The Old Pharmacy of Palanga / Palangos senoji vaistinė

The history of this impressive wooden building began in 1827, when a German from Riga, Vilhelmas Johanas Griuningas, opened one of the oldest pharmacies in Lithuania. The founder of the pharmacy patented the production of an extract made of 27 herbs “Trejos devynerios” (“Triple Nines”). The owners of the pharmacy in Palanga, father and son Griuningas, were known for their loyalty to Lithuania during Lithuanian press ban period: their prescriptions and medicine labels were printed in Lithuanian.

In 1910, the pharmacy was bought by German provisor Vilhelmas Bertingas. In 1923, his son Oskaras Aleksandras Bertingas inherited the pharmacy. In 1937, the pharmacy belonged to the successors of O. A. Bertingas. Around 1938, the pharmacy building was rented to Zigmas Bagdonaviäus. During 1940—1944, a library was opened in the hall of the northern wing. In 1944—1951 , the building was used for other purposes, namely, as the headquarters of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD). This historical fact is memorialized on a board on a stone pillar on the right side of the main wing of the building. In 1 988, in the yard of the pharmacy, a cross for exiles was built by Albertas iulkus. The ownership status of the building was changed during the post-war period; it became a state enterprise.