Former East Prussia Architecture and Landscapes

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Tilsit / Sovjetsk

Sovetsk, before 1946 known as Tilsit in East Prussia, is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River. Population: 41,705 (2010 Census).
Tilsit, which received civic rights in 1552, grew up around a castle of the Teutonic Knights, known as the Schalauner Haus, founded in 1288.

The Treaties of Tilsit were signed here in July 1807, the preliminaries of which were settled by the emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France on a raft moored in the Neman River. This treaty, which created the Kingdom of Westphalia and the Duchy of Warsaw, completed Napoleon's humiliation of the Kingdom of Prussia, when it was deprived of one half of its dominions.

Until 1945, a marble tablet marked the house in which King Frederick William III of Prussia and Queen Louise resided. Also, in the former Schenkendorf Platz was a monument to the poet Max von Schenkendorf (1783–1817) a native of Tilsit. In general, Tilsit thrived and was an important Prussian town. By 1900 it had electric tramways and 34,500 inhabitants; a direct railway line linked it to Königsberg and Labiau and steamers docked there daily. The Act of Tilsit was signed here by leaders of the Lietuvininks in 1918.

Hitler visited the town just before World War II, and a photo was taken of him on the famous bridge over the Memel River. Tilsit was occupied by the Red Army on January 20, 1945, and was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945. The remaining Germans who had not evacuated were subsequently forcibly expelled and replaced with Soviet citizens. The town was renamed Sovetsk by the new communist rulers, in honor of Soviet rule.

Many of the town's buildings were destroyed during World War II. However, the old town centre still includes several German buildings, including those of Jugendstil design. The Queen Louise Bridge, now connecting the town to Panemunė/Übermemel in Lithuania, retains an arch – all that is left of a more complex pre-war bridge structure.

source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.koenigin-luise.com
enciklopedia britannica

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Tilsit / Sovjetsk

The construction of the "Königin Luise Brücke" bridge in Tilsit in 1905-1908.

Queen Louise perhaps the greatest queen in Prussia’s and Germany’s history. People admired her courage, her tale of woe, her beauty.

source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.koenigin-luise.com
http://www.temeraire.org/wiki/Queen_Louise
http://sudilovski.livejournal.com/)

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Tilsit / Sovjetsk

The construction of the "Königin Luise Brücke" bridge in Tilsit in 1905-1908.

(source: http://sudilovski.livejournal.com/)

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Tilsit / Sovjetsk

The construction of the "Königin Luise Brücke" bridge in Tilsit in 1905-1908.

(source: http://sudilovski.livejournal.com/)

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Tilsit / Sovjetsk

The construction of the "Königin Luise Brücke" bridge in Tilsit in 1905-1908.

(source: http://sudilovski.livejournal.com/)

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

Paul von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1847-1934) was born in Posen in (formerly part of Prussia and later Germany, now: Poznan Poland ) on 2 October 1847.

After being educated at the cadet schools at Wahlstatt and Berlin he fought at the Battle of Koniggratz (1866) and in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). Promoted to the rank of general in 1903, Hindenburg retired from the army in 1911.

On the outbreak of the First World War Hindenburg was recalled to the German Army and after being sent to the Eastern Front won decisive victories over the Russians at Tannenberg (1914) and the Masaurian Lakes (1915). Seen as the saviour of East Prussia, he was promoted to field marshal and on the 29th August 1916 became Chief of Staff of the German Army.

Hindenburg retired from the German Army in October, 1918, but continued to take an active interest in politics. In 1925 Hindenburg replaced Friedrich Ebert as President of Germany. Re-elected in 1932 he did not oppose the rise of Adolf Hitler and in January 1933, appointed him Chancellor. Paul von Hindenburg was so popular with the German people that Hitler was unable to overthrow constitutional government until his death in 1934.

Hindenburg remained in office until his death at the age of 86 at his home in Neudeck, East Prussia (now Ogrodzieniec, in Poland)on 2 August 1934.

Source: spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk and n24.de

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

The Battle of Tannenberg was an engagement between the Russian and the German Empires in the first days of World War I. It was fought by the Russian Second Army against the German Eighth Army between 26 August and 30 August 1914.[4] The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army, as well as the death of its commander Alexander Samsonov. A series of follow-up battles (the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes) destroyed the majority of the First Army as well, and kept the Russians off-balance until the spring of 1915. The battle is notable particularly for a number of rapid movements of complete German corps by train, allowing a single German army to concentrate its forces against each Russian army in turn.

Although the battle actually took place close to Allenstein (Olsztyn), the battle was named Battle of Tannenberg at the direct request of Hindenburg. He chose Tannenberg because of its historical significance; it was the location where the Teutonic Knights were defeated by the joint forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the Battle of Grunwald.

Source: Wikipedia, c3iopscenter.com and cia.gov/library

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

At the conclusion of the war, Hindenburg retired a second time, and announced his intention to retire from public life.
In April 1925, after the death of Friedrich Ebert, Hindenburg was elected the republic’s second president, despite his professed monarchism. Hindenburg took office on 12 May 1925. For the first five years after taking office, Hindenburg generally refused to allow himself to be drawn into the maelstrom of German politics in the period, and sought to play the role of a republican equivalent of a constitutional monarch. Although often referred to as the Ersatzkaiser (substitute Emperor), Hindenburg made no effort to restore the monarchy and took his oath to the Weimar Constitution seriously.

In October 1931, Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler met for the very first time in a high level conference in Berlin over Hitler's Nazi Party's politics among Hindenburg's cabinet. There were clear signs of tension throughout the meeting as it became evident to everyone present that both men took an immediate dislike to each other. Afterwards in private, Hindenburg, from then on, often disparagingly referred to Hitler as "that Austrian corporal", or "that Bohemian corporal" or sometimes just simply as "the corporal". In private, Hitler often disparagingly referred to Hindenburg as "that old fool" or "that old reactionary". Until January 1933, Hindenburg often stated that he would never appoint Hitler as Chancellor under any circumstances. On 26 January 1933, Hindenburg privately told a group of his friends: "Gentlemen, I hope you will not hold me capable of appointing this Austrian corporal to be Reich Chancellor.
Finally, the 84-year-old Hindenburg agreed to make Hitler Chancellor, and on the morning of 30 January 1933, Hindenburg swore him in as Chancellor at the Presidential Palace.

Source: Wikipedia & Bundesarchive

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

Residence of hindenburg family in East Prussia

Neudeck( today: Ogrodzieniec ) is a village in northern Poland former East-Prussia.
It lies approximately 50 miles west of the regional capital Olsztyn.
The village was the ancestral country estate of the Hindenburg-family.
It was located in West Prussia until 1919 when, under the border readjustment following World War I,
the remnants of West Prussia were absorbed by East Prussia.
Paul von Hindenburg died here on 2 August 1934.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, the house was looted by Soviet soldiers and set on fire.
Neudeck became part of the People's Republic of Poland the same year. The ruins were demolished around 1950.
Source: Wikipedia, deutschesneuland.de, welt.de

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

Residence of hindenburg family in East Prussia

Paul von Hindenburg in early 1934. Depicted whilst getting in his car in order to leave his mansion in Neudeck, East Prussia. In the foreground: Hindenburg's son Oskar helping his father into the car. In the Background: Hindenburg's aide de camp von der Schulenburg, von Tschirschky (assistant to Vice-Chancellor von Papen), Margarete von Hindenburg (Hindenburgs daughter in law), Vice-Chancellor von Papen, Secretaries of State Meissner, Riedel and Körner. (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

Residence of hindenburg family in East Prussia

The Death of Hindenburg and the funeral

Hindenburg died at his Prussian estate Neudeck in 2 August 1934. Hindenburg was buried in the Tannenberg Memorial East Prussia (now Olsztynek, Poland) on 7 August 1934 during a large state funeral, five days after his death. Hitler ordered his architect, Albert Speer, to take care of the background for the funeral ceremony.

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

Hindenburg funeral in Tannenberg Memorial

It began with the transportation of the deceased president in the dark of night, on a gun carriage, from Hindenburg's East Prussian home Neudeck. Following a torch-lit route and escorted by infantry and cavalry, the cortège made its way to Hohenstein.

Source: http://tannenberg-nationaldenkmal.andreasspringer.de

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

Hindenburg funeral in Tannenberg Memorial

Source: http://tannenberg-nationaldenkmal.andreasspringer.de

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

Hindenburg funeral in Tannenberg Memorial

IB ILLUSTRIERTER BEOBACHTER, Munich, Germany, Aug. 18, 1934 The full front page with a photos of Hindenburg's funeral procession.
Source: http://www.rarenewspapers.com

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Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg in East Prussia

Hindenburg funeral in Tannenberg Memorial

Source: http://www.rarenewspapers.com