Königsberg Castle
The Königsberg Castle (German: Königsberger Schloss, Russian: Кёнигсбергский замок, romanized: Konigsbergskiy zamok) was one of the landmarks of the city of Königsberg (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia).
Königsberg Castle
History[edit]
The site of the castle was originally an Old Prussian fort known as Tuwangste near the Pregel River at an important waypoint in Prussian territory. Nearby were three Prussian villages, later known as Löbenicht, Sackheim, and Tragheim. After conquering the area in 1255, the Teutonic Knights constructed a provisionary wooden and earthworks fort in place of the Prussian one.[1] By 1257, a new stone Ordensburg castle was being constructed. The castle was greatly enlarged and refortified in several stages between the 16th to 18th centuries.[2]
The fortress, later designated a castle, was the residence of the Grandmasters of the Teutonic Order and later residence for Prussian rulers.[2] In 1635, Polish King Władysław IV Vasa resided at the castle during his stay in the city as the suzerain of Ducal Prussia.[3] In 1734–1736, it was the place of stay of Polish King Stanisław Leszczyński during the War of the Polish Succession.[4]
The 1815 Encyclopædia Britannica refers to "the magnificent palace in which is a hall 83.5 m long and 18 m broad without pillars to support it, and a handsome library. The gothic tower of the castle is very high (100 m) and has 284 steps to the top, from where a great distance can be seen". This extensive building, enclosed in a large quadrangle and situated almost in the center of the city, was formerly a seat of the Teutonic Order. It was altered and enlarged from the 16th to 18th centuries.[2] The west wing contained the Schloßkirche, or palace church, where Frederick I was crowned in 1701 and William I in 1861.[2] The arms emblazoned upon the walls and columns were those of members of the Order of the Black Eagle. Above the church was the 83 m long and 18 m high Moscowiter-Saal, one of the largest halls in the German Reich.
Until the latter part of World War II, the apartments of the Hohenzollerns and the Prussia Museum (north wing, Prussia-Sammlung) were open to the public daily. Among other things, the museum accommodated 240,000 exhibits of the Prussian collection, a collection of the Königsberg State and University Library, as well as many paintings by the artist Lovis Corinth.[2] In 1926, Friedrich Lahrs led an excavation of the castle courtyard. During World War II, various pieces of captured Russian art were stored there, possibly including parts of the Amber Room. An extensive collection of provincial archives was also housed there. Also the Blutgericht, a wine selling tavern, was situated within the castle. An image of Hans von Sagan was used as the castle's weathervane.
Following the bombing of Königsberg by the Allies in the Second World War in 1944, the castle completely burnt down.[5] 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. The largely demolished Königsberg became part of the Soviet Union and was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946.
Kaliningrad was to be rebuilt as a model town on the remains of Königsberg, without reminders of its German past left standing.[6] The ruins of the castle were periodically blown up over the next several years, with the last remnants being destroyed in 1968 on Leonid Brezhnev's personal orders.[7][8] However, the ruins of the nearby Königsberg Cathedral, which included the tomb of Immanuel Kant, were left standing, and, after the collapse of the USSR, in the late 1990s and early years of the 21st century were rebuilt and restored.
East wing and castle entrance in 1900
Castle facade plan
East wing and entrance to the castle
Castle church with two round towers, constructed in 1597
Firmari shelter
The later renovated facade of the castle
Aerial view of the castle from the side of the royal pond
Northeast corner of the castle with the Haberturm and the monument to Duke Albrecht
Königsberg Castle courtyard in c. 1900
The famous restaurant "Blood Court" in the northern wing of the castle
Demolition of the castle tower with explosives, 1959
