RUSSIA: KALININGRAD CITY TOUR

June 29, 2019

We began our day with a city tour led by our guide, Irina. She had a list she wanted to get through and didn't adjust very well to our interests.

Our hotel was located in an area of the city known as the "Fisherman's Village." We probably did spend too much time getting acquainted with this rakish sailor and his clever monkey . . . 

. . . but they were so friendly.

We could tell that luck-seeking passersby had rubbed their noses a lot.

Further along the walk we saw but didn't speak to this lady of the night. Her nose has been rubbed a lot too.

We rushed right by this fellow, who had set up shop on one end of a bridge.  I had to use Google Translate to learn that his sign says "Sale of finds from excavations in Konigsberg."

Looking at the photo now, I wish we had been able to stop and take a closer look!

We crossed over one of Kaliningrad's seven bridges, the one called "Honey Bridge."  One site I looked at said this was the youngest of the seven bridges, but another said it is the oldest of the bridges, built in 1542 and rebuilt in 1882 and that it was one of three bridges that survived World War II.  All agree, however, that it leads to Kant Island, which is in the heart of the city.

My favorite thing on the bridge was this mini sculpture known as "Grandfather Homlin." Apparently, this good luck figure is the first of seven tiny sculptures planned for Kaliningrad. Too bad he didn't scare off the love-lockers.

Kant Island, on the other side of Honey Bridge, is the site of much of historical Konigsberg. The first building we noticed was a reconstruction of the Konigsberg Synagogue, which was destroyed by the Nazis on November 9-10, 1938 (Kristallnacht), and rebuilt in 2018. Kaliningrad's 1,500+ Jews began to be systematically deported starting in October 1941.

Photo of original Konigsberg Synagogue from here

The new building definitely echoes the original synagogue, but with a distinctly more modern look. The building now houses a Holocaust museum, a school, shops, and a few kosher restaurants. Unfortunately, the museum wasn't open the day we were there.

Irina pointed out where other buildings around the square had been prior to the war and showed us photos of the devastation. (The photos below are from Wikipedia.)

We also saw these photos hanging inside the Konigsberg Cathedral:

Irina said that for the most part, citizens of the new Kaliningrad chose to clean out the ruins rather than to rebuild the same structures, unlike the Poles. Understandable, I suppose--look forward, not back, start fresh, etc. However, there's such pride in how the Poles rebuilt their historic city centers; it touches my heart.

One structure that was rebuilt was the Konigsberg Cathedral, a gothic-style church built in the 14th century. The spire and roof were destroyed by two RAF bombing raids in August 1944.  Reconstruction didn't begin until 1992. Here is what it looked like in 1982:

Photo from Wikipedia

It looks wonderful today:

A detailed model of the pre-war Konigsberg Castle stands outside the rebuilt cathedral. Only the cathedral section of this structure still exists.

An inscription over the door in Russian reads: "Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again." (Job 10:9)

A pair of stone bears just inside the entrance were rescued from the city hall after it was destroyed during World War II.  They are the symbol of Kant Island.

Originally the seat of the Catholic church, after the Reformation in the 16th century it became a Lutheran church. After its reconstruction, it retained a Lutheran chapel and a Russian Orthodox chapel, but its primary use is as a museum and concert hall.

My favorite thing in the church is this series of stained glass windows depicting the life of Jesus Christ, beginning with his birth and the visit of the magi:

Teaching in the temple as a child and His baptism by John:

Peter walking on the sea and the Sermon on the Mount:

Raising the daughter of Jairus:

 The triumphal entry on Palm Sunday and the Garden on Gethsamane:

The crucifixion and the resurrection:

 This tableau above the baptismal font is interesting. The words across the lintel read "Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven."

This organ doesn't look like it was built in the 1990s, but it is part of the remodel.

There is a second, more modern-looking organ that is surrounded by microphones. A plaque nearby notes that the funds for the organ were made available to the city on the occasion of its 750th anniversary by President Vladimir Putin.

This tribute to the German composer Richard Wagner is evidence of Konigsberg's Prussian roots. The plaque reads "Lived and Worked in Konigsberg the great German composer Richard Wagner." 

Lots of Very Important People, but I have no idea who they are.

There are a number of statues outside the cathedral. I'm not sure who the guy on the left is, nor what that giant tool he is balancing in front of him is. The fellow on the right is Herzog Albrecht Grunder,  Never heard of him? Neither have I, but he had something to do with the University of Konigsberg.

This fellow, Julius Rupp (1809-1884), was a Prussian Protestant theologian who founded the first Free Protestant Congregation is Konigsberg. I think this monument is engraved with his words, "He who fails to live by the truth he believes is the most dangerous enemy of truth itself."

One of the major attractions on Kant Island is the grave of Immanuel Kant himself, for whom the island is named. The Prussian philosopher was born in Konigsberg and never left. He is Konigsberg's most famous citizen. When he died in 1804, he was buried inside the Konigsberg Cathedral. In 1880 a small chapel was built between the Cathedral and the Albertina University, where he taught, and his body was moved there. Eventually, a mausoleum replaced the little chapel.  One of Kant's fans was Vladimir Lenin, who thought of him as a forerunner to two of his other heroes, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. Some think that the cathedral would have been torn down if Kant's grave had not been here.

Well, we had spent far too much time at the Konigsberg Cathedral, according to our guide, and it was time to move on.  Where there were once buildings there is now a lovely park that we needed to traverse.  I got a kick out of this group doing tai chi.

The park is full of statues, but our guide insisted that they are random, meaningless pieces meant for decoration. Since coming home, I've discovered that the man on the left is Alexander Blok, a Russian poet. The man on the right is Maxim Gorky, a very important Russian/Soviet writer who was a five-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The bust on the left is the one statue our guide identified for us. It is Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968), the first human to journey into outer space in 1961 and a national hero in the Soviet Union. I don't know anything about the torso on the right or the woman below, but I'm sure they are more than "just decoration." There were at least a dozen more statues that we didn't walk by in our rush to get to the next place on the list.

 What we were rushing to see was this building, the old stock exchange which now functions as an art exhibition hall (and which we did not enter).

Maybe we should have been motoring around in this vehicle to save time.

We made our way to Irina's car, and she drove us through the Brandenburg Gate, which was built in the mid-19th century and is one of seven surviving city gates in Kaliningrad.

This is actually the only one of the seven existing gates that still functions as a gate. The other six have been remodeled and changed into buildings.

The other "exciting" place our guide wanted to take us was a walk along the dock that has various pieces of World War II armaments and naval ships on display. I would have so much preferred another half hour in the sculpture park.

This looks like it could be a model of an atom

Nearby, chemical and mathematical formulas are inscribed on squares on the sidewalk.

For example, this is the chemical equation for photosynthesis:

I don't know what this one is, but it looks like someone has been using it as a springboard for more calculations.

I have no idea what this one is:

I did like this line-up of anchors and the tiny two-story house:

A little further down the walk was a contrasting example of ugly Soviet architecture:

Irina drove us around the city to give us a feel for the different neighborhoods, which was interesting. We saw several more of the old city gates.

We passed a sleepy stream where a few people were fishing.

We passed the Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church, another place we would have loved to go inside, but there was definitely not time now.

The 2014 Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia, far from Kaliningrad, but the whole country shared in the glory.

We also stopped to see a large amber heart in front of the Holiday Inn. In case you're wondering, the white letters spell "Kaliningrad," and if you want your love to last forever . . . 

. . . you have to touch the heart together.

It's a MUCH better option than attaching a lock to a bridge.