The Teutonic Knights occupied the area in the 13th century, building their castles at Memel (1252), Neuhausen (1283), and at Rossitten (1372).
It was developed in 1957 by Janis Jakšisat under the leadership of Lev Belopolsky at the Rybachy Biological Station (formerly the Rossitten Bird Observatory) at Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia, on the Curonian Spit.
In 1901 he founded the bird observatory on the Curonian Spit at Rossitten, East Prussia (now Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), where he carried out his ornithological work for the rest of his life, though retiring as director of the observatory in 1929.
Rybachy, Russia (Rybachya, Rybachye), name of several rural localities in Russia