Kaliningrad

This article is about the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. For other uses, see Kaliningrad (disambiguation).
Kaliningrad (English)
Калининград (Russian)
IMG 6448.jpg
Old Königsberg amid the modern Kaliningrad
Map of Russia - Kaliningrad Oblast (2008-03).svg
Location of Kaliningrad Oblast on the map of Russia
Kaliningrad (Kaliningrad Oblast)
Kaliningrad
Location of Kaliningrad on the map of Kaliningrad Oblast
Coordinates
Coat of Arms Flag
Kgd gerb.png Flag of Kaliningrad.png
City Day: July 4; observed on first Saturday of July
Administrative status
Federal subject
In jurisdiction of
Administrative center of		 Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast
Local self-government
Charter Charter of Kaliningrad
Municipal status Urban okrug
Head (Mayor) Alexandr Yaroshuk
Legislative body City Council of Deputies
Area
Area 215.7 km² (83.3 sq mi)
Population (as of the 2002 Census)
Population
- Rank
- Density
 430,003 inhabitants
42nd
1,993.5/km² (5,163.1/sq mi)
Events
Founded 1255
City rights 1286
Transferred to the Soviet Union 1945
Renamed Kaliningrad 1946
Other information
Postal code 236010
Dialing code +7 4012
Official website
http://www.klgd.ru/

Kaliningrad (Russian: Калининград) is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. The territory borders on NATO and EU members Poland and Lithuania, and is geographically separated from the rest of Russia.

Originally named Königsberg, the Prussian and German town had been founded in 1255, and was then largely destroyed during World War II. Its ruins were occupied by the Soviet Army in 1945 and it was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946. In the meantime, the name was briefly Russified as Kyonigsberg (Кёнигсберг).

At the 2002 Census, its population was 430,003, an increase from the 401,280 recorded in the 1989 Census. Its ethnic composition is 77.9% Russians, 8.0% Belarusians, 7.3% Ukrainians and 1.9% Lithuanians.[1]

Contents

History

As Königsberg

Main article: Königsberg

The castle of Königsberg was built in 1255 by the Teutonic Knights as a tribute to King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who had led a campaign against pagan Sambians. The town became a member of the Hanseatic League, then in 1457 headquarters of the Teutonic Order, and seat of the secular Duchy of Prussia in 1525. Königsberg became a centre of education when the Albertina University was founded by Duke Albert of Prussia in 1544. By the act of coronation in Königsberg in 1701, Prince-elector Frederick III of Brandenburg became Frederick I, King in Prussia. After World War I, the creation of the Polish Corridor cut off East Prussia and Königsberg from the rest of mainland Weimar Germany.

What remained of Königsberg City Centre in 1949

In the bombing of Königsberg in World War II in 1944, the town suffered heavy damage from British air attacks and burned for several days. The historic city center, including Altstadt, Löbenicht and Kneiphof, was completely destroyed: the cathedral, the castle, all the churches of the old city, the old and the new universities and the old shipping quarter were destroyed. The Battle of Königsberg raged all through February and March 1945. The city was bombed and shelled continuously. On April 9 the German military commander surrendered the remnants of his forces. About 50,000 residents (compared to Königsberg's population on January 1, 1940 of 372,270) remained in the ruins of the devastated city. The remaining German population was expelled from 1945–48.

Soviet Union

Map of Kaliningrad Oblast in the historical Northeastern Prussia
The "House of the Soviets", built on the former site of Königsberg Castle.
The 2006 finished Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

At the end of World War II in 1945, the city became part of the Soviet Union pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement (as part of the Russian SFSR) as agreed upon by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference:

VI. CITY OF KOENIGSBERG AND THE ADJACENT AREA
The Conference examined a proposal by the Soviet Government that pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement the section of the western frontier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which is adjacent to the Baltic Sea should pass from a point on the eastern shore of the Bay of Danzig to the east, north of Braunsberg and Goldap, to the meeting point of the frontiers of Lithuania, the Polish Republic and East Prussia. The Conference has agreed in principle to the proposal of the Soviet Government concerning the ultimate transfer to the Soviet Union of the city of Koenigsberg and the area adjacent to it as described above, subject to expert examination of the actual frontier. The President of the United States and the British Prime Minister have declared that they will support the proposal of the Conference at the forthcoming peace settlement.[1]

Koenigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 after the death of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Kalinin, one of the original Bolsheviks. The German population was expelled and the city was repopulated with Russian citizens. German was replaced by Russian as the language of everyday life. The city was rebuilt, and went through industrialisation and modernisation. As one of the westernmost territories of the USSR, the Kaliningrad Oblast became a strategically important area during the Cold War. The Soviet Baltic Fleet was headquartered in the city in the 1950s. Because of its strategic importance, Kaliningrad was closed to foreign visitors.

In 1957 an agreement was signed and later came into force which delimited the boundary between Poland and the Soviet Union. (Full text: [2], for other issues of the frontier delimitation see [3])

Russian Federation

View of the Kaliningrad city hall from the Victory Square. The city hall is draped in a large banner celebrating the 61st anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War.

Kaliningrad is the only Russian Baltic Sea port that is ice-free all year around and hence plays an important role in maintenance of the Baltic Fleet.

Due to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kaliningrad Oblast became an exclave, geographically separated from the rest of Russia. This isolation from the rest of Russia became even more pronounced politically when Poland and Lithuania became members of NATO and subsequently the European Union in 2004. All military and civilian land links between the region and the rest of Russia have to pass through members of NATO and the EU. Special travel arrangements for the territory's inhabitants have been made.

Today, there is some debate about changing the name of the city back to "Königsberg" in the same way that several other Russian cities have reverted to their pre-Soviet names, e.g. St. Petersburg and Tver, which were known in the Soviet era as Leningrad and Kalinin, respectively. "Kyonig" (a shortened Russian form of "Königsberg") is often used in advertisements for tourism companies in the region. Another possibility would be to give it a Russian name similar to other historic Slavic names, such as "Korolevsk".

In July 2007, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov declared that if US-controlled missile defense systems were deployed in Poland, then nuclear weapons might be deployed in Kaliningrad. On 5 November 2008, Russian leader Dimitry Medvedev said that installing missiles in Kaliningrad was almost a certainty. [2]

Geography

Kaliningrad is located at the mouth of the navigable Pregolya River, which empties into the Vistula Lagoon, an inlet of the Baltic Sea.

Sea vessels can access Gdańsk Bay and the Baltic Sea by way of the Vistula Lagoon and the Strait of Baltiysk.

Until circa 1900 ships drawing more than 2 meters (7 ft) of water could not pass the bar and come into town, so that larger vessels had to anchor at Pillau (now Baltiysk), where merchandise was moved onto smaller vessels. In 1901 a ship canal between Königsberg and Pillau was completed at a cost of 13 million marks, which enabled vessels of a 6.5 meters (21 ft) draught to moor alongside the town. (See also Ports of the Baltic Sea.)

Khrabrovo Airport is located 24 kilometers (15 mi) north of Kaliningrad, and has a few scheduled/charter services to several destinations throughout Europe. There is the smaller Kaliningrad Devau Airport for general aviation. Kaliningrad is also home to Kaliningrad Chkalovsk naval air base.

Nuvola apps kweather.svg Weather averages for Kaliningrad Weather-rain-thunderstorm.svg
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 12.7
(55)		 15.6
(60)		 23.0
(73)		 31.7
(89)		 30.6
(87)		 33.5
(92)		 36.3
(97)		 36.5
(98)		 31.2
(88)		 26.4
(80)		 19.4
(67)		 13.3
(56)		 36.5
(98)
Average high °C (°F) -0.3
(31)		 0.1
(32)		 4.5
(40)		 11.1
(52)		 17.2
(63)		 20.6
(69)		 22.1
(72)		 21.7
(71)		 17.4
(63)		 11.9
(53)		 5.5
(42)		 1.9
(35)		 11.2
(52)
Average low °C (°F) -5.4
(22)		 -5.4
(22)		 -2.3
(28)		 2.3
(36)		 6.8
(44)		 10.7
(51)		 13.0
(55)		 12.5
(55)		 9.2
(49)		 5.1
(41)		 1.0
(34)		 -2.6
(27)		 3.8
(39)
Record low °C (°F) -32.5
(-27)		 -33.3
(-28)		 -21.7
(-7)		 -5.4
(22)		 -3.1
(26)		 0.7
(33)		 4.5
(40)		 1.6
(35)		 -2.0
(28)		 -11.2
(12)		 -18.7
(-2)		 -25.6
(-14)		 -33.3
(-28)
Precipitation mm (inches) 57
(2.24)		 40
(1.57)		 43
(1.69)		 37
(1.46)		 53
(2.09)		 71
(2.8)		 80
(3.15)		 90
(3.54)		 89
(3.5)		 79
(3.11)		 91
(3.58)		 73
(2.87)		 803
(31.61)
Source: Pogoda.ru.net[3] 8.09.2007

Main sites

Brandenburg Gate, Kaliningrad.
Statue of Lenin in Kaliningrad.

Economy

In 1996 Kaliningrad was designated a Special Economic Zone. Manufacturers based there get tax and customs duty breaks on the goods they send back to Russia. Although corruption was an early deterrent, that policy means the region is now a manufacturing hub. One in three televisions in Russia is made in Kaliningrad, and it is home to Hummer and BMW car plants. Now Kaliningrad's major industries are manufacturing, shipping, fishing and amber products. Moscow has declared it will turn the region into "the Russian Hong Kong". [4]

The European Commission provides funds for business projects under its special programme for Kaliningrad. The region has begun to see increasing trade with the countries of the EU as well as increasing economic growth and rising industrial output. With an average GDP growth of more than 10% per year for three years to 2007, Kaliningrad is growing faster than any other region in Russia, even outstripping the success of its EU neighbours.[5]

Military

Kaliningrad Oblast is the most heavily militarized area of the Russian Federation, and the density of military infrastructure is the highest in Europe. It was the headquarters of the former Soviet Baltic Military District. Kaliningrad also functions as the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet, circled by Chernyakhovsk (air base), Donskoye (air base) and Kaliningrad Chkalovsk (naval air base). Since 1991 the Russians have transferred numerous tactical nuclear warheads to the enclave (exclave).[6]

Sports

Kaliningrad is home to the football club FC Baltika Kaliningrad, which plays in the Russian First Division.

Notable residents

See also: List of people from Königsberg
Writers
Athletes
Cosmonauts
Others

Twin Towns - Sister Cities

Kaliningrad is twinned with:[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kaliningrad Oblast
  2. ↑ "Medvedev Says Russia to Deploy Missiles Near Poland" Associated Press via Yahoo News
  3. ↑ "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). Retrieved on September 8, 2007.
  4. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6048708.stm 'Kaliningrad erases stains of past' 16 October 2006
  5. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/6177003.stm 'Regions and territories: Kaliningrad' 18 December 2007
  6. ↑ Bill Gertz, "Russia Transfers Nuclear Arms to Baltics," Washington Times, 3 January 2001, p. 1.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Kaliningrad - Partner Cities". © 2000-2006 Kaliningrad City Hall. Retrieved on 2008-12-08.
  8. ↑ "Twin Cities". The City of Łódź Office. Uk flag.gif Flag of Poland.svg (in English and Polish) © 2007 UMŁ. Retrieved on 2008-10-23.
  9. ↑ "Groningen - Partner Cities". © 2008 Gemeente Groningen, Kreupelstraat 1,9712 HW Groningen. Retrieved on 2008-12-08.

External links

Cities and towns in Kaliningrad Oblast
Administrative center: Kaliningrad
Coat of arms of Kaliningrad Oblast
Bagrationovsk · Baltiysk · Chernyakhovsk · Guryevsk · Gusev · Gvardeysk · Krasnoznamensk · Ladushkin · Mamonovo · Neman · Nesterov · Ozyorsk · Pionersky · Polessk · Pravdinsk · Slavsk · Sovetsk · Svetlogorsk · Svetly · Zelenogradsk
 Flag of Kaliningrad Oblast