Former East Prussia Architecture and Landscapes

[pofoka]

Königsberg / Kaliningrad then & now

A very sad and moving selection from königsbreg / Kaliningrad. Again...

source:http://www.kng750.kanet.ru

[pofoka]

Königsberg / Kaliningrad then & now

A very sad and moving selection from königsbreg / Kaliningrad.
source:http://www.kng750.kanet.ru

[pofoka]

Das Königsberger Schloss / The Königsberg Castle

The Königsberg Castle (German: Königsberger Schloss) was a castle in Königsberg, and was one of the symbolic landmarks of the East Prussian capital Königsberg.

Following the bombing of Königsberg by the Royal Air Force in the Second World War in 1944, the castle completely burnt down. However, the thick walls were able to withstand both the aerial bombing and Soviet artillery, as well as urban fighting in April 1945, allowing the ruins of the castle to stay standing.
In 1968 did Soviet party leader Leonid Brezhnev decide to demolish the remains of the ‘hornet’s nest of militarism and fascism’.
In its place came the twenty-story ‘House of the Soviets’, built as the party headquarters for the Kaliningrad Oblast.
..."hornet's nest of militarism and fascism"
It is the greatest of shames that such a beautiful building was bulldozed by malicious individuals.

source: Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Königsberg_Castle
http://foto-history.livejournal.com

[pofoka]

Das Königsberger Schloss / The Königsberg Castle

source: http://foto-history.livejournal.com

[pofoka]

Das Königsberger Schloss / The Königsberg Castle

source: http://foto-history.livejournal.com

[pofoka]

Das Königsberger Schloss / The Königsberg Castle

According to Leonid Brezhnev was the evil. The "hornet's nest of militarism and fascism".
This place was always filled with life and beauty... but some ignorant people have changed that forever.

Source: http://foto-history.livejournal.com

[pofoka]

Das Königsberger Schloss / The Königsberg Castle

Source: http://foto-history.livejournal.com
www.artlfakes.com

[pofoka]

The future of Königsberg?

A fantastic idea: Russians hope to rebuild the King of Prussia's Castle in Kaliningrad East Prussia?
(It was silly to destroy. But it's too late lament. Unfortunately...)

source: http://www.thelocal.de
http://www.altstadt.ru/images.php

[pofoka]

The future of Königsberg?

A fantastic idea: Russians hope to rebuild the King of Prussia's Castle in Kaliningrad East Prussia?
(It was silly to destroy. But it's too late lament. Unfortunately...)

source: http://www.thelocal.de
http://www.altstadt.ru/images.php

[pofoka]

The future of Königsberg?

A fantastic idea: Russians hope to rebuild the King of Prussia's Castle in Kaliningrad East Prussia?
(It was silly to destroy. But it's too late lament. Unfortunately...)

source: http://www.thelocal.de
http://www.altstadt.ru/images.php

[pofoka]

Hurrah!!! Today My books finally arrived! Terrific!
If you want this books order from here. Arndt Beck is very fair and correct. Quality and speed! The German precision and reliability!
I recommend him to everyone!

http://www.arndtbeck.com/wordpress/2012 ... y/#respond

[JägerMarty]

Fantastic thread! feel free to do one for Pommern next

[pofoka]

Fantastic thread! feel free to do one for Pommern next

Thank you very much for your comment JägerMarty ! Pommern? That's a good idea.

[pofoka]

The Königsberg Cathedral / Königsberger Dom

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
photos: http://sudilovski.livejournal.com/)

Königsberg Cathedral (German: Königsberger Dom; Russian: Кафедральный собор Кёнигсберга) is a Brick Gothic-style cathedral. The cathedral is dedicated to Virgin Mary and St Adalbert. It is located on Kant Island, formerly Kneiphof, in the Pregel (Pregolya) River. Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945, and the easternmost large German city until it was conquered by the Soviet Union near the end of World War II. In 1946 the city was renamed Kaliningrad.

The construction of the cathedral on Kneiphof is considered to have begun in 1333. The soil on which the cathedral was built was marshy, and so hundreds of oak poles were put into the ground before the construction of the cathedral could begin. After the relatively short period of almost 50 years, the cathedral was largely completed by 1380. Work on the interior frescoes lasted until the end of 14th century.

In late August 1944, British bombers carried out two night raids on Königsberg. The first raid, on 26/27 August, largely missed the city, but the second raid, on 29/30, destroyed most of the old part of Königsberg (including Kneiphof), and the cathedral was hit. Amongst many others in the city, about a hundred people, mostly children, who had gathered inside the part of the cathedral directly underneath the spire to find safety from the air raid, were killed.

After the war, the cathedral remained a burnt-out shell and Kneiphof was made into a park with no other buildings. Before the war, Kneiphof had many buildings. One of the buildings was the first Albertina University building, where Immanuel Kant taught, which was situated next to the east side of the cathedral. Shortly after Kaliningrad was opened to foreigners in the early 1990s, work began to reconstruct the cathedral.

Today, the cathedral has two chapels, one Lutheran, the other Russian Orthodox, as well as a museum. The Lutheran chapel is where the people under the spire died during the second air raid of August 1944. The cathedral is also used for concerts.

The tomb of the philosopher Immanuel Kant, the "Sage of Königsberg", is today in a mausoleum adjoining the northeast corner of the cathedral. The mausoleum was constructed by the architect Friedrich Lahrs and was finished in 1924 in time for the bicentenary of Kant's birth. Originally, Kant was buried inside the cathedral, but in 1880 his remains were moved outside and placed in a neo-Gothic chapel adjoining the northeast corner of the cathedral. Over the years, the chapel became dilapidated before it was demolished to make way for the mausoleum, which was built on the same spot, where it is today.

Some interesting pictures from pre-war era from the Königsberg Cathedral.

Front (west side) of the cathedral, and Interior of the Königsberg Chatedral, with the tomb of Albert, Duke of Prussia.

[pofoka]

The Königsberg Cathedral / Königsberger Dom

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
photos: http://sudilovski.livejournal.com/)