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.

Under Russian ownership, the plaster peeled, the ornaments [...]]]>
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.

Under Russian ownership, the plaster peeled, the ornaments fell off and the handsome tiled roofs gave way to tin. Of course, these high maintenance mansions were never designed for the poor Russians sent by Stalin to populate the new territory.

Konigsberg was one of the most beautiful cities in Prussia and quite deliberately so. The town council had always obsessed about aesthetics and landscaping. Even the barracks and military fortifications had to be beautiful, designed by famous architects such as August Stueller and decorated with bas-relief sculptures. A curiously extravagant protection against incoming cannonballs.

Now that Moscow money is moving into Svetlogorsk, there’s an attempt to recreate the past. But instead of restoration projects, many of the old houses are simply demolished and repro-Prussian mansions rise in their place. It’s partly about money, of course. The old Prussian villas were individually built by craftsmen and can’t be upgraded with standard factory melamine doors and 24-hour double-glazing from the Yellow Pages.

Then there’s the general lack of conservation awareness. Along with a lack of craftsmen who could begin the complex task of restoration. So, Svetlogorsk today is odd coexistence of real estate and fake estate. Right next to Svetlogorsk’s landmark sanatorium, for example, they’ve built an art deco fantasy which has become the new Vika cafe.

Svetlogorsk – Real Estate

Svetlogorsk – Fake Estate

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 [...]]]>

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 currently lives here. Yet many local Russians feel nostalgia for a time and place they never knew.

Kaliningrad is a complete paradox. After the war, while German prisoners of war were rebuilding whole Russian town centres like Novgorod in the elegant German style, Russians were busy reprocessing Konigsberg into the poured concrete, Soviet mould.

Actually, the Soviets succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They transformed the former Jewel of the Baltic into one of the grimmest, greyest towns in Europe. If you ever do an image search for Kaliningrad, you will find that visitors are as fascinated by the dilapidation and neglect of ‘German Kaliningrad’ as any of the regular tourist sights.

Once proud villas have tin shack roofs

One of the (only just) remaining ‘Eulerian‘ bridges

How could all this happen? Olga Sezneva, a Fellow of New York University, thinks that Kaliningrad is a very interesting case study (PDF) for social historians.

Yes, society needs landmarks and monuments – both as connections with the past and as reassuring milestones along the path to civilisation. But monuments are multi-faceted symbols. For many Russians – and for many years – Kaliningrad’s German architecture symbolised only fascism and the terrible cost of war.

Olga suggests that Kaliningrad has been uniquely shaped by political and economic forces. Its accentuated Soviet ‘look’ was a deliberate initiative of Kruschev, a way of blending in the former German territory with the motherland. At the time, historians collecting old town plans and records faced punishment.

All the same, the legacy of the past and the closeness to Europe, like the very German layout of Kaliningrad with its parks and fountains and resorts, could never be completely eradicated or denied. Hence the unnatural quality of Kaliningrad and the current identity crisis.

The recent restoration of the Cathedral and Immanuel Kant’s tomb was hotly disputed and most of the money was put up by Germans. Now that battle is over, and the restored Cathedral a focus of civic pride, it seems Russia is willing to put up money for a new castle.

Cathedral and Kant memorial, now restored

Nevertheless, there’s still a certain element of fantasy about these projects. The statue of Lenin – recently towed away from Kaliningrad’s main square – is factually more relevant to Kaliningraders social history than the castle they never knew. In many ways, people here are choosing their past the way they would like it to have been.

Firebombed by the RAF in 1944, it was then levelled in 1969 to build the ill-conceived ‘House Of Soviets‘. Known locally is the ‘Monster’, this concrete egg-box has never been quite finished or occupied. Finally the blot on the landscape has to go.

Alexander Bahzin thinks [...]]]> There are plans in Kaliningrad to rebuild the old Prussian castle.

Firebombed by the RAF in 1944, it was then levelled in 1969 to build the ill-conceived ‘House Of Soviets‘. Known locally is the ‘Monster’, this concrete egg-box has never been quite finished or occupied. Finally the blot on the landscape has to go.

Alexander Bahzin thinks he can recreate the famous schloss from old paintings and postcards. The architect has already made a cardboard model and now just needs a green light and 100 million. Alexander is a kitsch connoisseur and has built whole repro villas in Kaliningrad from pre-war photographs. ‘There was no complicated stonemasonry in the castle’ he says. ‘It was just bricks and plaster.’ Even so, it took the Teutonic Knights a couple of centuries but Alexander is looking at three years start to finish.

There’s a lot of support for the project. Putin, whose wife comes from Kaliningrad, has offered to put up 50 million. (From the state, not from his own pocket of course.) It will also please Germans who can remember the grandeur of Konigsberg prior to being concreted over by Russians. Elderly Germans today who revisit their old hometown have been known to break down in tears.