Königsberg
Encyclopedia
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia
from the Late Middle Ages
until 1945 as well as the northernmost (following the loss of Memel in 1923) and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants (Großstadt, 'great city'). Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it. The official name was Königsberg in Preußen (abbreviated Königsberg i. Pr. (until 1936) and later Königsberg (Pr) (1936–1946)), Königsberg in Prussia, German
pronunciation [ˈkʰøˑnɪçsbɛɐk]). Königsberg's literal meaning is 'King's Mountain'. Its Latinised form was Regimontium Prussorum. In Modern Saxon or "Low German
", a Germanic language spoken by many of its German
inhabitants, the name was Königsbarg (local pronunciation: /ˈkʰeˑnɪçsbɒɐç/), mixing German König (nds.
köning) with Low German barg (hill, mountain). Further names include ; and the modern Russian and current official name Калинингра́д, Kaliningrad
), amongst others.
It was founded by the Teutonic Knights
just south of the Sambia
n peninsula in 1255 during the Northern Crusades
and named in honour of King Ottokar II of Bohemia
(the German-language name Königsberg literally means "King's mountain"). The city
successively became the capital of their monastic state
, the Duchy of Prussia, and East Prussia. The Baltic
port developed into a German
cultural center, being the residence of, among others, Richard Wagner
, Immanuel Kant
, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and David Hilbert
.
Königsberg was heavily damaged by Allied bombing
in 1944 during World War II
and was subsequently conquered by the Red Army
after the Battle of Königsberg
in 1945. The city was annexed by the Soviet Union
, its German population expelled and repopulated with Russians
. Briefly Russified
as Кёнигсберг (Kyonigsberg), it was renamed Kaliningrad
in 1946 after Soviet leader Mikhail Kalinin
. The city is now the capital of Russia
's Kaliningrad Oblast
.
fort known as Twangste (Tuwangste, Tvankste) as well as several Prussian settlements. During the conquest of the Prussian Sambians
by the Teutonic Knights
in 1255, Twangste was destroyed and replaced with a new fortress known as Conigsberg. This name meant "King's Mountain" , honoring King Ottokar II of Bohemia
, who paid for the erection of the first fortress there during the Prussian Crusade
. Near this new Königsberg Castle
arose the towns of Altstadt (Old Town), Kneiphof
, and Löbenicht along the Pregel
River, roughly 4.5 miles from the Vistula Lagoon
. Altstadt was founded in 1256 on the Steindamm (now Leninprospekt), while Kneiphof developed on an island of the same name (now Kant Island) in the Pregel. To the east of the other two towns was Löbenicht, lying between the Schlossteich and the new Pregel.
The Teutonic Order used Königsberg to fortify their conquests in Samland
and as a base for campaigns against pagan Lithuania
. Under siege
during the Prussian uprisings
in 1262–63, Königsberg was relieved by the Master of the Livonian Order
. Altstadt was destroyed by the Prussians during the rebellion and rebuilt in the valley below the castle hill. Altstadt received Culm rights in 1286, while Kneiphof received its charter in 1327.
Within the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights
, Königsberg was the residence of the marshal, one of the chief administrators of the military order. The city was also the seat of the Bishopric of Samland
, one of the four diocese
s into which Prussia
had been divided in 1243 by the papal legate
, William of Modena
. Adalbert of Prague
became the main patron saint
of Königsberg Cathedral
, a landmark of the city located in Kneiphof.
Königsberg joined the Hanseatic League
in 1340 and developed into an important port for the southeastern Baltic region, trading goods throughout Prussia, the Kingdom of Poland, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
. The chronicler Peter of Dusburg
probably wrote his Chronicon terrae Prussiae in Königsberg from 1324–1330. After the Teutonic Order's victory over pagan Lithuanians
in the 1348 Battle of Strawen, Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode
established a Cistercian nunnery in the city. Aspiring students were educated in Königsberg before continuing on to higher education elsewhere, such as Prague
or Leipzig
.
Although the knights suffered a crippling defeat in the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg)
, Königsberg remained under the control of the Teutonic Knights throughout the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War
. Livonian knights replaced the Prussian branch's garrison at Königsberg, allowing them to participate in the recovery of towns occupied by Jogaila
's troops.
The Prussian Confederation
rebelled against the Teutonic Knights in 1454 and sought the assistance of Poland. Kneiphof supported the rebellion, although the rest of Königsberg reaffirmed its loyalty to the order. Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen
fled from the crusaders' capital at Castle Marienburg to Königsberg in 1457; the city's magistrate presented Erlichshausen with a barrel of beer out of compassion. When western Prussia
was transferred to victorious Poland in the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), which ended the Thirteen Years' War, Königsberg became the new capital of the reduced monastic state, which became a fief of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom
. The grand masters took over the quarters of the marshal. During the Polish-Teutonic War (1519–1521), Königsberg was unsuccessfully besieged by Polish forces led by Grand Crown Hetman Mikołaj Firlej.
Through the preachings of the Bishop of Samland
, Georg von Polenz, Königsberg became predominantly Lutheran
during the Protestant Reformation
. After summoning a quorum
of knights to Königsberg, Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg from the Hohenzollern dynasty
secularised the Teutonic Knights' remaining territories in Prussia in 1525 and converted to Lutheranism. By paying feudal homage
to his uncle, King Sigismund I of Poland
, Albert became the first duke of the new Duchy of Prussia, a fief of Poland. While the Prussian estates quickly allied with the duke, the Prussian peasantry would only swear allegiance to Albert in person at Königsberg, seeking the duke's support against oppressive nobility. After convincing the rebels to lay down their arms, Albert had several of their leaders executed.
Königsberg, the capital of the duchy, became one of the biggest cities and ports of Prussia, having considerable autonomy, a separate parliament
and currency, and with German
as its dominant language. The city flourished through the export of wheat
, timber
, hemp
, and furs, as well as pitch
, tar
, and ash
. Königsberg was one of the few Baltic ports regularly visited by more than one hundred ships annually in the latter 16th century, the others being Danzig
and Riga
. The University of Königsberg
, founded by Albert in 1544, became a center of Protestant teachings.
The capable Duke Albert was succeeded by his feeble minded son, Albert Frederick
. Anna, daughter of Albert Frederick, married Elector John Sigismund
of Brandenburg
, who was granted the right of succession
to 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
.
Because Brandenburg was overrun by Sweden
during the Thirty Years' War
, the Hohenzollern court fled to Königsberg. On 1 November 1641, Elector Frederick William
persuaded the Prussian diet to accept an excise tax. In the Treaty of Königsberg
of January 1656, the elector recognized his Duchy of Prussia as a fief of Sweden. In the Treaty of Wehlau in 1657, however, he negotiated the release of Prussia from Polish sovereignty
in return for an alliance with Poland. The 1660 Treaty of Oliva
confirmed Prussian independence from both Poland and Sweden.
In 1661 Frederick William informed the Prussian diet he possessed jus supremi et absoluti domini, and that the Prussian Landtag could only be convened with his permission. The Königsberg burghers, led by Hieronymus Roth of Kneiphof, opposed "the Great Elector's" absolutist
claims, but Frederick William succeeded in imposing his authority after arriving with 2,000 troops in October 1661. Refusing to request mercy, Roth was imprisoned in Peitz
until his death in 1678.
The Prussian estates, which swore fealty to Frederick William in Königsberg on October 18, 1663, refused the elector's requests for military funding, and Colonel Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein
sought assistance from neighboring Poland. After Kalckstein was abducted by the elector's agents, he was executed in 1672. The Prussian estates' submission to Frederick William followed; in 1673 and 1674 the elector received taxes not granted by the estates and Königsberg received a garrison without the estates' consent. The economic and political weakening of Königsberg strengthened the power of the Junker
nobility within Prussia.
Königsberg was long a center of Lutheran resistance to Calvinism
within Brandenburg-Prussia
; Frederick William forced the city to accept Calvinist citizens and property holders in 1668.
By the act of coronation in Königsberg Castle
on January 18, 1701, Frederick William's son, Elector Frederick III, became Frederick I
, King in Prussia
. The elevation of the Duchy of Prussia to the Kingdom of Prussia
was possible because the Hohenzollerns' authority in Prussia was independent of Poland and the Holy Roman Empire
. Since "Kingdom of Prussia" was increasingly used to designate all of the Hohenzollern lands, former ducal Prussia became known as the Province of Prussia
(1701–1773), with Königsberg as its capital. However, Berlin and Potsdam
in Brandenburg were the main residences of the Prussian kings.
The city was wracked by plague and other illnesses from September 1709 to April 1710, losing 9,368 people, or roughly a quarter of its populace. On June 13, 1724, Altstadt, Kneiphof
, and Löbenicht amalgamated
to formally create the larger city Königsberg. Suburbs that subsequently were annexed to Königsberg include Sackheim, Rossgarten, and Tragheim.
troops occupied eastern Prussia at the beginning of 1758 during the Seven Years' War
. On December 31, 1757, Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issued a ukase
about the incorporation of Königsberg into Russia. On January 24, 1758, the leading burghers of Königsberg submitted to Elizabeth. Five Imperial Russian
general-governors administered the city during the war from 1758–62; the Russian army did not abandon the town until 1763.
in 1772, Königsberg became the capital of the province of East Prussia
in 1773, which replaced the Province of Prussia in 1773. By 1800 the city was approximately five miles in circumference and had 60,000 inhabitants, including a military garrison of 7,000, making it one of the most populous German cities of the time.
After Prussia's defeat at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte
in 1806 during the War of the Fourth Coalition
, King Frederick William III of Prussia
fled with his court from Berlin to Königsberg. The city was a center for political resistance to Napoleon. In order to foster liberalism
and nationalism
among the Prussian middle class, the "League of Virtue" was founded in Königsberg in April 1808. The French
forced its dissolution in December 1809, but its ideals were continued by the Turnbewegung of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
in Berlin. Königsberg officials, such as Johann Gottfried Frey, formulated much of Stein
's 1808 Städteordnung, or new order for urban communities, which emphasized self-administration for Prussian towns. The East Prussian Landwehr
was organized from the city after the Convention of Tauroggen
.
In 1819 Königsberg had a population of 63,800. It served as the capital of the united Province of Prussia from 1824–1878, when East Prussia was merged with West Prussia
. It was also the seat of the Regierungsbezirk Königsberg
, an administrative subdivision.
Led by the provincial president Theodor von Schön
and the Königsberger Volkszeitung newspaper, Königsberg was a stronghold of liberalism
against the conservative government of King Frederick William IV
. During the revolution of 1848
, there were 21 episodes of public unrest in the city; major demonstrations were suppressed. Königsberg became part of the German Empire
in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany
. A sophisticated for its time series of fortifications around the city that included fifteen forts was completed in 1888.
The extensive Prussian Eastern Railway linked the city to Breslau, Thorn
, Insterburg, Eydtkuhnen, Tilsit, and Pillau. In 1860 the railroad connecting Berlin
with St. Petersburg
was completed and increased Königsberg's commerce. Extensive electric tramways were in operation by 1900; and regular steamers plied to Memel
, Tapiau and Labiau, Cranz
, Tilsit, and Danzig. The completion of a canal to Pillau in 1901 increased the trade of Russian grain in Königsberg, but, like much of eastern Germany, the city's economy was generally in decline. By 1900 the city's population had grown to 188,000, with a 9,000-strong military garrison. By 1914 Königsberg had a population of 246,000; Jews flourished in the culturally pluralistic city.
Following the defeat of the Central Powers
in World War I
, Imperial Germany was replaced with the democratic Weimar Republic
. The Kingdom of Prussia ended with the abdication of the Hohenzollern monarch, William
, and the kingdom was succeeded by the Free State of Prussia. Königsberg and East Prussia
, however, were separated from the rest of Weimar Germany by the creation of the Polish Corridor
. The Ostmesse (Eastern Trade Fair) at the Königsberg Tiergarten
was held annually starting in 1920; it was intended to compensate for the geographical distance that handicapped the economic development of East Prussia and 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.
government under Otto Braun
was deposed in the Preußenschlag
, when Germany's chancellor Franz von Papen
assumed direct federal control of Prussia's administration. During Nazi
rule from 1933 to 1945, Gauleiter
Erich Koch
replaced the elected government of Prussia, which together with much of the old eastern Germany was one of the most Pro-Nazi provinces in the Reich, with over 55% of votes cast in favour of the Nazi Party in the March 1933 election.
In 1935, the Wehrmacht
designated Königsberg as the Headquarters for Wehrkreis I
, (under the command of General der Artillerie Albert Wodrig
) which originally took in all of East Prussia
. Wehrkreis I was extended in March 1939 to include the Memel area
. In October 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, and the 61st Infanterie Division, which was formed upon mobilization from reservists from East Prussia. It took part in the invasion of Belgium
, which was part of Case Yellow
, and Operation Barbarossa
, the invasion of the Soviet Union
. In Book XII of his World War II, Winston Churchill
referred to Königsberg as "a modernised heavily defended fortress".
According to the census of May 17, 1939, Königsberg had a population of 372,164. After Breslau, it was the second-largest city in Germany east of the present-day Oder-Neisse line
.
Following World War I Königsberg was home to one third of East Prussia's 13,000 Jews. The city's Jewish population shrank from 3,200 in 1933 to 2,100 in October 1938. The New Synagogue of Königsberg, constructed in 1896, was destroyed during Kristallnacht
(November 9, 1938); 500 Jews soon fled the city. After the Wannsee Conference
of January 20, 1942, Königsberg's Jews began to be deported to camps such as Maly Trostenets
, Theresienstadt
, and Auschwitz
.
, a propaganda station, during World War II
.
In 1944 Königsberg suffered heavy damage from British bombing attacks
and burned for several days. The historic city centre, especially the original quarters Altstadt, Löbenicht, and Kneiphof, was destroyed, including the cathedral, the castle, all churches of the old city, the old and the new universities, and the old shipping quarters.
Many people fled Königsberg ahead of the Red Army
's advance after October 1944, particularly after word spread of the Soviet atrocities at Nemmersdorf. In early 1945 Soviet forces under the overall command of Vasilievsky, besieged the city. In Operation Samland
, General Baghramyan's
1st Baltic Front
, now known as the Samland
Group, captured Königsberg in April. A temporary German breakout had allowed many of the remaining civilians to escape via train and naval evacuation from the nearby port of Pillau. Königsberg, which had been declared a "fortress" (Festung
) by the Germans, was fanatically defended.
On 21 January during the Red Army
's East Prussian Offensive
, mostly Polish and Hungarian Jews from Seerappen, Jesau, Heiligenbeil
, Schippenbeil, and Gerdauen (subcamps of Stutthof concentration camp
) were gathered in Königsberg. Up to 7,000 of them were forced on a death march
to Sambia
; those that survived were subsequently executed at Palmnicken
.
On April 9 — one month before the end of the war in Europe — the German military commander of Königsberg, General Otto Lasch
, surrendered the remnants of his forces following a Red Army assault
. At the time of the surrender, military and civilian dead in the city were estimated at 42,000, with the Red Army claiming over 90,000 prisoners. Lasch's subterranean command bunker has been preserved as a museum, with the rest of the 19th century fortification complex being abandoned after use by the Soviet Army until the 1980s as a storage facility.
About 120,000 survivors remained in the ruins of the devastated city. These survivors, mainly women, children and the elderly and a few others who returned immediately after the fighting ended, were held as virtual prisoners until 1949. The large majority of German citizens remaining in Königsberg after 1945 died of either disease, starvation or revenge driven ethnic cleansing. The remaining 20,000 German residents were expelled
in 1949–50.
pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement (as part of the Russian SFSR) as agreed upon by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference
:
After Königsberg's conquest by the Red Army, the name of the city briefly changed to a Russified
form: Kyonigsberg (Кёнигсберг). While it was initially planned to rename the city "Baltijsk", it was renamed Kaliningrad
on July 4, 1946, after the death of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
of the USSR, Mikhail Kalinin
, one of the original Bolshevik
s. The Soviet Union applied the name "Baltiysk
" to the nearby port of Pillau instead. The German population was either deported
to the Western Zones of occupied Germany or into Siberia
n labor camps
, where about half of them perished of hunger or diseases.
After the deportation, the city's former population was entirely replaced with Soviet citizens. Life changed dramatically: the city had a new name (Kaliningrad), and German
was replaced by Russian
as the language of everyday life. Parts of the city were rebuilt, although the former Altstadt remained an urban fallow with few buildings that survived the destruction. The city went through industrialisation
and modernisation. As one of the westernmost territories of the Soviet Union, 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.
.
Number of inhabitants, by year
Königsberg was the birthplace of the mathematician Christian Goldbach
and the writer E.T.A. Hoffmann
, as well as the home of the philosopher Immanuel Kant
, who lived there all his life and never travelled more than a hundred miles away from the city. Kant entered the university of Königsberg at age 16 and was appointed to a chair in metaphysics there in 1770 at the age of 46. While working there he published his Critique of Pure Reason
(arguing that knowledge arises from the application of innate concepts to sensory experience) and his Metaphysics of Morals
which argues that virtue is acquired by the performance of duty for its own sake. In 1736, the mathematician Leonhard Euler
used the arrangement of the city's bridges and islands as the basis for the Seven Bridges of Königsberg Problem
, which led to the mathematical branches of topology
and graph theory
. In the 19th century Königsberg was the birthplace of the influential mathematician David Hilbert
.
The dialect spoken by most citizens was Low Prussian
, now a moribund language as its speakers are elderly and dying out. A popular dish from the city was Königsberger Klopse
, which is still made today in some specialty restaurants in Kaliningrad and present-day Germany; some recipes are available on the web.
In the Königsstraße (King Street) stood the Academy of Art with a collection of over 400 pictures. About 50 works were by Italian masters; and some early Dutch
paintings were also to be found there. At the Königstor (King's Gate)
stood statues of King Ottakar I of Bohemia, Albert of Prussia, and Frederick I of Prussia
. Königsberg had a magnificent Exchange (completed in 1875) with fine views of the harbor from the staircase. Along Bahnhofsstraße ("Railway Street") were the offices of the famous Royal Amber Works — Samland was celebrated as the "Amber Coast
". There was also an observatory
fitted up by the astronomer Friedrich Bessel
, a botanical garden, and a zoological museum. The "Physikalisch", near the Heumarkt, contained botanical and anthropological collections and prehistoric antiquities. Two large theatres built during the Wilhelmine
era were the Stadt (city) Theatre and the Appollo.
Königsberg Castle
was one of the city's most notable structures. The former seat of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights and the Dukes of Prussia, it contained the Schloßkirche, or palace church, where Frederick I
was crowned in 1701 and William I
in 1861. It also contained the spacious Moscowiter-Saal, one of the largest halls in the German Reich, and a museum of Prussian history.
Königsberg became a centre of education when the Albertina University
was founded by Duke Albert of Prussia in 1544. The university was situated opposite the north and east side of the Königsberg Cathedral
. Lithuanian scholar Stanislovas Rapalionis
, one of founding fathers of the university, was the first professor of theology.
Numerous German
and Polish
publications were printed in Königsberg espousing the Protestant Reformation. The city became a center for the publication of books in the Lithuanian language
, especially by educated Prussian Lithuanians
from Lithuania Minor
. After the territory became Lutheran
, prayer books were printed in the Lithuanian vernacular. The first non-religious Lithuanian books were published later as well. With the support of the government, Ruhig
(Pilypas Ruigys) and Mielcke (Kristijonas Gotlybas Milkus) published Lithuanian dictionaries in 1747 and 1800, respectively.
Sports clubs which played in Königsberg included VfB Königsberg
and SV Prussia-Samland Königsberg
. Lilli Henoch
, the world record holder in the discus
, shot put
, and 4 × 100 meters relay events who was killed by the Nazis, was born in Königsberg.
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
from the Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....
until 1945 as well as the northernmost (following the loss of Memel in 1923) and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants (Großstadt, 'great city'). Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it. The official name was Königsberg in Preußen (abbreviated Königsberg i. Pr. (until 1936) and later Königsberg (Pr) (1936–1946)), Königsberg in Prussia, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
pronunciation [ˈkʰøˑnɪçsbɛɐk]). Königsberg's literal meaning is 'King's Mountain'. Its Latinised form was Regimontium Prussorum. In Modern Saxon or "Low German
Low German
Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...
", a Germanic language spoken by many of its German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
inhabitants, the name was Königsbarg (local pronunciation: /ˈkʰeˑnɪçsbɒɐç/), mixing German König (nds.
Low German
Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...
köning) with Low German barg (hill, mountain). Further names include ; and the modern Russian and current official name Калинингра́д, Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
), amongst others.
It was founded by the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
just south of the Sambia
Sambia
Sambia or Samland is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Lagoon and the Vistula Lagoon demarcate the peninsula. Prior to 1945 it formed an important part of East Prussia.-Names:Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct...
n peninsula in 1255 during the Northern Crusades
Northern Crusades
The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were crusades undertaken by the Christian kings of Denmark and Sweden, the German Livonian and Teutonic military orders, and their allies against the pagan peoples of Northern Europe around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea...
and named in honour of King Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II , called The Iron and Golden King, was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He was the Duke of Austria , Styria , Carinthia and Carniola also....
(the German-language name Königsberg literally means "King's mountain"). The city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
successively became the capital of their monastic state
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights
The State of the Teutonic Order, , also Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights or Ordensstaat , was formed in 1224 during the Northern Crusades, the Teutonic Knights' conquest of the pagan West-Baltic Old Prussians in the 13th century....
, the Duchy of Prussia, and East Prussia. The Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
port developed into a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
cultural center, being the residence of, among others, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and David Hilbert
David Hilbert
David Hilbert was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of...
.
Königsberg was heavily damaged by Allied bombing
Bombing of Königsberg in World War II
The bombing of Königsberg was a series of attacks made on the city of Königsberg in East Prussia during the World War II. The Soviet Air Force had made several raids on the city since 1941. Extensive attacks carried by RAF Bomber Command destroyed most of the city's historic quarters in the...
in 1944 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was subsequently conquered by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
after the Battle of Königsberg
Battle of Königsberg
The Battle of Königsberg , was one of the last operations of the East Prussian Offensive during World War II. In four days of violent urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg...
in 1945. The city was annexed by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, its German population expelled and repopulated with Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
. Briefly Russified
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
as Кёнигсберг (Kyonigsberg), it was renamed Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
in 1946 after Soviet leader Mikhail Kalinin
Mikhail Kalinin
Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin , known familiarly by Soviet citizens as "Kalinych," was a Bolshevik revolutionary and the nominal head of state of Russia and later of the Soviet Union, from 1919 to 1946...
. The city is now the capital of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...
.
Teutonic Order
The later location of Königsberg was preceded by an Old PrussianOld Prussians
The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...
fort known as Twangste (Tuwangste, Tvankste) as well as several Prussian settlements. During the conquest of the Prussian Sambians
Sambians
The Sambians were one of the Prussian tribes. They inhabited the peninsula of Sambia, north of the city of Königsberg . Sambians were located in a coastal territory rich in amber and engaged in trade early on . Therefore, they established contacts with foreign nations before any other Prussians...
by the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
in 1255, Twangste was destroyed and replaced with a new fortress known as Conigsberg. This name meant "King's Mountain" , honoring King Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II , called The Iron and Golden King, was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He was the Duke of Austria , Styria , Carinthia and Carniola also....
, who paid for the erection of the first fortress there during the Prussian Crusade
Prussian Crusade
The Prussian Crusade was a series of 13th-century campaigns of Roman Catholic crusaders, primarily led by the Teutonic Knights, to Christianize the pagan Old Prussians. Invited after earlier unsuccessful expeditions against the Prussians by Polish princes, the Teutonic Knights began campaigning...
. Near this new Königsberg Castle
Königsberg Castle
The Königsberg Castle was a castle in Königsberg, Germany , and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussian capital Königsberg.- History :...
arose the towns of Altstadt (Old Town), Kneiphof
Kneiphof
Kneiphof was one of three towns in the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights that became the city of Königsberg . Kneiphof was originally Knypabe , meaning 'area flushed by water' in Old Prussian.As other members of the Prussian Confederation, Kneiphof rebelled against the Teutonic Knights in...
, and Löbenicht along the Pregel
Pregolya
The Pregolya or Pregola is a river in the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast exclave.It starts as a confluence of the Instruch and the Angrapa and drains into the Baltic Sea through Vistula Lagoon. Its length under the name of Pregolya is 123 km, 292 km including the Angrapa. The basin has an...
River, roughly 4.5 miles from the Vistula Lagoon
Vistula Lagoon
The Vistula Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea separated from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is sometimes known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf. The modern German name, Frisches Haff, is derived from an earlier form, Friesisches Haff. Both this term and the earlier Polish...
. Altstadt was founded in 1256 on the Steindamm (now Leninprospekt), while Kneiphof developed on an island of the same name (now Kant Island) in the Pregel. To the east of the other two towns was Löbenicht, lying between the Schlossteich and the new Pregel.
The Teutonic Order used Königsberg to fortify their conquests in Samland
Sambia
Sambia or Samland is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Lagoon and the Vistula Lagoon demarcate the peninsula. Prior to 1945 it formed an important part of East Prussia.-Names:Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct...
and as a base for campaigns against pagan Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. Under siege
Siege of Königsberg
Siege of Königsberg was a siege laid upon the city of Königsberg , one of the main strongholds of the Teutonic Knights, by the Prussians during the Great Prussian Uprising in 1262....
during the Prussian uprisings
Prussian uprisings
The Prussian uprisings were two major and three smaller uprisings by the Prussians, one of the Baltic tribes, against the Teutonic Knights that took place in the 13th century during the Northern Crusades. The crusading military order, supported by the Popes and Christian Europe, sought to conquer...
in 1262–63, Königsberg was relieved by the Master of the Livonian Order
Livonian Order
The Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights...
. Altstadt was destroyed by the Prussians during the rebellion and rebuilt in the valley below the castle hill. Altstadt received Culm rights in 1286, while Kneiphof received its charter in 1327.
Within the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights
The State of the Teutonic Order, , also Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights or Ordensstaat , was formed in 1224 during the Northern Crusades, the Teutonic Knights' conquest of the pagan West-Baltic Old Prussians in the 13th century....
, Königsberg was the residence of the marshal, one of the chief administrators of the military order. The city was also the seat of the Bishopric of Samland
Bishopric of Samland
The Bishopric of Samland was a bishopric in Samland in medieval Prussia. It was founded as a Roman Catholic diocese in 1243 by papal legate William of Modena. Its seat was Königsberg, until 1523 the episcopal residence was in Fischhausen. The bishopric became Lutheran in the 16th century during...
, one of the four diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s into which Prussia
Prussia (region)
Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania...
had been divided in 1243 by the papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
, William of Modena
William of Modena
William of Modena , also known as William of Sabina, Guglielmo de Chartreaux, Guglielmo de Savoy, Guillelmus, was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat. He was frequently appointed a legate, or papal ambassador by the popes Honorius III and Gregory IX, especially in Livonia in the 1220s and in...
. Adalbert of Prague
Adalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
became the main patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of Königsberg Cathedral
Königsberg Cathedral
Königsberg Cathedral is a Brick Gothic style building in Kaliningrad on an island in the Pregel . The island was called Kneiphof in German times.-14th Century to World War II:...
, a landmark of the city located in Kneiphof.
Königsberg joined the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
in 1340 and developed into an important port for the southeastern Baltic region, trading goods throughout Prussia, the Kingdom of Poland, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. The chronicler Peter of Dusburg
Peter of Dusburg
Peter of Dusburg , also known as Peter of Duisburg, was a Priest-Brother and chronicler of the Teutonic Knights. He is known for writing the Chronicon terrae Prussiae, which described the 13th and early 14th century Teutonic Knights and Old Prussians in Prussia.Peter's dates of birth and death are...
probably wrote his Chronicon terrae Prussiae in Königsberg from 1324–1330. After the Teutonic Order's victory over pagan Lithuanians
Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
in the 1348 Battle of Strawen, Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode
Winrich von Kniprode
Winrich von Kniprode was the 22nd Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. He was the longest serving Grand Master, holding the position for 31 years ....
established a Cistercian nunnery in the city. Aspiring students were educated in Königsberg before continuing on to higher education elsewhere, such as Prague
Charles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...
or Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
.
Although the knights suffered a crippling defeat in the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg)
Battle of Grunwald
The Battle of Grunwald or 1st Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Jogaila and Grand Duke Vytautas , decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led...
, Königsberg remained under the control of the Teutonic Knights throughout the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War
Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War
The Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War or Great War occurred between 1409 and 1411, pitting allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania against the Teutonic Knights. Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war began by Teutonic invasion of Poland in August 1409...
. Livonian knights replaced the Prussian branch's garrison at Königsberg, allowing them to participate in the recovery of towns occupied by Jogaila
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
's troops.
The Prussian Confederation
Prussian Confederation
The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed in 1440 by a group of 53 gentry and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia to oppose the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on the basis of an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union...
rebelled against the Teutonic Knights in 1454 and sought the assistance of Poland. Kneiphof supported the rebellion, although the rest of Königsberg reaffirmed its loyalty to the order. Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen
Ludwig von Erlichshausen
Ludwig von Erlichshausen was the 31st Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1449/1450 to 1467.As did his uncle and predecessor Konrad von Erlichshausen, Ludwig came from Ellrichshausen in Swabia, now part of Satteldorf in Baden-Württemberg.Ludwig was aide to Grand Master Paul von...
fled from the crusaders' capital at Castle Marienburg to Königsberg in 1457; the city's magistrate presented Erlichshausen with a barrel of beer out of compassion. When western Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
was transferred to victorious Poland in the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), which ended the Thirteen Years' War, Königsberg became the new capital of the reduced monastic state, which became a fief of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom
Crown of the Polish Kingdom
The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , or simply the Crown , is the name for the unit of administrative division, the territories under direct administration of Polish nobility from middle-ages to late 18th century...
. The grand masters took over the quarters of the marshal. During the Polish-Teutonic War (1519–1521), Königsberg was unsuccessfully besieged by Polish forces led by Grand Crown Hetman Mikołaj Firlej.
Duchy of Prussia
Bishopric of Samland
The Bishopric of Samland was a bishopric in Samland in medieval Prussia. It was founded as a Roman Catholic diocese in 1243 by papal legate William of Modena. Its seat was Königsberg, until 1523 the episcopal residence was in Fischhausen. The bishopric became Lutheran in the 16th century during...
, Georg von Polenz, Königsberg became predominantly Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
during the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. After summoning a quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
of knights to Königsberg, Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg from the Hohenzollern dynasty
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
secularised the Teutonic Knights' remaining territories in Prussia in 1525 and converted to Lutheranism. By paying feudal homage
Prussian Homage
The Prussian Homage or Tribute was the formal investment of Albert of Prussia as duke of the Polish fief of Ducal Prussia.In the aftermath of the armistice ending the Polish-Teutonic War Albert, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and a member of the House of Hohenzollern, visited Martin Luther...
to his uncle, King Sigismund I of Poland
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
, Albert became the first duke of the new Duchy of Prussia, a fief of Poland. While the Prussian estates quickly allied with the duke, the Prussian peasantry would only swear allegiance to Albert in person at Königsberg, seeking the duke's support against oppressive nobility. After convincing the rebels to lay down their arms, Albert had several of their leaders executed.
Königsberg, the capital of the duchy, became one of the biggest cities and ports of Prussia, having considerable autonomy, a separate parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
and currency, and with German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
as its dominant language. The city flourished through the export of wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
, hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
, and furs, as well as pitch
Pitch (resin)
Pitch is the name for any of a number of viscoelastic, solid polymers. Pitch can be made from petroleum products or plants. Petroleum-derived pitch is also called bitumen. Pitch produced from plants is also known as resin. Products made from plant resin are also known as rosin.Pitch was...
, tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
, and ash
Fly ash
Fly ash is one of the residues generated in combustion, and comprises the fine particles that rise with the flue gases. Ash which does not rise is termed bottom ash. In an industrial context, fly ash usually refers to ash produced during combustion of coal...
. Königsberg was one of the few Baltic ports regularly visited by more than one hundred ships annually in the latter 16th century, the others being Danzig
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
and Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
. The University of Königsberg
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as second Protestant academy by Duke Albert of Prussia, and was commonly known as the Albertina....
, founded by Albert in 1544, became a center of Protestant teachings.
The capable Duke Albert was succeeded by his feeble minded son, Albert Frederick
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
. Anna, daughter of Albert Frederick, married Elector John Sigismund
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He also served as a Duke of Prussia.-Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia:...
of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
, who was granted the right of succession
Order of succession
An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
to 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
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
.
Brandenburg-Prussia
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, the Hohenzollern court fled to Königsberg. On 1 November 1641, Elector Frederick William
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
persuaded the Prussian diet to accept an excise tax. In the Treaty of Königsberg
Treaty of Königsberg
The Treaty of Königsberg may refer to:*The Treaty of Königsberg , which established alliance between Vytautas the Great of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights*The Treaty of Königsberg , which guaranteed Samogitian support to Vytautas the Great...
of January 1656, the elector recognized his Duchy of Prussia as a fief of Sweden. In the Treaty of Wehlau in 1657, however, he negotiated the release of Prussia from Polish sovereignty
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
in return for an alliance with Poland. The 1660 Treaty of Oliva
Treaty of Oliva
The Treaty or Peace of Oliva of 23 April /3 May 1660 was one of the peace treaties ending the Second Northern War...
confirmed Prussian independence from both Poland and Sweden.
In 1661 Frederick William informed the Prussian diet he possessed jus supremi et absoluti domini, and that the Prussian Landtag could only be convened with his permission. The Königsberg burghers, led by Hieronymus Roth of Kneiphof, opposed "the Great Elector's" absolutist
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
claims, but Frederick William succeeded in imposing his authority after arriving with 2,000 troops in October 1661. Refusing to request mercy, Roth was imprisoned in Peitz
Peitz
Peitz is a town in the district of Spree-Neiße, in southeastern Brandenburg, Germany.-Overview:It is situated 13 km northeast of Cottbus. Surrounded by freshwater lakes, it is well known for its fishing industry...
until his death in 1678.
The Prussian estates, which swore fealty to Frederick William in Königsberg on October 18, 1663, refused the elector's requests for military funding, and Colonel Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein
Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein
Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein was a Prussian count, Colonel, and politician who was executed for treason.-Biography:...
sought assistance from neighboring Poland. After Kalckstein was abducted by the elector's agents, he was executed in 1672. The Prussian estates' submission to Frederick William followed; in 1673 and 1674 the elector received taxes not granted by the estates and Königsberg received a garrison without the estates' consent. The economic and political weakening of Königsberg strengthened the power of the Junker
Junker
A Junker was a member of the landed nobility of Prussia and eastern Germany. These families were mostly part of the German Uradel and carried on the colonization and Christianization of the northeastern European territories during the medieval Ostsiedlung. The abbreviation of Junker is Jkr...
nobility within Prussia.
Königsberg was long a center of Lutheran resistance to Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
within Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
; Frederick William forced the city to accept Calvinist citizens and property holders in 1668.
Kingdom of Prussia
Königsberg Castle
The Königsberg Castle was a castle in Königsberg, Germany , and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussian capital Königsberg.- History :...
on January 18, 1701, Frederick William's son, Elector Frederick III, became Frederick I
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, King in Prussia
King in Prussia
King in Prussia was a title used by the Electors of Brandenburg from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently they used the title King of Prussia....
. The elevation of the Duchy of Prussia to the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
was possible because the Hohenzollerns' authority in Prussia was independent of Poland and the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. Since "Kingdom of Prussia" was increasingly used to designate all of the Hohenzollern lands, former ducal Prussia became known as the Province of Prussia
Province of Prussia
The Province of Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1829-1878 created out of the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia....
(1701–1773), with Königsberg as its capital. However, Berlin and Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
in Brandenburg were the main residences of the Prussian kings.
The city was wracked by plague and other illnesses from September 1709 to April 1710, losing 9,368 people, or roughly a quarter of its populace. On June 13, 1724, Altstadt, Kneiphof
Kneiphof
Kneiphof was one of three towns in the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights that became the city of Königsberg . Kneiphof was originally Knypabe , meaning 'area flushed by water' in Old Prussian.As other members of the Prussian Confederation, Kneiphof rebelled against the Teutonic Knights in...
, and Löbenicht amalgamated
Amalgamation (politics)
A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...
to formally create the larger city Königsberg. Suburbs that subsequently were annexed to Königsberg include Sackheim, Rossgarten, and Tragheim.
Russian Empire
Imperial RussianRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
troops occupied eastern Prussia at the beginning of 1758 during the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. On December 31, 1757, Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issued a ukase
Ukase
A ukase , in Imperial Russia, was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader that had the force of law...
about the incorporation of Königsberg into Russia. On January 24, 1758, the leading burghers of Königsberg submitted to Elizabeth. Five Imperial Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
general-governors administered the city during the war from 1758–62; the Russian army did not abandon the town until 1763.
Kingdom of Prussia
After the First Partition of PolandPartitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
in 1772, Königsberg became the capital of the province of East Prussia
Province of East Prussia
The Province of East Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773–1829 and 1878-1945. Composed of the historical region East Prussia, the province's capital was Königsberg ....
in 1773, which replaced the Province of Prussia in 1773. By 1800 the city was approximately five miles in circumference and had 60,000 inhabitants, including a military garrison of 7,000, making it one of the most populous German cities of the time.
After Prussia's defeat at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
in 1806 during the War of the Fourth Coalition
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
, King Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
fled with his court from Berlin to Königsberg. The city was a center for political resistance to Napoleon. In order to foster liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
among the Prussian middle class, the "League of Virtue" was founded in Königsberg in April 1808. The French
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
forced its dissolution in December 1809, but its ideals were continued by the Turnbewegung of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist. He is commonly known as Turnvater Jahn, roughly meaning "father of gymnastics" Jahn.- Life :...
in Berlin. Königsberg officials, such as Johann Gottfried Frey, formulated much of Stein
Stein
Stein is a German and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and may refer to:* Beer stein* Stein , a beer brewery in Bratislava, Slovakia* USS Stein , a frigate in the U.S...
's 1808 Städteordnung, or new order for urban communities, which emphasized self-administration for Prussian towns. The East Prussian Landwehr
Landwehr
Landwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large scale, low strength fortifications...
was organized from the city after the Convention of Tauroggen
Convention of Tauroggen
The Convention of Tauroggen was a truce signed 30 December 1812 at Tauroggen , between Generalleutnant Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg on behalf of his Prussian troops, and by General Hans Karl von Diebitsch of the Russian Army...
.
In 1819 Königsberg had a population of 63,800. It served as the capital of the united Province of Prussia from 1824–1878, when East Prussia was merged with West Prussia
West Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
. It was also the seat of the Regierungsbezirk Königsberg
Königsberg (region)
Regierungsbezirk Königsberg was a Regierungsbezirk, or government region, of the Prussian province of East Prussia from 1815 until 1945. The regional capital was Königsberg .-History:...
, an administrative subdivision.
Led by the provincial president Theodor von Schön
Theodor von Schön
Heinrich Theodor von Schön was a Prussian statesman who assisted in the liberal reforms in Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...
and the Königsberger Volkszeitung newspaper, Königsberg was a stronghold of liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
against the conservative government of King Frederick William IV
Frederick William IV of Prussia
|align=right|Upon his accession, he toned down the reactionary policies enacted by his father, easing press censorship and promising to enact a constitution at some point, but he refused to enact a popular legislative assembly, preferring to work with the aristocracy through "united committees" of...
. During the revolution of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
, there were 21 episodes of public unrest in the city; major demonstrations were suppressed. Königsberg became part of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany
Unification of Germany
The formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German...
. A sophisticated for its time series of fortifications around the city that included fifteen forts was completed in 1888.
The extensive Prussian Eastern Railway linked the city to Breslau, Thorn
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
, Insterburg, Eydtkuhnen, Tilsit, and Pillau. In 1860 the railroad connecting Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
with St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
was completed and increased Königsberg's commerce. Extensive electric tramways were in operation by 1900; and regular steamers plied to Memel
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
, Tapiau and Labiau, Cranz
Cranz
Cranz may refer to:Family name: , German writer , German mathematician * Christl Cranz , German skier , German Christian scholar...
, Tilsit, and Danzig. The completion of a canal to Pillau in 1901 increased the trade of Russian grain in Königsberg, but, like much of eastern Germany, the city's economy was generally in decline. By 1900 the city's population had grown to 188,000, with a 9,000-strong military garrison. By 1914 Königsberg had a population of 246,000; Jews flourished in the culturally pluralistic city.
Weimar Republic
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Imperial Germany was replaced with the democratic Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. The Kingdom of Prussia ended with the abdication of the Hohenzollern monarch, William
William II, German Emperor
Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe...
, and the kingdom was succeeded by the Free State of Prussia. Königsberg and East Prussia
Province of East Prussia
The Province of East Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773–1829 and 1878-1945. Composed of the historical region East Prussia, the province's capital was Königsberg ....
, however, were separated from the rest of Weimar Germany by the creation of the Polish Corridor
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor , also known as Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia , which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East...
. The Ostmesse (Eastern Trade Fair) at the Königsberg Tiergarten
Kaliningrad Zoo
The Kaliningrad Zoo was founded in 1896 as the Königsberg Tiergarten in the then German town of Königsberg, which in 1945 became part of Russia and was renamed Kaliningrad. Thus, the zoo is one of the oldest zoological gardens in Russia, and one of the largest...
was held annually starting in 1920; it was intended to compensate for the geographical distance that handicapped the economic development of East Prussia and Königsberg. In 1922 the first permanent airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
and commercial terminal solely for commercial aviation was built at Königsberg-Devau. In 1929, Königsberg amalgamated
Amalgamation (politics)
A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...
with some surrounding suburbs.
Nazi Germany
Shortly after the July 1932 federal election, the Free State of Prussia's long-serving Social DemocraticSocial Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
government under Otto Braun
Otto Braun
This article is about the Prime Minister of Prussia. For the German Communist and once the Comintern military adviser to the Chinese Communist revolution see Otto Braun ....
was deposed in the Preußenschlag
Preußenschlag
In 1932, the Preußenschlag, or "Prussian coup", was one of the major steps towards the end of the German inter-war democracy, which would later greatly facilitate the "Gleichschaltung" of Germany after Adolf Hitler's rise to power...
, when Germany's chancellor Franz von Papen
Franz von Papen
Lieutenant-Colonel Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen was a German nobleman, Roman Catholic monarchist politician, General Staff officer, and diplomat, who served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and as Vice-Chancellor under Adolf Hitler in 1933–1934...
assumed direct federal control of Prussia's administration. During Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
rule from 1933 to 1945, Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
Erich Koch
Erich Koch
Erich Koch was a Gauleiter of the Nazi Party in East Prussia from 1928 until 1945. Between 1941 and 1945 he was the Chief of Civil Administration of Bezirk Bialystok. During this period, he was also the Reichskommissar in Reichskommissariat Ukraine from 1941 until 1943...
replaced the elected government of Prussia, which together with much of the old eastern Germany was one of the most Pro-Nazi provinces in the Reich, with over 55% of votes cast in favour of the Nazi Party in the March 1933 election.
In 1935, the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
designated Königsberg as the Headquarters for Wehrkreis I
Military district (Germany)
During World War II Germany used the system of military districts to relieve field commanders of as much administrative work as possible and to provide a regular flow of trained recruits and supplies to the Field Army...
, (under the command of General der Artillerie Albert Wodrig
Albert Wodrig
Albert Wodrig was a highly decorated General der Artillerie in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the XXVI. Corps. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
) which originally took in all of East Prussia
Province of East Prussia
The Province of East Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773–1829 and 1878-1945. Composed of the historical region East Prussia, the province's capital was Königsberg ....
. Wehrkreis I was extended in March 1939 to include the Memel area
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
. In October 1939, it was extended again to include the Ciechanów
Ciechanów
Ciechanów is a town in north-central Poland with 45,900 inhabitants . It is situated in Masovian Voivodeship . It was previously the capital of Ciechanów Voivodeship.-History:The grad numbered approximately 3,000 armed men....
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, and the 61st Infanterie Division, which was formed upon mobilization from reservists from East Prussia. It took part in the invasion of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, which was part of Case Yellow
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, and Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, the invasion of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. In Book XII of his World War II, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
referred to Königsberg as "a modernised heavily defended fortress".
According to the census of May 17, 1939, Königsberg had a population of 372,164. After Breslau, it was the second-largest city in Germany east of the present-day Oder-Neisse line
Oder-Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line is the border between Germany and Poland which was drawn in the aftermath of World War II. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście...
.
Following World War I Königsberg was home to one third of East Prussia's 13,000 Jews. The city's Jewish population shrank from 3,200 in 1933 to 2,100 in October 1938. The New Synagogue of Königsberg, constructed in 1896, was destroyed during Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
(November 9, 1938); 500 Jews soon fled the city. After the Wannsee Conference
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...
of January 20, 1942, Königsberg's Jews began to be deported to camps such as Maly Trostenets
Maly Trostenets extermination camp
Maly Trastsianiets extermination camp , located near a small village on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus, was the site of a Nazi extermination camp.- History :...
, Theresienstadt
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...
, and Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
World War II
The city hosted Radio KönigsbergRadio Königsberg
Radio Königsberg was a radio program broadcasted by the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, which transmitted news related to Nazi Germany during World War II...
, a propaganda station, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In 1944 Königsberg suffered heavy damage from British bombing attacks
Bombing of Königsberg in World War II
The bombing of Königsberg was a series of attacks made on the city of Königsberg in East Prussia during the World War II. The Soviet Air Force had made several raids on the city since 1941. Extensive attacks carried by RAF Bomber Command destroyed most of the city's historic quarters in the...
and burned for several days. The historic city centre, especially the original quarters Altstadt, Löbenicht, and Kneiphof, was destroyed, including the cathedral, the castle, all churches of the old city, the old and the new universities, and the old shipping quarters.
Many people fled Königsberg ahead of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
's advance after October 1944, particularly after word spread of the Soviet atrocities at Nemmersdorf. In early 1945 Soviet forces under the overall command of Vasilievsky, besieged the city. In Operation Samland
Battle of Königsberg
The Battle of Königsberg , was one of the last operations of the East Prussian Offensive during World War II. In four days of violent urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg...
, General Baghramyan's
Hovhannes Bagramyan
Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan , also known as Hovhannes Khachaturi BaghramyanPronunciation: Bagramyan's name is most commonly written in English as Bagramyan "bahg-rahm-yahn" or Bagramian...
1st Baltic Front
1st Baltic Front
The First Baltic Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. The commanders of it were Army General Andrey Yeryomenko and succeeded by Army General Bagramyan. It was formed by re-naming the Kalinin Front in October 12, 1943 and took part in several important military...
, now known as the Samland
Sambia
Sambia or Samland is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Lagoon and the Vistula Lagoon demarcate the peninsula. Prior to 1945 it formed an important part of East Prussia.-Names:Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct...
Group, captured Königsberg in April. A temporary German breakout had allowed many of the remaining civilians to escape via train and naval evacuation from the nearby port of Pillau. Königsberg, which had been declared a "fortress" (Festung
Festung
Festung is a generic German word for a fortress. Whilst it is not in common usage in English it is used in a number of historical contexts involving German speakers:* For historical fortresses in Austria, Germany or Switzerland...
) by the Germans, was fanatically defended.
On 21 January during the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
's East Prussian Offensive
East Prussian Offensive
The East Prussian Offensive was a strategic offensive by the Red Army against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front . It lasted from 13 January to 25 April 1945, though some German units did not surrender until 9 May...
, mostly Polish and Hungarian Jews from Seerappen, Jesau, Heiligenbeil
Heiligenbeil concentration camp
Heiligenbeil was a subcamp of the German concentration camp Stutthof near Danzig. It was named after the East Prussian town Heiligenbeil .- External links :*...
, Schippenbeil, and Gerdauen (subcamps of Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...
) were gathered in Königsberg. Up to 7,000 of them were forced on a death march
Death marches (Holocaust)
The death marches refer to the forcible movement between Autumn 1944 and late April 1945 by Nazi Germany of thousands of prisoners from German concentration camps near the war front to camps inside Germany.-General:...
to Sambia
Sambia
Sambia or Samland is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Lagoon and the Vistula Lagoon demarcate the peninsula. Prior to 1945 it formed an important part of East Prussia.-Names:Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct...
; those that survived were subsequently executed at Palmnicken
Yantarny
Yantarny ) is an urban locality in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located about from Kaliningrad on the Sambian Peninsula. Population: -Pre-1945:...
.
On April 9 — one month before the end of the war in Europe — the German military commander of Königsberg, General Otto Lasch
Otto Lasch
Otto Lasch was a German general in the Wehrmacht.Otto Lasch was born in Pleß as son of the high master forrester of the Prince of Pless in Silesia. Lasch after graduation took part in World War I in the Jäger-Battalion „Fürst Bismarck“ Nr. 2 in Kulm . After 1918 he joined the police and in 1935...
, surrendered the remnants of his forces following a Red Army assault
Battle of Königsberg
The Battle of Königsberg , was one of the last operations of the East Prussian Offensive during World War II. In four days of violent urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg...
. At the time of the surrender, military and civilian dead in the city were estimated at 42,000, with the Red Army claiming over 90,000 prisoners. Lasch's subterranean command bunker has been preserved as a museum, with the rest of the 19th century fortification complex being abandoned after use by the Soviet Army until the 1980s as a storage facility.
About 120,000 survivors remained in the ruins of the devastated city. These survivors, mainly women, children and the elderly and a few others who returned immediately after the fighting ended, were held as virtual prisoners until 1949. The large majority of German citizens remaining in Königsberg after 1945 died of either disease, starvation or revenge driven ethnic cleansing. The remaining 20,000 German residents were expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
in 1949–50.
Russian Kaliningrad
At the end of World War II in 1945, the city was annexed by the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement (as part of the Russian SFSR) as agreed upon by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
:
VI. CITY OF KOENIGSBERG AND THE ADJACENT AREA
The Conference examined a proposal by the Soviet Government that pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement, the section of the western frontier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which is adjacent to the Baltic SeaBaltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
should pass from a point on the eastern shore of the Bay of DanzigGdansk BayGdańsk Bay or the Bay of Gdańsk or Danzig Bay is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland and is sometimes referred to as a gulf.-Geography:...
to the east, north of Braunsberg and GoldapGoldapGołdap is a town and the seat of Gołdap County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland. It is located on the Gołdapa River, between the Wzgórza Szeskie hills and the Puszcza Romincka forest. It has a population of 13,703...
, to the meeting point of the frontiers of Lithuania, the Polish Republic and East PrussiaEast PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
.
The Conference has agreed in principle to the proposal of the Soviet Government concerning the ultimate transfer to the Soviet Union of the city of Koenigsberg and the area adjacent to it as described above, subject to expert examination of the actual frontier.
The President of the United States and the British Prime MinisterClement AttleeClement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
have declared that they will support the proposal of the Conference at the forthcoming peace settlement.
After Königsberg's conquest by the Red Army, the name of the city briefly changed to a Russified
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
form: Kyonigsberg (Кёнигсберг). While it was initially planned to rename the city "Baltijsk", it was renamed Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
on July 4, 1946, after the death of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
President of the Soviet Union
The President of the Soviet Union , officially called President of the USSR was the Head of State of the USSR from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev was the only person to occupy the office. Gorbachev was also General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between...
of the USSR, Mikhail Kalinin
Mikhail Kalinin
Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin , known familiarly by Soviet citizens as "Kalinych," was a Bolshevik revolutionary and the nominal head of state of Russia and later of the Soviet Union, from 1919 to 1946...
, one of the original Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s. The Soviet Union applied the name "Baltiysk
Baltiysk
Baltiysk , prior to 1945 known by its German name Pillau , is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separating the Vistula Bay from the Gdańsk Bay. Baltiysk...
" to the nearby port of Pillau instead. The German population was either deported
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
to the Western Zones of occupied Germany or into Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n labor camps
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
, where about half of them perished of hunger or diseases.
After the deportation, the city's former population was entirely replaced with Soviet citizens. Life changed dramatically: the city had a new name (Kaliningrad), and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
was replaced by Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
as the language of everyday life. Parts of the city were rebuilt, although the former Altstadt remained an urban fallow with few buildings that survived the destruction. The city went through industrialisation
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
and modernisation. As one of the westernmost territories of the Soviet Union, the Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...
became a strategically important area during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The Soviet Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
was headquartered in the city in the 1950s. Because of its strategic importance, Kaliningrad was closed
Closed city
A closed city or closed town is a settlement with travel and residency restrictions in the Soviet Union and some of its successor countries. In modern Russia, such places are officially known as "closed administrative-territorial formations" ....
to foreign visitors.
Demographics
The vast majority of the population belonged to the Lutheran Church and other Protestant denominationsProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
.
Number of inhabitants, by year
- 1900: 189,483 (including the military), among whom were 8,465 Roman CatholicsRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and 3,975 JewsJewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
. - 1925: 279,930, among whom were 13,330 Catholics, 4,050 Jews and approximately 6,000 others.
Culture and people from Königsberg
Christian Goldbach
Christian Goldbach was a German mathematician who also studied law. He is remembered today for Goldbach's conjecture.-Biography:...
and the writer E.T.A. Hoffmann
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann , better known by his pen name E.T.A. Hoffmann , was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist...
, as well as the home of the philosopher Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
, who lived there all his life and never travelled more than a hundred miles away from the city. Kant entered the university of Königsberg at age 16 and was appointed to a chair in metaphysics there in 1770 at the age of 46. While working there he published his Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure Reason
The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant, first published in 1781, second edition 1787, is considered one of the most influential works in the history of philosophy. Also referred to as Kant's "first critique," it was followed by the Critique of Practical Reason and the Critique of Judgement...
(arguing that knowledge arises from the application of innate concepts to sensory experience) and his Metaphysics of Morals
Metaphysics of Morals
The Metaphysics of Morals is a major work of moral and political philosophy by Immanuel Kant. It was not as well known or as widely read as his earlier works, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason, but it experienced a renaissance in the English-speaking...
which argues that virtue is acquired by the performance of duty for its own sake. In 1736, the mathematician Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion...
used the arrangement of the city's bridges and islands as the basis for the Seven Bridges of Königsberg Problem
Seven Bridges of Königsberg
The Seven Bridges of Königsberg is a historically notable problem in mathematics. Its negative resolution by Leonhard Euler in 1735 laid the foundations of graph theory and prefigured the idea of topology....
, which led to the mathematical branches of topology
Topology
Topology is a major area of mathematics concerned with properties that are preserved under continuous deformations of objects, such as deformations that involve stretching, but no tearing or gluing...
and graph theory
Graph theory
In mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs, mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain collection. A "graph" in this context refers to a collection of vertices or 'nodes' and a collection of edges that connect pairs of...
. In the 19th century Königsberg was the birthplace of the influential mathematician David Hilbert
David Hilbert
David Hilbert was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of...
.
The dialect spoken by most citizens was Low Prussian
Low Prussian
Low Prussian , sometimes known simply as Prussian , is a dialect of East Low German that developed in East Prussia. Low Prussian was spoken in East and West Prussia and Danzig up to 1945. It developed on a Baltic substrate through the influx of Dutch and Low German speaking immigrants...
, now a moribund language as its speakers are elderly and dying out. A popular dish from the city was Königsberger Klopse
Königsberger Klopse
Königsberger Klopse, also known as Soßklopse, is a Prussian specialty of meatballs in a white sauce with capers.The dish is named for the Prussian city of Königsberg and is one of the glories of East Prussian cuisine...
, which is still made today in some specialty restaurants in Kaliningrad and present-day Germany; some recipes are available on the web.
Dutch art
Dutch art describes the history of visual arts in the Netherlands, after the United Provinces separated from Flanders. Earlier painting in the area is covered in Early Netherlandish painting and Renaissance art.-Golden Age:...
paintings were also to be found there. At the Königstor (King's Gate)
King's Gate (Kaliningrad)
The King's Gate is one of the former six gates that were built during the 19th century around Kaliningrad .-Architecture:...
stood statues of King Ottakar I of Bohemia, Albert of Prussia, and Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
. Königsberg had a magnificent Exchange (completed in 1875) with fine views of the harbor from the staircase. Along Bahnhofsstraße ("Railway Street") were the offices of the famous Royal Amber Works — Samland was celebrated as the "Amber Coast
Amber Coast
The Amber Coast is the name given to a coastal strip of the Baltic Sea in the northwest of Kaliningrad...
". There was also an observatory
Koenigsberg Observatory
Koenigsberg observatory was an astronomical research facility, which was attached to the Albertina University of Königsberg. Astronomers working on her major, such as Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander and Arthur Auwers. In 1838, for first time, the parallax of a star was...
fitted up by the astronomer Friedrich Bessel
Friedrich Bessel
-References:* John Frederick William Herschel, A brief notice of the life, researches, and discoveries of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, London: Barclay, 1847 -External links:...
, a botanical garden, and a zoological museum. The "Physikalisch", near the Heumarkt, contained botanical and anthropological collections and prehistoric antiquities. Two large theatres built during the Wilhelmine
Wilhelmine
Wilhelmine is a term for the period of German history, also known as the German Empire. The term Wilhelmine Germany refers to the period running from the proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Kaiser at Versailles in 1871 to the abdication of his grandson Wilhelm II in 1918.Although the father of...
era were the Stadt (city) Theatre and the Appollo.
Königsberg Castle
The Königsberg Castle was a castle in Königsberg, Germany , and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussian capital Königsberg.- History :...
was one of the city's most notable structures. The former seat of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights and the Dukes of Prussia, it contained the Schloßkirche, or palace church, where Frederick I
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
was crowned in 1701 and William I
William I, German Emperor
William I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...
in 1861. It also contained the spacious Moscowiter-Saal, one of the largest halls in the German Reich, and a museum of Prussian history.
Königsberg became a centre of education when the Albertina University
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as second Protestant academy by Duke Albert of Prussia, and was commonly known as the Albertina....
was founded by Duke Albert of Prussia in 1544. The university was situated opposite the north and east side of the Königsberg Cathedral
Königsberg Cathedral
Königsberg Cathedral is a Brick Gothic style building in Kaliningrad on an island in the Pregel . The island was called Kneiphof in German times.-14th Century to World War II:...
. Lithuanian scholar Stanislovas Rapalionis
Stanislovas Rapalionis
Stanislovas Rapalionis was a founder of the first Lithuanian language school in Vilnius, a professor of theology in Königsberg Albertina University, and the first translator of the Bible into Lithuanian, although this translation has not survived....
, one of founding fathers of the university, was the first professor of theology.
Numerous German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
publications were printed in Königsberg espousing the Protestant Reformation. The city became a center for the publication of books in the Lithuanian language
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
, especially by educated Prussian Lithuanians
Prussian Lithuanians
The term Prussian Lithuanians or Lietuvininkai refers to a Western Lithuanian ethnic group, which did not form a nation and inhabited a territory in East Prussia called Prussian Lithuania or Lithuania Minor in contrast to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Republic of Lithuania .Unlike most...
from Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor or Prussian Lithuania is a historical ethnographic region of Prussia, later East Prussia in Germany, where Prussian Lithuanians or Lietuvininkai lived. Lithuania Minor enclosed the northern part of this province and got its name due to the territory's substantial...
. After the territory became Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
, prayer books were printed in the Lithuanian vernacular. The first non-religious Lithuanian books were published later as well. With the support of the government, Ruhig
Philipp Ruhig
Philipp Ruhig was a Lutheran priest from East Prussia mostly known as a philosopher and philologist, an early expert in Lithuanian language.-Major works:...
(Pilypas Ruigys) and Mielcke (Kristijonas Gotlybas Milkus) published Lithuanian dictionaries in 1747 and 1800, respectively.
Sports clubs which played in Königsberg included VfB Königsberg
VfB Königsberg
VfB Königsberg was a German association football club from the city of Königsberg, East Prussia.-History:The club was established on 7 July 1900 as Fußball-Club Königsberg, later being renamed VfB Königsberg in 1907...
and SV Prussia-Samland Königsberg
SV Prussia-Samland Königsberg
SV Prussia-Samland Königsberg was a German association football club from the city of Königsberg, East Prussia .The club was founded in early 1904 as Fußball-Club Prussia Königsberg and in 1908 merged with Sportzirkel Samland Königsberg 1904 to form Sportvereinigung Prussia-Samland Königsberg...
. Lilli Henoch
Lilli Henoch
Lilli Henoch was a German track and field athlete who set four world records and won 10 German national championships, in four different disciplines....
, the world record holder in the discus
Discus
Discus, "disk" in Latin, may refer to:* Discus , a progressive rock band from Indonesia* Discus , a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe and enemy of Luke Cage* Discus , a freshwater fish popular with aquarium keepers...
, shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
, and 4 × 100 meters relay events who was killed by the Nazis, was born in Königsberg.
External links
- Kaliningrad Photo Gallery – Reisebilder aus Königsberg
- The Film Königsberg is dead, France/Germany 2004 by Max & Gilbert
- Territory's history from 1815 to 1945
- Interactive Map with photos of Königsberg and modern Kaliningrad
- Direct link to photo album from above site
- Site with 400+ side-by-side photos of 1939/2005 identical locations in Königsberg/Kaliningrad
- Northeast Prussia 2000: Travel Photos