Kaliningrad
:
For other uses, see Kaliningrad (disambiguation) and Königsberg (disambiguation).), until 1945 known by its
German name
Königsberg, then briefly as
Kyonigsberg (), is a
seaport and the administrative center of
Kaliningrad Oblast, the
Russian
exclave between
Poland and
Lithuania on the
Baltic Sea. As of the 2002
Census, its population was 430,003.
Under its original German name of , it was the capital of the
German province of
East Prussia, the earlier
Ducal Prussia, and before that of the
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights.
Kaliningrad is located at the mouth of the
navigable Pregolya River river, which empties into the
Vistula Lagoon, an inlet of the
Baltic Sea. Geographical coordinates . Sea vessels can access
Gdańsk Bay and the
Baltic Sea by way of the Vistula Lagoon and the
Strait of Baltiysk.
Until circa 1900 ships drawing more than seven feet of water could not pass the bar and come into town, so that larger vessels had to anchor at Pillau (now
Baltiysk), where merchandise was moved onto smaller vessels. In 1901 a ship
canal between Königsberg and Pillau was completed at a cost of 13 million
marks, which enabled vessels of a 21 foot draught to moor alongside the town. (see also
Ports of the Baltic SeaKhrabrovo Airport is located 24km north of Kaliningrad, and has a few scheduled/charter services to several destinations throughout Europe.
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Map of Kaliningrad Oblast in the historical Northeastern Prussia. |
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Locator map on an international level |
Teutonic Order
Around 300 BC an
Old Prussian settlement called
Tvanksta was founded near the site of modern Kaliningrad. This settlement was conquered and destroyed during the
conquest of
Prussia by the
Teutonic Order. In its place
Königsberg ("King's Mountain",
Latin:
Regiomontium) was founded in 1255 by
Bohemian King
Otakar II of Bohemia and named in his honor due to his involvement in the
Northern Crusades. Over a long period, the Teutonic Knights, assisted by various
knights from
Western Europe, conquered the indigenous
Baltic Old Prussians. This marked the beginning of the
extermination of
pagan Baltic culture and
German colonisation of the area. The small remaining population of Old Prussians eventually became
Germanised. However, the
Old Prussian language did not become
extinct until the 18th century.
Königsberg was originally the capital of
Sambia, or Samland, one of the four
dioceses into which Prussia had been divided in 1243 by the
papal legate William of Modena. Saint
Adalbert of Prague became the main
patron saint of
Königsberg Cathedral, one of the main landmarks of the city.
Königsberg eventually became a member of the
Hanseatic League and an important port for the southeastern Baltic region, trading goods with Prussia, Poland, and
Lithuania.
As a result of its defeat in the
Thirteen Years' War at the hands of Poland, the
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights was reduced by the
Peace of Toruń in 1466 to the area of later
Ducal Prussia, held by the
Teutonic Order under the feudal overlordship of the Polish crown. The Order saw the actions of Poland as a betrayal of their original mission, while the Polish Duke
Konrad I of
Masovia had granted the crusaders only the small
Chełmno Land as a
fief for the duration of their mission to
Christianize the pagan tribes.
Ducal Prussia
With the
secularisation of the Order's territories in 1525, Grandmaster
Albert of Prussia of the
Hohenzollern dynasty became the Duke of
Prussia after paying feudal homage to King
Sigismund I of Poland. The capital of the fief was Königsberg (). It became one of the biggest cities and ports of the
Prussian region, having considerable autonomy, a separate
parliament and currency, and with
German as its dominant language.
Anna, daughter of Duke
Albert Frederick, married
Elector John Sigismund of
Brandenburg, who was granted the right of
succession to
Ducal Prussia on Albert Frederick's death in 1618. From this time the Duchy of Prussia and Königsberg were ruled by the
Electors of Brandenburg, the rulers of
Brandenburg-Prussia.
Brandenburg-Prussia and German Empire
In the
Treaty of Oliva in 1660 the Hohenzollern dynasty negotiated the release of Ducal Prussia from Polish sovereignty for the duration of their line, upon the expiration of which the duchy would revert back to Poland. By the act of
coronation in Königsberg in 1701, Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg became King
Frederick I of Prussia,"King IN Prussia", independent in Prussia of both Poland and the
Holy Roman Empire. After the
Partitions of Poland, Königsberg became the capital of the newly-created province of
East Prussia within the
Kingdom of Prussia.
Königsberg became a centre of education when the
Albertina University was founded by
Albert of Prussia in 1544. The university was situated opposite the north and east side of the
Königsberg cathedral. In 1560 Albert's sovereign, Polish king
Sigismund II of Poland equalled the university in law with the
University of Kraków. In 1900 it contained the Municipal Library. In 1862 a new university in the
Renaissance style, was completed. The facade was adorned by an equestrian figure in relief of
Albert of Prussia, the founder. Below it were niches containing statues of
Martin Luther and
Philipp Melanchthon. Inside was a handsome staircase, borne by marble columns. The Senate Hall contained a portrait of Emperor
Frederick III and a bust of
Immanuel Kant by
Friedrich Hagemann. The adjacent hall ("Aula") was adorned with frescoes painted in 1870. The university library was situated in Dritte Fliess Straße and contained over 230,000 volumes. There were 900 students in 1900.
Königsberg as well was the place where the first printed books in
Lithuanian language were published and it for long remained the center of the publishing in Lithuanian because here there were educated
Lithuanians (from
Lithuania Minor, which was as well part of East Prussia; in Lithuania Minor sermons after the protestant reformation were held in Lithuanian, and thus Lithuanian prayer books were needed). Protestantism and policies of Prussia promoted education and this helped as well. First non-religious Lithuanian books were published later as well.
It was the birthplace (1690) of the
mathematician Christian Goldbach and the home of the
philosopher Immanuel Kant. In 1736, the mathematician
Leonhard Euler used the arrangement of bridges and islands at Königsberg as the basis for the
Seven Bridges of Königsberg Problem which led to the mathematical branches of
topology and
graph theory. More latterly Kongsberg was the birthplace in the 19th century of David Hilbert, the most influential mathematician of the first half of the 20th century and professor at the German intellectual centre of the University of Goettingen.
Also in the Dritte Fliess Straße was the Palaestra Albertina, established in 1898 for the encouragement of the higher forms of sport among the students and citizens. Nearby were the government offices, adorned with mural paintings by Knorr and Schmidt.
In the König Straße stood the Academy of Art with a good collection of over 400 pictures. About 50 works were by old Italian Masters; and some early Dutch paintings were also to be found there. (A summary list of some of the paintings can be found in Baedeker's
Northern Germany, London, 1904.) At the Königs Tor (King's Gate) stood statues of
Otakar I of Bohemia,
Albert of Prussia and
Frederick I of Prussia. Königsberg had a magnificent Exchange (completed in 1875) with fine views of the harbour from the staircase. In Bahnhof Strasse (Railway Street) were the offices of the famous Royal
Amber Works â€" this district was celebrated as the "Amber Coast". There was also an Observatory fitted up by the astronomer
Friedrich Bessel, a Botanical Garden and Zoological Museum. The "Physikalisch", near the Heumarkt, contained botanic and anthropological collections and prehistoric antiquities.
Of Königsberg's notable structures, the 1815 Encyclopaedia Britannica refers to "the magnificent palace in which is a hall 274 feet long and 59 broad without pillars to support it, and a handsome library. The
gothic tower of the castle is very high (330 feet) and has 284 steps to the top, from where a great distance can be seen". This extensive building, enclosed in a large quadrangle and situated almost in the centre of the city, was formerly a seat of the Teutonic Order. It was altered and enlarged in the 16th - 18th centuries. The west wing contained the
Schlosskirche, where
Frederick I of Prussia was crowned in 1701, and
Wilhelm I, later the first Emperor or Kaiser of Germany,as King of Prussia, in 1861. The
arms emblazoned upon the walls and columns were those of the
Knights of the Order of the Black Eagle. Above the church was the spacious Moscowiter-Saal, one of the largest halls in
Germany. Until the latter part of
World War II the apartments of the Royal Family and the Prussia Museum (north wing) were open to the public daily. An extensive collection of provincial archives was also housed there.
By 1800 the city was approximately five miles in circumference and had 60,000 inhabitants (including a military garrison of 7,000). After the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Königsberg remained the capital of East Prussia, which was outside the formal borders of the
German Confederation of 1815-1866. it was incorporated into the
German Empire in 1871.
Königsberg flourished as the capital of
East Prussia. An extensive local railway network was established linking the city to
Breslau,
Thorn,
Insterburg,
Eydtkuhnen,
Tilsit, and
Pillau. In 1860 the railroad connecting
Berlin with
St. Petersburg was completed and made Königsberg an even more important commercial centre. Extensive electric tramways were in operation by 1900; and regular steamers plied to
Memel,
Tapiau and
Labiau,
Cranz,
Tilsit, and
Danzig. Two large theatres were built during this time: the Stadt (City) Theatre and the Appollo. By 1900 the city's population had grown to 188,000, with a 9,000-strong military garrison.
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Königsberg in historical East Prussia, located near the Baltic Sea. Here seen in German borders from 1919 to 1939. |
Weimar Republic
After
World War I, the creation of the
Polish Corridor cut off the
East Prussian land connection from the rest of
Weimar Germany. The
Ostmesse (East European Fair) at the
Königsberg Tiergarten was organized every year since 1920, it was intended as a compensation for the geographical distance that handicapped the economic development of
East Prussia and its capital Königsberg. In 1922 the first permanent
airport and commercial terminal solely for commercial aviation was built at Königsberg-Devau. In 1929, Königsberg
amalgamated with some surrounding suburbs.
Third Reich
In 1932
Prussia's legal (
Social Democratic) government under
Otto Braun was ousted by the Reich Government, and
Gauleiter Erich Koch replaced the elected local government during
Nazi rule from 1933 to 1945.
In 1935, the
Wehrmacht designated Königsberg as the Headquarters for
Wehrkreis I, which originally took in all of
East Prussia. Wehrkreis I was extended in March of 1939 to include the
Memel area. In October of 1939, it was extended again to include the
Ciechanów and
Suwałki areas. In 1942, the Wehrkreis was again expanded to include the
Białystok district. Army units that called Königsberg home included the I Infantry Corps, which was part of the pre-Nazi era Standing Army; the 61st Infanterie Division, which was formed upon mobilization from Reservists from East Prussia. It took part in the invasion of Belgium, and Russia.
Winston Churchill [WWII, Book XII] referred to Königsberg as "a modernised heavily defended fortress". Free from aerial bombing for most of the war,
No. 5 Group of the
Royal Air Force first attacked the city on the night of 26/27 August 1944. The raid was in the extreme range for the 174
Avro Lancasters that flew 950 miles from their bases to bomb the city. Fortunately for the Königsbergers, this first raid was not successful, most bombs falling on the eastern side of the town. (Four of the attacking aircraft were lost.) Three nights later on the 29/30 August, a further 189 Lancasters of No. 5 Group tried the target again dropping 480 tons of bombs on the centre of the city. Bomber Command estimated that 20% of all the industry and 41% of all the housing in Königsberg was destroyed in the attack. A heavy German
night fighter defense downed fifteen of the attacking bombers (7.9% of the force).
[http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/aug44.html RAF Bomber Command: Campaign Diary.August 1944]] Many people fled Königsberg in the wake of the
Red Army's advance after October 1944, particularly after word spread of atrocities at
Nemmersdorf and
Gumbinnen. The city surrendered on
April 9,
1945, following the desperate four-day
Battle of Königsberg. Almost all
German residents who remained at the end of the war, an estimated 200,000 out of the city's prewar population of 316,000, were
expelled from the city. Many people died of hunger during the war's closing stages and the shortages which followed.
Soviet Union
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The "House of Soviets", built on the former site of Königsberg Castle, the remains of which were destroyed by the Soviet authorities. |
At the end of World War II in 1945, the city became part of the
Soviet Union (as part of the
Russian SFSR) as agreed upon by the Allies at the
Potsdam Conference. It was renamed
Kaliningrad in
1946 after the death of
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
Mikhail Kalinin, one of the original
Bolsheviks. The city was repopulated with Russian citizens. Life changed dramatically: the city had a new name (Kaliningrad), the German population was
expelled,
German was replaced by
Russian as the language of everyday life, and the main religion became
Russian Orthodox Christianity. As one of the westernmost territories of the
USSR, the
Kaliningrad Oblast became a strategically important area during the
Cold War. The
Soviet Baltic Fleet was headquartered in the city in the 1950s. Because of its strategic importance, Kaliningrad was
closed to foreign visitors.
Russian Federation
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View of the Kaliningrad city hall from the Victory Square. The city hall is draped in a large banner celebrating the 61st anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War. |
Due to the
collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kaliningrad Oblast became a
Russian
exclave, separated from the rest of
Russia. Kaliningrad is today the only
Russian
Baltic Sea port that is ice-free all year.
When
Poland and
Lithuania became members of the
European Union in
2004, the region became completely surrounded by the EU. Special travel arrangements for the territory's inhabitants have been made.
Today, there is some debate about giving the city its old name back, as has happened in several Russian cities like
St. Petersburg and
Tver, which were known as
Leningrad and
Kalinin, respectively, during much of the Soviet time period. However, the continued use of "Kaliningrad", at least for the next few years, seems certain. "Kyonig" (shortened Russian form of "Königsberg") is often used in advertisements for tourism companies in this region.
*
*
Sorbian:
Kralowc*
Latin:
Regiomontum*
Dutch:
Koningsbergen*
French:
Konigsbergue |
Brandenburg Gate, Kaliningrad |
*
Königsberg Cathedral*Sackheim Gate, Royal Gate and Brandenburg Gate
*
Dom Sovyetov of Kaliningrad*
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Kaliningrad)*
Kaliningrad Zoo (formerly: "Königsberg Tiergarten") and former
Ostmesse locality
*
Ploshchad Pobedy (city centre)
*
Kant Russian State University (formerly: "Königsberg Albertina University", "Kaliningrad University")
*old fortifications
Image:Altstadt.gif|Coat of Arms of Altstadt (Old town) of Königsberg, 1286Image:Krolewiecherb.PNG|Coat of Arms of Królewiec, Polish name for KönigsbergImage:Kgd gerb.png|Modern coat of arms*
Christian Goldbach (1690-1764), mathematician
*
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), philosopher
*
Fanny Lewald (1811-1889), feminist and author
*
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822), author
*
Gotthilf Heinrich Ludwig Hagen (1797-1884), physicist
*
Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887), physicist
*
Karl Rudolf König (1832-1901), physicist
*
Otto Wallach (1847-1931), chemist
*
Pavel Pabst (1854-1897), pianist/composer and Professor Moscow Conservatory
*
David Hilbert (1862-1943), mathematician
*
Erich von Drygalski (1865-1949), explorer
*
Eugen Sandow (1867-1925), first modern bodybuilder
*
Arnold Sommerfeld (1868-1951), physicist
*
Agnes Miegel (1879-1964), author
*
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), political theorist
*
Lea Rabin (1928-2000), author and wife of
Yitzhak Rabin*
Alexander Volkov (born 1967), professional tennis player
*
Heinrich August Winkler (born 1938), historian
*An unusually large number of
cosmonauts lived in Kaliningrad
**
Aleksei Leonov,
cosmonaut (born 1934), first person to
walk in space**
Viktor Patsayev (1933-1971), cosmonaut
**
Yuri Romanenko (born 1944)
**
Alexander Viktorenko (born 1947)
*
Oleg Gazmanov, a popular Russian singer
*
Lyudmila Putina (
First Lady of Russia since
December 31,
1999)
*
Sergey Snegov, a
science fiction writer
*
Khrabrovo Airport*
Official site of Kaliningrad City Hall*
Kaliningrad on Google Maps*
Kaliningrad Orthodox Cathedral *
Territory's history from 1815 to 1945 *
Article about Kaliningrad from the
BBC*
Photos of Pre-War Koenigsberg and Castle photos*
Interactive Map with photos of Königsberg and modern Kaliningrad* Baedeker, Karl,
Northern Germany, 14th revised (English-language) edition, Leipzig, London, and New York, 1904, pps: 176-7.
* Vesilind, Priit J. "Kaliningrad: Coping with a German Past and a Russian Future."
National Geographic, March 1997.
