baltic (Old Prussian) tribe of Skalvians. It was contested by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since its creation in the 13th century, and on April 23, 1289 it was conquered by the Teutonic Knights, who built a castle there between 1397-1409, which later became the seat of a "Komtur". Construction works were supervised by the Master of the Teutonic Order Konrad Fellenstein of Marienburg. A few decades meter, a now-destroyed 25 meter guard tower was built onto the castle. The stronghold was called "Landeshut", but the name did not become popular and the name Ragnit, after a local river, a tributary of the Memel (outside of Prussia called Neman), continued to be used.