GUMBINNEN, a town of Prussia, province of East Prussia, and capital of a government of the same name, on the Pissa, 70 miles E.S.E. of Königsberg. The town is well built, with spacious and regular streets, and fine promenades, shaded by linden trees. It is the seat of the different governmental courts, and has a gymnasium, schools of architecture and midwifery, a public library, and an hospital. It has manufactures of woollen and linen stuffs, leather, and brandy; and some trade in corn. Gumbinnen was only a small village till 1732, when it was improved and made a town by Frederick William I., to whom a statue was erected in the market-place in 1832. Many Protestant families from Salzburg, driven from their homes, settled here and contributed to its rise and prosperity. Pop. (1849) 6794. The government of Gumbinnen has an area of 6312 English square miles, and is almost one continued flat, extensively covered with lakes. The cultivated land is fertile, but a large portion of this government is densely wooded, or covered with heath and morass. The chief products are wheat, rye, flax, and hemp; and cattle and sheep are numerous. Pop. (1849) 614,047, of whom 601,016 are Protestants.