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

Even in the late Middle Ages, the lands that settled between the Nemunas and the Vistula rivers were named 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 because of the redistribution between Poland and the Soviet Union.

History of the origin of possessions

Since the first mention of the Prussian lands has passed more than ten centuries. Initially, the people who inhabited these territories were divided into clans (tribes), which were separated by conditional boundaries.

The expanse of Prussian possessions covered the present Kaliningrad region, part of Poland and Lithuania. These included Sambia and Skalovia, Warmia and Pogesania, Pines and Kulma, Natangia and Barthia, Galindia and Sassen, Skalovia and Nadrovia, Mazovia and Sudovia.

Numerous conquests

The Prussian lands throughout their existence were constantly subjected to attempts to conquer by stronger and more aggressive neighbors. Thus, in the twelfth century, Teutonic knights-crusaders-came to these rich and inviting expanses. They built numerous fortresses and castles, for example Kulm, Reden, Thorne.

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

The seven-year 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, military actions also did not bypass these lands. Since 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 at all and was transformed into the Kaliningrad region.

The existence between wars

During the First World War, East Prussia suffered heavy losses. The map of 1939 already had changes, and the renewed province was in terrible condition. After all, it was the only territory of Germany that was absorbed in combat battles.

The signing of the Treaty of Versailles was costly for East Prussia. The winners decided to reduce its territory. Therefore, from 1920 to 1923, the city of Memel and the Memel district was managed by the League of Nations with the help of French troops. But after the January 1923 uprising, the situation changed. And already in 1924 these lands became autonomous regions of Lithuania.

In addition, East Prussia also lost the territory of Soldau (Dzyaldovo town).

In total, about 315,000 hectares of land were disconnected. And this is a considerable territory. As a result of such changes, the remaining province was in a difficult situation, accompanied by enormous economic difficulties.

The economic and political situation in the 20's and 30's.

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-Koenigsberg airline was opened, the German East Fair was resumed, and the Konigsberg city radio station began its work.

Nevertheless, the world economic crisis did not bypass these ancient lands. And in five years (1929-1933) only five hundred and thirteen different enterprises were bankrupt in Königsberg, and the unemployment rate rose to one hundred thousand people. In such a situation, taking advantage of the shaky and insecure position of the current government, the Nazi party took control in its own hands.

Redistribution of territory

Prior to 1945, a considerable number of changes were made to the geographic maps of East Prussia. The same happened in 1939 after the occupation of Poland by the troops of Hitlerite Germany. As a result of the new regionalization, part of the Polish lands and the Klaipeda (Memel) region of Lithuania were established in the province. And the cities of Elbing, Marienburg and Marienverder became part of the new district of West Prussia.

The Nazis launched grandiose plans for the redistribution of Europe. And the map of East Prussia, in their opinion, was to become the center of the economic space between the Baltic and Black Seas, subject to the annexation of the territories of the Soviet Union. However, these plans could not come true.

Postwar time

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

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

However, in the territory of Koenigsberg and in the surrounding areas lived and ordinary German citizens. They numbered about 140 thousand people.

In 1946 the city of Koenigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad, which resulted in the formation of the Kaliningrad region. And later the names of other settlements were changed. In connection with such changes, the pre-1945 map of East Prussia was also redesigned.

Eastern Prussian lands today

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

Today the Kaliningrad region takes the first place 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 towns and villages that have settled on them still preserve the memory of the past. The spirit of the great country that has disappeared is still felt in the present Kaliningrad region in the cities that were named Tapiau and Taplaken, Insterburg and Tilsit, Ragnit and Valdau.

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

Until now, quite well preserved kirkhs built in the fourteenth century (in the former cities of Heiligenwald and Arnau), as well as the sixteenth-century kirks in the territory of the former city of Tapiau. These magnificent buildings constantly remind people of the times of the Teutonic Order's prosperity.

Knight castles

The rich in amber reserves from the earliest times attracted German conquerors. In the thirteenth century, the Polish princes, together with the knights of the Teutonic Order, gradually seized these possessions and rebuilt numerous castles on them. The remains of some of them, being architectural monuments, and today make an indelible impression on contemporaries. The largest number of knight castles was erected in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Their place of construction served as captured Prussian naval and earthen fortresses. When building castles, traditions in the style of medieval Gothic architecture of the late Middle Ages were compulsorily maintained. In addition, all the buildings corresponded to a single plan for their erection. Today an unusual open-air museum is opened in the ancient castle of Insterburg .

Among the residents and guests of the Kaliningrad region is very popular is the village of Nizovye. There is a unique museum of local lore with the ancient cellars of the castle Waldau. Visiting it, we can say with confidence that the whole history of East Prussia, from the time of the oldest Prussians and ending with the era of Soviet settlers, sweeps before our eyes.