Russian Kaliningrad is a city with an interesting history. Until 1946, it was called Koenigsberg and was one of the most important cultural and educational centers in Germany.
Unfortunately, during the battles of World War II, many of the architectural sights of the city were irretrievably lost. However, even the little that has been preserved is of great interest to lovers of antiquity.
The most interesting tourist sites in Kaliningrad include the Friedland Gate. For several decades, the museum has been operating in this building, which is dedicated to the pre-war history of the city.
Konigsberg Gate
The first gate in the city was built in the XIII century. After 4 centuries, work was carried out on the construction of the First shaft strengthening. It included 8 gates. Since all of these structures were wooden, after 200 years they were dilapidated, and the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm the Fourth, decided to build the Second Wall Fortification. Architect Ernst Ludwig von Aster, who decided to create a complex of buildings in the style of the English neo-Gothic, was appointed the head of the work. The first gates built by him were the Royal, the laying of which took place in 1843, and 10 years later the city was decorated with six more similar structures: Zakheim, Rossgarten, Steindamm, Trahheim, Ausfal and Hollanderbaum. The final point of construction, which dragged on for almost 19 years, was the construction of 2 new double-arch gates: the Friedland and Brandenburg. The first of them got their name in memory of an older structure. It was located on the road connecting Koenigsberg and the city of Friedland, which is now called Pravdinsky. Through them, carts with food came from villages located southeast of modern Kaliningrad.
Friedland Gate: the history of construction in the twentieth century
The second rampart fortification performed defensive functions for a very short time. By the beginning of the twentieth century, it became clear that they were not able to protect the city from new types of weapons that had appeared since their construction. In 1910, the Tragheim, Steindamm and Hollanderbaum gates were excluded from the system of military fortifications. Three more of these structures lost earthen ramparts, advanced fortifications and casemates. Only the Rossgarten and Friedland gates were left without reconstruction. However, the roads were detour. At the same time, the buildings had a new function: they turned into a pedestrian exit frame into a luxurious landscape Zuyd Park.
In the Soviet period of the history of Kaliningrad, gate openings were laid, and building warehouses were located in them. In the early 1990s, when cleaning the serf water ditches in the park, they found a large number of household items from the beginning of the 20th century. An exhibition of finds was opened at the address: Dzerzhinsky Street, 30 for their presentation to residents and tourists. In addition, during these years the gates and landscape Zyuid Park became part of an excursion program for groups of Germans coming to their historical homeland.
Description of the facility
Like the other gates of Koenigsberg, the Friedlands were built in the neo-Gothic style, which repeats the features characteristic of the English architecture of the Tudors. The author of the project is unknown, but researchers believe that most likely they are Friedrich Stüler.
From the side of the old city, the facade of the Friedland Gate is divided into 6 parts by five buttresses. They end with gabled gable decorative turrets and protrude above the decorative parapet with battlements. All driveways, doors and windows are decorated with portals and are made in the form of lancet arches.
The Friedland Gate in the central part has two passages with a width of 4.39 m and a height of 4.24 m. Casemates are located along the edges of the structure, and a guard guard is located on the outside. The surface of the facade of the gate is decorated with a mesh. It is a rhombic ornament of bricks of a different color.
Sculptures on the facade
The Friedland Gate (Kaliningrad) was decorated with a statue of Friedrich von Zollern, who was one of the most famous Grand Komtur of the Teutonic Order. Unfortunately, the original was lost during the fighting during World War II. Another sculpture of the knight - Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, the Grand Master who founded the Middle Castle in Marienburg - is located on the outside of the gate. Its author is the sculptor Wilhelm Ludwig Stürmer. In 2005 and 2008, work was carried out to restore these monuments and today they, as before, take their places and are one of the most frequently photographed objects in Kaliningrad.
Friedland Gate Museum
This cultural institution owes its appearance to two enthusiasts - Alexander Georgievich Novik and Avetisyants Ella Petrovna. They managed to turn a small exhibition into a modern museum, where active cultural and educational work is being carried out.
In 2007, he was recognized as one of the 3 best implemented projects of 2007-2008. In addition, the institution was recognized as the winner of the All-Russian competition of museums in the technical category.
Exposition
The first exposition is called “Fortress City”. Visitors are invited to take a short excursion through the pages of the history of Koenigsberg by watching a 6-minute film and exploring information stands. Then they are invited to a large hall, which houses the second part of the exposition, and a virtual walk through the pre-war city is held. It begins with a real cobblestone road, which has been preserved inside the gate, turning into a virtual one, created by projecting onto paved openings. Three projectors create an optical illusion, pushing the boundaries of the real world and “removing” the walls. Sound effects add even more authenticity to what is happening: carts creak, children laugh and women heels clatter. To these sounds, the excursionists are transported to Koenigsberg at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, nicknamed the garden city and “German Atlantis”.
Virtual walk
A light and sound show lasts exactly an hour. During this time, the participants of the excursion pass through the historical center of Koenigsberg, from which, unfortunately, nothing remained in real life. There they “look” into the windows of cafes, shops and pharmacies, and also witness the divorce of the bridge across Old Pergola. At the end of the virtual trip, tourists find themselves in a real park, which was laid out at the beginning of the twentieth century on the site of former fortifications, and enjoy the beauties of nature in the Kaliningrad region.
Exposition "Echo of War"
At the Friedland Gate Museum, visitors can experience the thrill of being in a room stylized as a bomb shelter during World War II. There is an audio-visual exposition “Echo of War”. It has a modern approach and the active use of light, sound and optical effects through the use of the latest technical means.
Knight's Hall
As already mentioned, the Friedland Gate (address: Dzerzhinsky, 30) was decorated with the symbols of the Teutonic Order. In addition, statues of his prominent representatives were installed on them. Therefore, it is no coincidence that today the museum has an exposition dedicated to the knights of the Teutonic Order, which presents the reconstruction of weapons and armor made using old technologies.
Civilization and Sewerage
At one time, the Prussian city of Koenigsberg was considered one of the most comfortable cities in Germany and the Baltic region. The centralized sewage system there appeared much earlier than in most cities of the Russian Empire. The museum, operating inside the Friedland Gate, visitors are invited to see the exposition dedicated to this important component of modern public utilities. She talks about the oldest sewer system created in the middle of the third millennium BC. e. in the city of Mohenjo-Daro, located in Pakistan, about the water supply in ancient Rome, as well as about the ways of water supply to medieval Europe and Russia. Tourists will also learn interesting information about the World Toilet Organization and that November 19 is proclaimed International Toilet Day.
“With faith in the heart”
At the Friedland Gate Museum (see address above), an exposition with this name is dedicated to the first immigrants who arrived in the dilapidated British air force and assault the Red Army Kaliningrad from different parts of the USSR immediately after the war. Museum visitors will be shown how people who came to explore an unfamiliar land, as well as what family heirlooms they brought with them, saw this city. In addition, they will see the works of the artist R. Borisovas and the collection of objects used in worship, which consists of crosses, folds and icons.
