A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
I am once again spending the northern spring in central and eastern Europe: Germany, Poland and the Baltic states. This is the first of what I hope will be a series of photo postings of the various places I visit.
My first stop after leaving Berlin was Kołobrzeg (pronounced Ko-WOB-zhek) on the Pomeranian coast. This was the German town of Kolberg. In 1807 it was the scene of a famous siege by the French, in which August von Gneisenau led the Prussian resistance against the French. In 1944 Goebbels decided to make an epic film about the siege, which was released just before the end of the war in March 1945. The film (which is actually quite good and contains no Nazi propaganda) can be seen here: https://archive.org/details/KolbergDerDurchhaltefilm (in German with French subtitles).
Kołobrzeg also has an 1832 Rathaus (town hall) designed by the great Prussian architect Karl-Friedrich Schinkel. This would be reason enough to visit, since very few of his buildings survived World War II intact. Today it's a pleasant seaside town (though still pretty chilly in April), popular with Scandinavian cruise-ship tourists. The photos are in no particular order.
Memorial “To the soldiers killed in the battles for the liberation of Kołobrzeg in March 1945.” Both Soviet and Polish units took part in the capture of the city. The German Navy evacuated about 100,000 troops and civilians from Kolberg, one of the largest evacuations by sea ever undertaken.
My first stop after leaving Berlin was Kołobrzeg (pronounced Ko-WOB-zhek) on the Pomeranian coast. This was the German town of Kolberg. In 1807 it was the scene of a famous siege by the French, in which August von Gneisenau led the Prussian resistance against the French. In 1944 Goebbels decided to make an epic film about the siege, which was released just before the end of the war in March 1945. The film (which is actually quite good and contains no Nazi propaganda) can be seen here: https://archive.org/details/KolbergDerDurchhaltefilm (in German with French subtitles).
Kołobrzeg also has an 1832 Rathaus (town hall) designed by the great Prussian architect Karl-Friedrich Schinkel. This would be reason enough to visit, since very few of his buildings survived World War II intact. Today it's a pleasant seaside town (though still pretty chilly in April), popular with Scandinavian cruise-ship tourists. The photos are in no particular order.
Memorial “To the soldiers killed in the battles for the liberation of Kołobrzeg in March 1945.” Both Soviet and Polish units took part in the capture of the city. The German Navy evacuated about 100,000 troops and civilians from Kolberg, one of the largest evacuations by sea ever undertaken.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
The post office, a typical Prussian red-brock Gothic style building from around the turn of the last century.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
The massive Marien-Domkirche (now the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), which dates from 1321.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
The 1832 Rathaus designed Karl-Friedrich Schinkel in a Gothic style, which replaced an older Rathaus destroyed during the 1807 siege. It has recently been thoroughly restored, which is why it looks suspiciously new.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
The Powder Tower (Pulverturm) dates from the 15th century and is the only surviving part of the old Kolberg fortifications.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
The police presidency (1913), which in its day housed both the Gestapo and the NKVD.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
These once elegant, now faded, facades are typical of all the former German towns in eastern Europe.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
The railway station has changed very little.
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Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
I saw half a dozen of these around the town. Are they entrances to wartime shelters? If they’re not I don’t know what they are.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
This very ugly communist-era memorial celebrates Poland’s acquisition of the Pomeranian coast in 1945.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
The lighthouse, which stands on top of a fort dating from the 18th century.
Re: A visit to Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
The memorial on the site of the former Jewish cemetery.