When the Germans were expelled from Kaliningrad, they left behind a wonderful architectural heritage.

Some residential districts of Kaliningrad, and almost all the villas in Svetlogorsk, survived the the war untouched. What they survived less well was being untouched by even a lick of paint for next half century.

This wonderfully convoluted line from Crosby Stills Nash (now playing) just about sums up all the ambivalent attitudes to restoration in Kaliningrad.

Left to rot for fifty plus years, the former Prussian town is being extravagantly restored. But what exactly is being restored? It is not the past or the cultural heritage of any Russian who [...]