Back To The Future
Kaliningrad 1910
Kaliningrad 1969
Kaliningrad 2010
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.
[...] Copydude reports on the plans to rebuild Kaliningrad’s old Prussian castle, which was “firebombed by the RAF in 1944″ and “then levelled in 1969 to build the ill-conceived ‘House Of Soviets‘.” Veronica Khokhlova [...]
it’s interesting how the world changes. at first russians wanted to demolish all german heritage and now they want to rebuild it. too bad russian intellectuals didn’t succeed in preserving the ruins of the castle prior to its demolishing.
It is very interesting - but Kaliningrad is a special case. There was much local debate when the Cathedral was restored. I am going to write about this in the next post.
[...] Back To The Future [...]
Hi Dude,
great post and really interesting piece about this castle. Do you have pictures of the current House of Soviets to compare? Not that I am a fan of Sovietic architecture, but it would help understanding the topic.
Hi Logrus - You’re supposed to click on the link to the ‘House Of Soviets’ - it will bring up the picture from Wikipedia
[...] Back To The Future [...]
For the sake of culture and humanity Kaliningrad needs to rebuild what it can of the old town. If the city is to compete in the future with attracting investment and tourists then it must rebuild.
good share , this is a nice blog and a werry talented poster!