Königsberg in Prussia, Königsberg (Pr) (1936–1945)

Kaliningrad (Калинингра́д)

Lithuanian: Karaliaučius (Kaliningrad), Polish: Królewiec

The city of Königsberg was named in honour of the Bohemian King Ottokar II of the Přemyslid dynasty (c. 1332–1278). Following the death of the long-serving (1922–1946) Chairman of the Presidential Board of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (1875–1946), it was renamed Kaliningrad (literally ‘Kalinin City’) in 1946.

Kaliningrad (54° 44′ North, 20° 29′ East) is the westernmost major city in the Russian Federation and lies on the River Pregel (Russian: Pregolja), which flows through it in two branches, not far from its mouth at the Vistula Lagoon (Kaliningradskij zaliv). To the north and west, the city borders the Samland Peninsula (Kaliningradskij poluostrov [ literally: Kaliningrad Peninsula]) on the Baltic Sea, and to the east and south, the Pregel Lowlands.

Kaliningrad is part of the Kaliningrad Oblast (Kaliningradskaya oblast’), the North-West Federal District (Severo-zapadny federalny okrug) and an exclave of the Russian Federation. It is divided into three urban districts (raions): Leningrad, Moscow and Central Raion.

Evidence of settlement in what would later become the town’s area dates back to the Neolithic period, as demonstrated by finds associated with the Comb Ceramic culture. Archaeological evidence has confirmed the existence of a Prussian refuge fortress, an anchorage and a fishing village.

During the term of office of Grand Master Friedrich of Saxony (1473–1510), the secularisation of the Order’s remaining territories began in 1498. The last Grand Master in Prussia, Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1490–1568), elected in 1511, led the country towards the Reformation from 1523 onwards. Albrecht had maintained a lavish court in Königsberg and, in a manner unbecoming of a clerical lord, organised tournaments; his ill-fated cavalry campaign (1519–1521) against Poland–Lithuania had ruined the finances of the Order’s territories and Königsberg. The Grand Master laid down his Order’s mantle in 1525 and became a Polish vassal. Under the Treaty of Kraków (8 April 1525), the former Order’s territory became, in terms of constitutional law, a hereditary duchy of Albrecht under Polish suzerainty.

The 16th century was a period of prosperity in Königsberg (the establishment of the stock exchange towards the end of the 16th century, the expansion of trade), which was reflected in particular in a flourishing festival culture, brisk building activity in the city and the conversion of the Teutonic Order’s castle into a princely palace. The economic boom can be attributed, amongst other things, to the fact that the city was spared the ravages of the Thirty Years’ War; furthermore, the Albertus University (Albertina), founded in 1544, grew and came to play a major role in the city’s life.

However, religious conflicts and the plague years of 1620, 1629, 1639 and 1653, which claimed many lives, also shaped life in Königsberg. In the years 1626–1627, a rampart fortification was built around the city; the completion of which by 1634 – a joint endeavour of all three towns – fortified the whole of Königsberg. During the Swedish War (1630–1635), Königsberg attempted in vain to gain independence from Brandenburg-Prussia.

Prussia remained a Polish fief until the Great Elector Frederick William (1620–1688) secured full sovereignty in the Treaties of Labiau/Polessk (1656), Wehlau/Snamensk and Bromberg/Bydgoszcz (1657) as well as Oliva/Oliwa (1660), and this was done entirely against the will of the people of Königsberg. The establishment of an absolutist Prussian rule, in opposition to the remnants of medieval municipal autonomy, was achieved at the latest when the Elector violently suppressed the so-called Königsberg Uprising (1656–1663) led by Hieronymus Roth (1606–1678). The Elector won public favour when he repelled the Swedish invasion in 1678/1679. From 1663 onwards, the influence of the city administration declined significantly in favour of that of the sovereign: the provincial authorities were concentrated in the palace, and the sovereign’s rule increasingly interfered with the city and its flourishing trade.

After Prussia had been defeated by Napoleon in the Coalition Wars, Marshal Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult (1789–1851) entered Königsberg on 16 June 1806, followed by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821). The occupation ended after 39 days, during which Königsberg was considerably weakened by contributions and the Continental Blockade. From 1808 to 1809, the royal family lived in Königsberg. The city became the centre of the Prussian Reforms, which fundamentally modernised the defeated state in terms of society and administration. The royal reform commissions worked in the palace. The Prussian Municipal Code of 1808 abolished class distinctions, granted the right to vote to all male citizens on the basis of a property qualification, and separated the legislative and executive branches.

In 1811, a severe fire ravaged the city. The damage, amounting to 13 million talers, was barely covered by the fire insurance. In 1812, the emancipation of the Jews was enshrined in law. In the same year, the French once again levied substantial contributions for the Russian campaign. When, in 1813, King Frederick William III (1770–1840) called upon the citizens of Prussia to fight against Napoleon Bonaparte in his ‘Appeal to My People’ in Breslau/Wrocław, Governor-General Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg (1759–1830) called for the mobilisation of the Landwehr at the House of the East Prussian Provincial Assembly in Königsberg, thereby contributing to the organised struggle for liberation against Napoleon.

During the Vormärz period, Königsberg was a hotbed of political liberalism. The Provincial Assembly’s demand of 5 September 1840 for a general provincial representation fell on deaf ears with King Frederick William IV (1795–1861) – and so unrest continued to simmer in Königsberg at gatherings where speeches were delivered. The leading figures were Jakob Friedrich Alexander Jung (1799–1884), Johann Jacoby (1805–1877), Ferdinand Falkson (1820–1900) and Ferdinand Gregorovius (1821–1891). In 1848, a peaceful revolution took place in Prussia in favour of democracy and a constitution. Eduard von Simson (1810–1899) was elected to the German National Assembly, whilst Theodor von Schön (1773–1856) and Raphael Kosch (1803–1872) were elected to the Prussian National Assembly. The revolution resulted in a constitutional monarchy. The revolution was followed by an era of reaction; the surveillance of politically liberal figures and the efforts to ward off further revolutionary tendencies characterised city life, leading to political stagnation.

Königsberg and East Prussia, situated in a vulnerable position vis-à-vis Russia, were already under threat at the outbreak of the World War, when the Tsarist army invaded the eastern province; however, it was decisively defeated at the Battle of Tannenberg (1914). Like other German cities, the city suffered from shortages of food and raw materials when the Revolution triumphed without bloodshed in 1918. Power was taken over by the People’s Navy Division, but it was lost again to the Reichswehr as early as 4 March 1919. As a result of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which granted Poland access to the sea via Pomerellia (the so-called ‘Polish Corridor’), East Prussia was cut off from the German Empire, a situation which further exacerbated the already severe economic problems of the predominantly agrarian region – despite not inconsiderable assistance from the Reich. The new mayor, Hans Lohmeyer (1881–1968), shaped the town’s political history during his term of office from 1919 to 1933; his deputy from 1920 onwards was Carl Goerdeler (1884–1945), who later played a key role in the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944. The dismantling of the fortress gave rise to Königsberg’s extensive green belt.

During the Nazi era, Königsberg was the seat of the Gau leadership for East Prussia under Gauleiter Erich Koch (1896–1984), who later served as Reich Commissioner in Ukraine and was convicted as a war criminal. The city’s leadership was filled with members of the NSDAP, whilst political opponents were removed. Lord Mayor Lohmeyer was initially suspended and then retired; he was succeeded by Hellmuth Will (1900–1982), who remained in office until 1945. In 1934, 1938 and 1939, the city was significantly enlarged through the incorporation of neighbouring areas.

Following the ‘seizure of power’, the town experienced anti-Semitic terror and denunciations directed against the approximately 3,500 Jews, whose numbers had more than halved by 1939. During the so-called ‘Reichskristallnacht’, the Old and New Synagogues were destroyed by fire. On 24 June 1942, the first deportation of 465 Jews from Königsberg took place; they were transported to the Maly Trostenez extermination camp near Minsk, where they were murdered.

In 1946, Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad and the city became a restricted military zone, with the ice-free port of Pillau/Baltijsk serving as the main base for the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Under the Potsdam Agreement, northern East Prussia was placed under Soviet administration. Citing the much-touted ‘proto-Slavic soil’ and arguing that Russia had no ice-free Baltic Sea ports, the USSR annexed the northern part of East Prussia. Königsberg became a Soviet model city built using prefabricated concrete blocks.

The three medieval towns and what later became Königsberg were shaped by trade. In the Middle Ages, the merchants lived in the Kneiphof; for fire safety reasons, their warehouses were located in a separate quarter known as the Lastadie. Tradesmen’s guilds provided an organisational framework for merchants and craftsmen. The Old Town had been a member of the Hanseatic League since 1340 and sent delegates to the Hanseatic Assemblies until 1579. Königsberg was also the seat of one of the two ‘Großschäffer’ (a kind of senior trade representative) of the German Order and thus part of a trade network that extended far beyond Prussia; through this network, the Order, as a monopolist, profitably exported amber, copper, wax and furs. The merchants of Königsberg were in competition with the Order in this regard; they traded primarily in grain and timber.

The reign of Frederick the Great (from 1740) marked Königsberg’s first economic heyday. The city’s harbour was the largest in the Prussian monarchy and, around 1783–1784, remained a major centre of maritime trade with substantial turnover. In 1801, the newly built stock exchange was inaugurated. By 1848, shipowners based in Königsberg had a fleet of 38 merchant ships.

In the wake of industrialisation, Königsberg’s economy experienced a significant upswing from the mid-19th century onwards. Of great importance was the Union Foundry, which soon began manufacturing machinery and, later, ships and locomotives. Industrialisation increasingly spread to other sectors of the economy, such as distilleries and mills. With the railway link to Russia, Königsberg became the largest German grain port, handling Polish and Russian agricultural produce. The city was also a major trading centre for tea. Shipping companies flourished, such as Meyhöfer and Kleyenstüber. In 1864, a major economic congress was held in Königsberg for the first time: the 24th Assembly of German Farmers and Foresters. Following the cession of East Prussia under the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the harbour was developed into a deep-sea port. The German East Prussian Trade Fair in Königsberg (from 1920) was the second-largest trade fair in the German Empire. By establishing commercial enterprises and the municipal bank, the city was able to sustain itself economically (‘the Königsberg System’). The port was expanded by 1930, and an airport was built on the Devauer Feld from 1922 onwards.

Until 1945, Königsberg was the industrial centre of East Prussia, with iron foundries and numerous factories (particularly in the pulp industry). During the Second World War, the Schichau shipyard also worked on the war effort, utilising forced labour.

Today, the chemical industry, mechanical engineering, shipyards and the fishing fleet are significant sectors.

Population trends^[3]

Alongside Germans, there had been Lithuanian, Prussian and Polish communities since the Middle Ages, although the Prussian groups had been assimilated by the 18th century. Polish and Lithuanian groups are only statistically verifiable from the 1920s onwards, when they numbered around 900 and 700 people respectively.^[4] The inhabitants spoke the Middle High German dialect. In modern times, the population became more diverse as a result of English, Dutch and Scottish immigration. Around 1700, the three towns of Königsberg combined were twice the size of the capital, Berlin. Ethnically, the population today (2014) consists of Russians (87.4 per cent), Ukrainians (4 per cent), Belarusians (3.8 per cent), Armenians (0.7 per cent), Tatars (0.5 per cent), Lithuanians (0.5 per cent), Germans (0.4 per cent), Poles (0.3 per cent) and others (2.4 per cent).^[5]

The town, which emerged in the wake of the Crusades and the so-called German eastward settlement, was the seat of the Catholic cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Samland. By 1525, Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach had introduced the Reformation. Johannes Brismann (1488–1549), a colleague of Martin Luther (1483–1546), preached at Königsberg Cathedral and became an adviser to the bishop, as did Johannes Poliander (1487–1541). Paul Speratus (1484–1551), who later became a hymn writer and Bishop of Pomesania, was appointed court chaplain in Königsberg. In 1524, a monastery in Königsberg was stormed.

Under Joachim Friedrich (1546–1608), a Catholic church was once again built in Löbenicht at the request of the Poles. In addition, a Jesuit mission (removed in 1780) was established, which founded a school. The dispute between the Lutherans and followers of other Protestant reformers continued to play a major role in everyday life and at the Albertina for a long time to come. Five new Lutheran churches were built in the first half of the 17th century.

Despite the presence of Catholic, Jewish and Mennonite minorities, Königsberg remained predominantly Lutheran. Around 1925, approximately 92 per cent of Königsberg’s inhabitants belonged to the Evangelical United Church, 5 per cent were Catholics, 1.45 per cent were Jews and 0.1 per cent were Mennonites.^[6] There were no Jews in Königsberg during the Middle Ages; they are thought to have arrived only from 1680 onwards.^[7] The Jewish community was one of the largest in the German Empire.^[8] Jewish life was eradicated from Königsberg during the Nazi era.

Today, the majority of residents are Russian Orthodox. Königsberg is the cathedral seat of the Diocese of Kaliningrad and Baltijsk. Around 1,000 Russian-Germans have rejoined 38 Protestant congregations in the city and the surrounding area.^[9] The German-Russian House (Nemecko-russkij dom) in Kaliningrad, which reopened in 2017, makes an important contribution to intercultural dialogue as a meeting place for Russian-Germans and the Russian majority population.^[10]

The oldest school in Königsberg was the Cathedral School, which was probably established shortly after 1296. The Old Town Council founded a parish school in 1337, and Löbenicht’s School is mentioned in 1441. In the wake of the Reformation, the three municipal schools became Latin schools under the supervision of the Protestant clergy. In addition, every town continued to have a German school, as well as church schools and village schools. Under King Frederick William I, the school system was reformed in 1730. In 1753, there were eleven schools for the poor; in addition, there were regimental schools. The Humboldt reforms led to the establishment of humanistic grammar schools; the first in Prussia was the Friedrichskolleg in Königsberg. The three Latin schools became municipal institutions, and elementary schools were established in 1867. In 1914, the city had the Altstädtisches and Kneiphöfisches Gymnasium, the Friedrichskolleg, the Wilhelmgymnasium, the Hufengymnasium, the Realgymnasium, as well as four Realschulen and Oberrealschulen.

Until around the end of the 19th century, the guilds, which had their origins in the Middle Ages, were important social organisations. A vibrant club and society scene (including political, commercial, choral, trade, gymnastics and shooting clubs) also developed in Königsberg.

In the Middle Ages, sacred music was cultivated in the churches, monasteries and schools of Königsberg. Grand Master Friedrich von Sachsen had already established a court orchestra. During the ducal period, the choir and orchestra were part of the princely court for ceremonial purposes, in the spirit of the Renaissance and the Reformation – causes to which Albrecht was as committed as he was to organ playing. Under Georg Friedrich (reigned 1577–1603), a Franconian court orchestra came to Königsberg, and Theodor Riccio (1540–1600) composed in the Italian style, whilst Johannes Eccard (1553–1611) wrote pieces in the style of the Dutch school. The most significant musicians of the 17th century were Johann Stobäus (1580–1646) and Heinrich Albert (1604–1651). Under Frederick William I (reigned 1713–1740), church and organ music flourished. Around 1790, operas and Singspiele were regularly staged in Pregelstadt. The concerts organised by the music director Friedrich August Riel (1774–1845), tutor to Queen Luise (1776–1810), represented a high point in cultural life. Joseph von Eichendorff (1788–1857) also made his mark in Königsberg with his Romantic repertoire. In the 19th century, choral societies, public concerts and music festivals flourished. The operatic music of Richard Wagner (1813–1883, who worked at the Königsberg City Theatre in 1836/37) met with a mixed reception in the city. Louis Köhler (1820–1886) was Königsberg’s leading music critic and was also active as a musician. In the 20th century, Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886–1954), Hans Knappertsbusch (1888–1965) and Karl Böhm (1894–1981) were guest conductors in Königsberg. The opera house – originally built in 1806 as the city’s first municipal theatre, reopened in 1918 as a dedicated opera house and merged with the Neues Schauspielhaus in 1924 to form the East Prussian State Theatre – was, under the direction of Hans Schüler (1897–1963) from 1928 to 1932, it was Germany’s most avant-garde opera house.

Following the conversion of the old Komische Oper into the Neues Schauspielhaus (1927), artists such as Paul Wegener (1874–1948), Emil Jannings (1884–1950) and Agnes Straub (1890–1941) performed here; it developed into one of Germany’s most modern theatres.

The German Order, the cathedral chapter and the clergy of the three towns acquired mainly religious literature, the extent of which we know only in fragments. With the Reformation, the written word experienced a renewed appreciation, enabling Albrecht to lay the foundations for the ‘bibliotheca nova’, which later became the Royal Library and, in 1919, the State Library. The book trade, printing and publishing (e.g. Gräfe und Unzer, from 1722) also experienced an upswing from this time onwards. Notable newspapers included the Königsberger Hartungsche Zeitung, the Ostpreußische Zeitung, the Ostpreußische Woche (formerly the Königsberger Woche), the Königsberger Allgemeine Zeitung, the Königsberger Anzeiger and the Königsberger Volkszeitung. Today, the Königsberger Express is the city’s most important German-language newspaper.

Notable for the 17th century is the Baroque Königsberg circle of poets (known as the ‘Kürbishütte’) centred on Simon Dach (1605–1659), Robert Roberthin (1600–1648) and Johann Peter Titz (1619–1689). Key figures of the High Baroque period were Christian Donatus (1622–1679) and Michael Kongehl (1646–1710). Under Frederick William I, religious poetry—such as the Pietist verse of Johann Valentin Pietsch (1690–1726)—was significant. Alongside Kant and Herder, numerous writers of the Enlightenment and Romanticism are represented – Johann Georg Hamann (1730–1788), Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder (1741–1796), Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752–1814), Zacharias Werner (1768–1823) and Ernst Theodor Amadeus (E. T. A.) Hoffmann (1776–1822) – represent the so-called ‘Königsberg Century’ (1701–1806). During the Vormärz period, Cäsar von Lengerke (1803–1855) was active as a poet. Ernst Wichert (1831–1902) and Felix Dahn (1834–1912) shaped literary life in the second half of the 19th century, as did, in their own time, Agnes Miegel (1879–1964), Walter Heymann (1882–1915) and Ernst Wiechert (1887–1950), who belonged to a later generation. Also well-known both in the city and beyond were the now largely forgotten authors Gutti Alsen (1869–1929) and Katarina Botsky (1880–1945), who are both largely forgotten today; they both lived in Königsberg and are considered part of the literary modernist movement. The Goethebund, led by Ludwig Goldstein (1867–1943), brought together writers who linked Königsberg to the Reich through literature, for example by organising readings by prominent poets. After the end of the German city, quite a few titles were published, such as Hans Graf von Lehndorff’s (1910–1987) *Ostpreußisches Tagebuch* (*East Prussian Diary *) or Max Fürst’s (1905–1978) *Gefilte Fisch*, which can be classified as memoir literature.

Following the forced resettlement of the last Germans from Königsberg, the displaced persons and refugees in their new homeland – particularly within the associations for displaced persons – kept the memory of the formerly German city of Königsberg alive; the Museum Stadt Königsberg in Duisburg continues to preserve the heritage of the people of Königsberg to this day.^[11] The parts of the Königsberg archives that were rescued and brought to Germany are held at the Secret State Archive of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991), German-Russian relations eased, and, with official support, the inhabitants of Kaliningrad increasingly began to engage with their city’s almost 700-year-old German history.

Following selectively ideological perceptions and portrayals of the province of East Prussia as a ‘bulwark of Protestantism’^[12] or as a ‘bulwark against Slavic culture’^[13] in German urban and regional historiography, historians have increasingly introduced more nuanced assessments and interpretations.^[14] The war crimes committed by the Red Army and the disenfranchisement of the remaining Germans remain controversial topics, as assessments continue to be shaped by political or national perspectives.^[15]

• Robert Albinus: Königsberg Encyclopaedia. The City and Its Surroundings … for all those who love Königsberg. Würzburg 2002.
• Michael Antoni (ed.): Dehio Handbook of Artistic Monuments. West and East Prussia. The former provinces of West and East Prussia (Prussia of the Teutonic Order) including the Bütow and Lauenburg regions. Munich, Berlin 1993, pp. 301–320.
• Hartmut Boockmann: East Prussia and West Prussia. Berlin 1992 (German History in Eastern Europe).
• Per Brodersen: The City in the West. How Königsberg Became Kaliningrad. Göttingen 2008.
• Bernhard Fisch, Marina Klemeševa: On the Fate of the Germans in Königsberg 1945–1948 (in the light of previously unknown Russian sources). In: Journal of East Central European Studies 44 (1995), pp. 391–400.
• Kurt Forstreuter: The Prussian State Archives in Königsberg. A historical review with an overview of its holdings. Göttingen 1955 (Publications of the Lower Saxony Archives Administration 3).
• Klaus Garber: Old Königsberg. A memoir of a lost city. Weimar et al. 2008.
• Fritz Gause: The History of the City of Königsberg in Prussia. 3 vols. Cologne et al. 1965–1971.
• Fritz Gause: Königsberg. In: Erich Weise (ed.): Handbook of Historical Sites. East and West Prussia. Stuttgart 1981 (Kröners Taschenausgabe 317), pp. 100–107.
• Gerhard von Glinski, Peter Wörster: Königsberg. The East Prussian Capital in History and the Present. Bad Münstereifel, Bonn, Berlin 1990 (East German City Scenes 6).
• Walther Hubatsch: Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and Duke of Prussia 1490–1568. Heidelberg 1960 (Studies in the History of Prussia 8).
• Walther Hubatsch (ed.): History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia. 3 vols. Göttingen 1968. (In particular vol. 2, pp. 45–53; Vol. 3, pp. 199–203, 236–254, 324–327, 532–536, 548–552).
• Bernhart Jähnig (ed.): 750 Years of Königsberg. Essays on the History of a Temporary Capital. Marburg 2008 (Proceedings of the Historical Commission for East and West Prussian Regional Research 23).
• Ruth Kibelka: The German Population between Assimilation and Expulsion North and South of the Memel (1945–1948). Berlin 1997.
• Erwin Kroll: Königsberg: City of Music. Freiburg im Breisgau 1966.
• Hugo Linck: Königsberg 1945–1948. 5th ed. Leer 1987.
• Jürgen Manthey: Königsberg. History of a Cosmopolitan Republic. Munich 2005.
• Hans Mendthal (ed.): Documentary Collection of the City of Königsberg in Prussia, Vol. 1 (1256–1400). Königsberg 1910.
• Stefanie Schüler-Springorum: The Jewish Minority in Königsberg/Prussia 1871–1945. Göttingen 1996 (Publications of the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities 56).
• Werner Stark: Kant in Königsberg. In: Heike Müns, Matthias Weber (eds.): ‘A Thirst for Knowledge …’ Research on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe. Two Decades of the Immanuel Kant Scholarship. Munich 2007 (Publications of the Federal Institute for the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe 29), pp. 11–36.
• Christian Tilitzki: The Albertus University of Königsberg. Its History from the Founding of the German Empire to the Demise of the Province of East Prussia (1871–1945). Vol. 1: 1871–1918. Osnabrück 2012.
• Wulf D. Wagner, Heinrich Lange: Königsberg Castle. A History of Architecture and Culture. Regensburg 2011.
• Axel E. Walter (ed.): The History of Books and Libraries in Königsberg. Cologne et al. 2004 (From the Archives, Libraries and Museums of Central and Eastern Europe 1).

• Ernst Wermke (ed.): Bibliography of the History of East and West Prussia up to 1929, with a supplement from 1962; 1930–1938; 1937–1970; 1971–1974. Aalen, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Marburg 1962–1978.
• Preußenland. Yearbook of the Historical Commission for East and West Prussian Regional Research and the Copernicus Association for the History and Regional Studies of West Prussia; Communications from the Secret State Archives of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (1963 onwards).

• www.hiko-owp.eu/ (Historical Commission for Research into East and West Prussia)
• www.stadtgemeinschaft-koenigsberg.de/ (Association of Former Residents of Königsberg)
• www.museumkoenigsberg.de/ (Königsberg City Museum in Duisburg)
• www.klgd.ru/ (City Representative Office of Kaliningrad)
• gsta.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/recherche/literatur-zu-den-bestaenden/xx-ha-historisches-staatsarchiv-koenigsberg/ (Archival holdings relating to Königsberg)
• www.herder-institut.de/bildkatalog/wikidata/Q1829 (Images relating to Königsberg/Kaliningrad in the image archive of the Herder Institute, Marburg)

[1] Gause: History of the City of Königsberg, Vol. 3, pp. 172–174.

[2] The figures cited, for example, in Linck: Königsberg 1945–1948, p. 75; lower figures in Fisch, Klemeševa: On the Fate of the Germans, pp. 399–400. On the issues surrounding the figures: Kibelka: The German Population, pp. 220ff.

[3] Data according to Gause: *History of the City of Königsberg*, Vol. 1, pp. 119 and 560 (for 1450 and the 17th century); Ibid.: *History of the City of Königsberg*, Vol. 2, pp. 148, 293 and 761 (1755, 1797/98, 1914); Ibid.: *History of the City of Königsberg*, Vol. 3, pp. 104 and 172 (1925, 9 April 1945); Boockmann: East Prussia and West Prussia, p. 369 (1850, 1867, 1900); Antoni (ed.): Dehio Handbook, p. 302 (1937, 1993); Results of the 1956 census: istmat.info/files/uploads/17165/narhoz_sssr_1956_svodnyy.pdf (accessed 30 January 2015). The data for 2014 have been calculated from registration records: www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2013/bul_dr/mun_obr2013.rar (accessed 30 January 2015); cf. von Glinski, Wörster: Königsberg, p. 140.

[4] Gause: History of the City of Königsberg, Vol. 3, p. 103.

[5] 2010 Census: kaliningrad.gks.ru/population (accessed 15 April 2015).

[6] Gause: History of the City of Königsberg, Vol. 3, p. 104.

[7] Gause: History of the City of Königsberg, Vol. 1, p. 502.

[8] Schüler-Springorum: The Jewish Minority in Königsberg/Prussia, pp. 43–46, p. 367.

[9] www.propstei-klg.com/unsere-kirche (accessed 15 April 2015).

[10] mdz-moskau.eu/kaliningrad-neues-haus-fur-russlanddeutsche/ (accessed 21 February 2022).

[11] By way of example, reference is made to Michael Wieck’s memoir, first published in 1989: *Testimony to the Downfall of Königsberg. A ‘Prominent Jew’ Reports* (paperback edition, Munich 2005).

[12] Paul Genrich, Professor of Theology at the Albertina, quoted in Tilitzki: *The Albertus University of Königsberg*, p. 442.

[13] Hans Rothfels: ‘The Albertina as a Borderland University’. In: Ibid.: ‘The Eastern Territories, Prussian Identity and the Idea of the Reich’. Historical Treatises, Lectures and Speeches. Leipzig 1935, pp. 129–145, here pp. 129f. For further reading on this: Robert Traba: East Prussia – The Construction of a German Province. A Study of Regional and National Identity. 1914–1933. Osnabrück 2010 (Klio in Poland 12).

[14] See ‘5. Bibliographical Notes’ on this.

[15] The German perspective, focusing on the victims, is emphasised, for example, by: Hubertus Knabe: Day of Liberation? The End of the War in East Germany. Berlin 2005. See the Russian perspective in Peter Jahn (ed.): Triumph and Trauma. Soviet and Post-Soviet Memories of the War 1941–1945. Berlin 2005, pp. 48–51; see also Jutta Scherrer: Soviet Union/Russia. The Myth of Victory versus Coming to Terms with the Past. In: Monika Flacke (ed.): Myths of Nations. 1945 – Arena of Memories. Vol. 2. Berlin 2004, pp. 619–670.

Marcus Wüst: Königsberg/Kaliningrad. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2015. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32293 (as at 21 February 2022).