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Introducing Kaliningrad Region
Overlooking the Baltic Sea, the Kaliningrad region boasts some striking scenery. Among the region's attractions, you'll find a vibrant city with 700 years of Prussian history, pleasant coastal towns facing the sea, and the wild Curonian spit, a narrow landmass lined with some of Europe's highest sand dunes, deserted beaches and verdant marshland. You'll also find a colourful array of wildlife hidden in the region's thick forests.
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Yet more than its natural wonders, Kaliningrad is known for its history, which differs markedly from the rest of Russia. From the 13th century until 1945, the entire region was German, part of the core territory of the Teutonic knights and their successors, the dukes and kings of Prussia. Its capital, now named Kaliningrad, was the famous German city of Königsberg, capital of East Prussia, where Prussian kings were crowned. Scant Prussian legacy remains in the city of Kaliningrad, but the countryside is sprinkled with picturesque, moss- covered ruins of Prussian castles. After WWI, East Prussia was separated from the rest of Germany when Poland regained statehood. The three-month campaign by which the Red Army took it in 1945 was one of the fiercest of the war, with hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides.
Kaliningrad is also Russia's smallest, newest and most westerly province, and its connection to Mother Russia is a complicated one. It often gets left off maps of Russia altogether, which is not an entirely inappropriate omission as Kaliningrad, now surrounded by EU countries, has a strong pull to the west. A different air pervades this region - while its citizens are not quite European in outlook, they seem more Westernised and open than in other parts of Russia. There's still talk of turning Kaliningrad into a fourth 'Baltic state', yet this is far from likely, as Russia would have much to lose by granting autonomy to this prosperous region. The world's largest amber mine, which still produces 90% of the world's amber, lies in Kaliningrad (in Yantarny). The Baltic fleet is still headquartered in the heavily militarised region of Baltiysk, and the area has always been of strategic importance, particularly in light of recent EU expansion east. In fact, foreigners were forbidden to enter the region until 1991.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
