East Prussia: history and modernity. Map, borders, castles and cities, culture of East Prussia

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Earlier in the late Middle Ages, the lands located between the Neman and Vistula rivers got their name East Prussia. For all the time of its existence, this power has experienced various periods. This is the order time, and the Prussian duchy, and then the kingdom, and the province, as well as the post-war country until the renaming due to the redistribution between Poland and the Soviet Union.

History of possessions

More than ten centuries have passed since the first mention of the Prussian lands. Initially, the people who inhabited these territories were divided into clans (tribes), which were separated by conditional borders.

The expanses of Prussian possessions covered the now existing Kaliningrad region, part of Poland and Lithuania. These included Sambia and Skalovia, Warmia and Pogezania, Pomesania and Kulm land, Natangia and Bartia, Galindia and Sassen, Skalovia and Nadrovia, Mazovia and Sudovia.

Multiple conquests

Prussian lands throughout their existence were constantly subjected to attemptsgains from stronger and more aggressive neighbors. So, in the twelfth century, the Teutonic knights, the crusaders, came to these rich and alluring expanses. They built numerous fortresses and castles, such as Kulm, Reden, Thorn.

However, in 1410, after the famous Battle of Grunwald, the territory of the Prussians began to smoothly pass into the hands of Poland and Lithuania.

The Seven Years' War in the eighteenth century undermined the strength of the Prussian army and led to the fact that some eastern lands were conquered by the Russian Empire.

In the twentieth century, hostilities also did not bypass these lands. Starting in 1914, East Prussia was involved in the First World War, and in 1944 - in the Second World War.

And after the victory of the Soviet troops in 1945, it ceased to exist altogether and was transformed into the Kaliningrad region.

Existence between the wars

East Prussia suffered heavy losses during World War I. The 1939 map already had changes, and the updated province was in a terrible state. After all, it was the only territory of Germany that was swallowed up by military battles.

The signing of the Treaty of Versailles cost a lot for East Prussia. The winners decided to reduce its territory. Therefore, from 1920 to 1923, the League of Nations began to control the city of Memel and the Memel region with the help of French troops. But after the January uprising in 1923, the situation changed. And already in 1924year, these lands became part of Lithuania as an autonomous region.

In addition, East Prussia also lost the territory of Soldau (the city of Dzialdowo).

In total, about 315 thousand hectares of land were disconnected. And this is a large area. As a result of these changes, the remaining province is in a difficult situation, accompanied by huge economic difficulties.

Economic and political situation in the 20s and 30s

In the early twenties, after the normalization of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Germany, the standard of living of the population in East Prussia began to gradually improve. The Moscow-Kenigsberg airline was opened, the German Oriental Fair was resumed, and the Koenigsberg city radio station began work.

Nevertheless, the global economic crisis has not bypassed these ancient lands. And in five years (1929-1933), five hundred and thirteen different enterprises went bankrupt in Koenigsberg alone, and the unemployment rate increased to one hundred thousand people. In such a situation, taking advantage of the precarious and uncertain position of the current government, the Nazi Party took control into their own hands.

Redistribution of territory

In the geographical maps of East Prussia before 1945, a considerable number of changes were made. The same thing happened in 1939 after the occupation of Poland by the troops of Nazi Germany. As a result of the new zoning, part of the Polish lands and the Klaipeda (Memel) region of Lithuania were formed into a province. And the citiesElbing, Marienburg and Marienwerder became part of the new district of West Prussia.

The Nazis launched grandiose plans for the redivision of Europe. And the map of East Prussia, in their opinion, was to become the center of the economic space between the B altic and Black Seas, subject to the annexation of the territories of the Soviet Union. However, these plans failed to materialize.

Post-war times

As the Soviet troops arrived, East Prussia also gradually changed. Military commandant's offices were created, of which by April 1945 there were already thirty-six. Their tasks were to recount the German population, inventory and a gradual transition to civilian life.

In those years, thousands of German officers and soldiers were hiding throughout East Prussia, groups engaged in sabotage and sabotage were operating. In April 1945 alone, the military commandant's offices captured more than three thousand armed fascists.

However, ordinary German citizens also lived on the territory of Koenigsberg and in the surrounding areas. There were about 140 thousand people.

In 1946, the city of Koenigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad, resulting in the formation of the Kaliningrad region. And in the future, the names of other settlements were also changed. In connection with such changes, the existing 1945 map of East Prussia was also redone.

East Prussian lands today

Today, the Kaliningrad region is located on the former territory of the Prussians. East Prussia ceased to exist in 1945. And although the region is part of the Russian Federation, they are territorially separated. In addition to the administrative center - Kaliningrad (until 1946 it bore the name of Koenigsberg), such cities as Bagrationovsk, B altiysk, Gvardeysk, Yantarny, Sovetsk, Chernyakhovsk, Krasnoznamensk, Neman, Ozersk, Primorsk, Svetlogorsk are well developed. The region consists of seven city districts, two cities and twelve districts. The main peoples living in this territory are Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Armenians and Germans.

Today, the Kaliningrad region ranks first in the extraction of amber, storing about ninety percent of its world reserves in its bowels.

Interesting places of modern East Prussia

And although today the map of East Prussia has been changed beyond recognition, the lands with the cities and villages located on them still keep the memory of the past. The spirit of the disappeared great country is still felt in the present Kaliningrad region in the cities that bore the names Tapiau and Taplaken, Insterburg and Tilsit, Ragnit and Waldau.

Excursions held at the Georgenburg stud farm are popular with tourists. It existed as early as the beginning of the thirteenth century. The fortress of Georgenburg was a haven for German knights and crusaders, whose main business was horse breeding.

Churches built in the fourteenth century (in the former cities of Heiligenwalde and Arnau), as well as churchessixteenth century on the territory of the former city of Tapiau. These majestic buildings constantly remind people of the old days of prosperity of the Teutonic Order.

Knight's Castles

The land rich in amber reserves has attracted German conquerors since ancient times. In the thirteenth century, the Polish princes, together with the knights of the Teutonic Order, gradually seized these possessions and built numerous castles on them. The remains of some of them, being architectural monuments, still make an indelible impression on contemporaries today. The largest number of knightly castles were built in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Their place of construction was the captured Prussian rampart-earthen fortresses. When building castles, the traditions in the style of the order's Gothic architecture of the late Middle Ages were necessarily observed. In addition, all buildings corresponded to a single plan for their construction. Today, an unusual open-air museum has been opened in the ancient castle of Insterburg.

Nizovye village is very popular among residents and guests of the Kaliningrad region. It houses a unique local history museum with ancient cellars of the Waldau castle. Having visited it, one can say with confidence that the whole history of East Prussia flashes before one's eyes, starting from the time of the ancient Prussians and ending with the era of Soviet settlers.