Kaliningrad - past and present. "Historically, these are primordially Slavic lands." How Koenigsberg became Kaliningrad

By the decisions of the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, Königsberg and the surrounding area were transferred to the Soviet Union as a war trophy and in 1946 finally became part of it. The decision was final and indefinite. Königsberg with the surrounding area became Russian forever.

This fate of Prussia was a retribution for its centuries-old aggressive policy towards its neighbors, which was carried out by the Prussian and Prussian-German authorities, from the Teutonic Order to Hitler. The inclusion of Königsberg with the adjacent lands into the Russia-USSR not only had a military-strategic and economic importance, but it was Germany's payment for the blood and pain inflicted on the Russian superethnos.

Prussia was considered as a future spoils of war during the First World War. On September 14, 1914, in a conversation with the French ambassador Maurice Palaiologos, Emperor Nicholas II remarked: " Russia will take for itself the former Polish lands and part of East Prussia." In 1915, General A. N. Kuropatkin presented to the Sovereign his thoughts on the future arrangement of East Prussia as part of Russian Empire. The entry of East Prussia into the Russian Empire was recognized by the allies. Thus, this issue was resolved 30 years before the accession of Königsberg and the region to the USSR. Imperial, and then Soviet government considered East Prussia as the liberation of the original Slavic lands. The long-standing foothold that served for the expansion of Germanism into the Slavic and Baltic lands was liquidated. Stalin was still at the Tehran Conference on December 1, 1943, in a conversation with Churchill and Roosevelt stressed that " Königsberg and Memel are historically primordially Slavic lands".

However, soon Stalin himself and his heirs did everything to ensure that the memory of the Slavic roots of East Prussia was erased from international legal consciousness. In 1946, Koenigsberg was renamed in honor of the inactive nominal Soviet "president", "all-Union headman" M. I. Kalinin, who had nothing to do with the city. Through the efforts Soviet power the German Prussian spirit was etched out of Kaliningrad, but the city did not acquire a Russian character at all. It was supposed to be a model Soviet cosmopolitan city. Construction Orthodox churches it was banned, the first of them appeared only in 1985. Of course, there was no mention of any Slavic presence, Russian presence, except perhaps in scientific collections and in specialized literature.

Today there is an active struggle for the future of the Kaliningrad region. Our enemies want to refute Russia's indisputable right to own it, declaring that 70 years cannot cross out supposedly centuries-old German domination. But Prussia from ancient times was much closer to Russia than to Germany, which, in the person of the Teutonic Order, seized the lands of the indigenous people of the Prussians, destroying this people and cynically assigning its name. It was Russia that inherited the rights of ancient Prussia, accepting its military and aristocratic elite, people from which occupied the Russian throne for centuries.

According to the chronicles, it is Prussia that is the birthplace of two royal Russian dynasties: the Ruriks and the Romanovs. The famous Leibniz assured Peter the Great when he arrived on a visit to Königsberg: "Sir, Prussia is your patrimony." Under Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Prussia was a Russian province for five years. Orthodox churches were consecrated in Königsberg, Pillau and Memel.

When the Russian troops entered Königsberg and Berlin, the Prussian nobility and common people happily hastened to swear allegiance to the Russian Empress, the first of them was the famous philosopher and professor at the Königsberg Academy Immanuel Kant.

Western outpost of Russia: on April 7, 1946, the Königsberg region was formed as part of the RSFSR, today - Kaliningrad region Russian Federation

The westernmost point of Russia, an enclave surrounded by the territories of Poland and Lithuania, which are not too friendly to us, a war trophy received by right of the winner in World War II ...

It would be a mistake to call part of the former East Prussia, which became the Kaliningrad region first of the USSR, and later of Russia, exclusively a trophy - lands taken, albeit by the right of the winner, but by force. Two centuries earlier, Koenigsberg had already managed, although not for long, to be part of the Russian Empire, and of his own free will: during Seven Years' War in 1758, the townspeople swore allegiance to Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, the city and its environs became a Russian governor-general.

Later, when a turning point had already occurred on the Kursk Bulge during World War II, and the defeat of Germany became inevitable, during a meeting on December 1, 1943 at the Tehran Conference, Joseph Stalin justified the need to transfer this territory to the USSR to the Allies: “The Russians do not have ice-free ports on the Baltic Sea . Therefore, the Russians would need ice-free ports of Königsberg and Memel and the corresponding part of the territory of East Prussia. Moreover, historically these are primordially Slavic lands.

“The Russians have a historical and well-founded claim to this German territory,” agreed Churchill, “(during the First World War) the land of this part of East Prussia is stained with Russian blood.” The anti-Hitler coalition recognized in absentia Russia's right to Koenigsberg and adjacent lands. The matter remained small - to recapture East Prussia from Germany.

The assault on the Königsberg fortifications began on April 6, 1945. Only a month remained before the victory, the German forces were running out, but the city, considered a first-class fortress, did not give up without a fight. Tempered for long years wars Soviet army, having lost about 3,700 people killed against the enemy's 42,000 losses, took Koenigsberg "not by number, but by skill." On April 9, the garrison of the fortress capitulated on the square that today bears the name of Victory, and the red banner of the winners was raised on the Der Dona tower (now the Kaliningrad Amber Museum is located there).

Consolidating the results of the Second World War, the Potsdam Conference first transferred the north of East Prussia to the temporary administration of the USSR, and soon, during the signing of the border treaty, it finally legalized the right Soviet Union to this territory. On April 7, 1946, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Königsberg Region was formed on the territory of the district as part of the RSFSR.

Rename the conquered city to permanently close its page German history, was necessary. Initially, it was supposed to call Konigsberg the neutral name of Baltiysk, even a draft of the corresponding decree was prepared. But on July 3, 1946, the “all-Union headman” Mikhail Kalinin died and, although there was already a city in the Moscow region named after him (the current Korolev), the decision to rename it was made: this is how the city became Kaliningrad.

In the postwar years, Kaliningrad became one of the most militarized regions of the Soviet Union. The ice-free ports of the region remained the largest base of the Baltic Fleet of the USSR, and later of Russia. With the collapse of the Union, the Kaliningrad region, although it was cut off from the rest of the country by the territory of Lithuania and Poland, remained part of Russia: unlike the Crimea, which went to Ukraine in 1991, Kaliningrad has always remained part of the RSFSR.

The creation of the Schengen zone, the gradual aggravation of relations with the EU countries, international sanctions have complicated the life of the "Russian island on the map of Europe." Against the background of the annexation of Crimea to Russia, some European politicians in recent times allow themselves to come up with a proposal to "revise the provisions of the Potsdam Treaty" and return the Kaliningrad region to Germany. There is only one answer to this: to those who propose to "revise" the results of the Second World War, Russia can "re-show" them.



Kaliningrad?d (until 1255 - Twangste; until July 4, 1946 - Koenigsberg, German K?nigsberg) - a city in Russia, the administrative center of the Kaliningrad region. The westernmost regional center of the country. It is located at the confluence of the Pregolya River into the Kaliningrad Bay.

October 17, 2015 marks exactly 70 years since the entry of Kaliningrad into the USSR, more precisely, Koenigsberg, since the city was called that at that time. Few today know that until the middle of the twentieth century, this once Prussian territory had already managed to be part of Russia.

And that was during the Seven Years' War. Then, from 1758 to 1762, East Prussia had the status of a Russian governor-general. Today, against the backdrop of the reunification of the Russian Federation and Crimea, calls are increasingly being made in the West to return Kaliningrad to Germany. Let's try to assess how legitimate these claims are, for this we will understand the issue of joining the city to the USSR.

The city was founded in 1255 by the knights of the Teutonic Order. Since the beginning of the XVIII century, the city of Königsberg was the actual capital of East Prussia, the coronation of the Prussian kings took place here.

Following the results of the Second World War, reflected in the decisions of the Potsdam and Yalta conferences, more than a third of the territory of the former East Prussia, together with the city of Königsberg, was transferred by the allies under the jurisdiction of the USSR. Most of the German population left the city in 1945, before the capture of Königsberg Soviet troops. About 20,000 residents who remained in the city were deported to Germany between 1945 and 1947.

Koenigsberg more than once in history became Russian city. After the Seven Years' War between Russia and Prussia, in 1758, almost the entire territory of East Prussia, and with it the capital, Königsberg, was annexed to the Russian Empire. Even the famous German philosopher Immanuel Kant, who lived in Königsberg and taught at the university there, became a Russian subject. However, in 1762, after the accession to the Russian throne of Peter III, the annexed lands were returned to the Prussian kingdom.

AT Soviet time Kaliningrad was a city closed to foreigners. German historical and architectural monuments little is left, but settlements East Prussia, including urban areas and streets in Kaliningrad itself, were renamed.

The German period of the city's history in modern Kaliningrad is reminiscent of the Cathedral (one of the few buildings of the Gothic style in Russia), the Mausoleum of Immanuel Kant, the Church of Queen Louise (now it houses the Puppet Theater), several brick gates - the Royal, Brandenburg, Rossgarten, Friedrichsburg, fragments of the Koenigsberg fortress and some other architectural objects.

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70 years ago, on October 17, 1945, according to the decision of the Potsdam Conference, the city of Koenigsberg, together with the surrounding territories, was included in the USSR. Thus, an important outpost of German aggression in the East, East Prussia, was liquidated.

royal mountain

Since ancient times, these lands, located near Baltic Sea, were an interweaving of many cultures and a place of clash of geopolitical interests of various states. The Germans arrived here in the 13th century - Warband, with the blessing of the Pope, undertook a crusade against the pagans, the Baltic tribe of the Prussians.

The purpose of the unexpected visit was not only to plant Catholic values, but also to seize new territories. The expedition of the Teutons, who were supported by the troops of the Czech king Přemysl Otakar II, smashed the Prussians and built order castles to consolidate their success.

In 1255, the defenders of the faith of Christ burned the Tuvangste fortress, founded by the Prussian prince Zamo in the middle of the 6th century, and founded another on its hilly place, naming it (according to one version) in honor of Otakar Koenigsberg. That is, "Royal Mountain". The Prussians did not accept the enemy invasion and revolted, laying siege to Koenigsberg.

Duchy and kingdom

The defenders of the castle held out for 2 years, until strong reinforcements arrived, which defeated the Prussian army. In total, the crusaders built about 90 castles on the lands of Prussia. By the beginning of the 15th century, the state of the Teutonic Order extended throughout the Baltics. The expansion of the Germans to the East was stopped in 1410, when the Teutons were defeated in the Battle of Grunval by the Poles and Lithuanians.

In 1454, the Prussians turned to the Polish king Casimir IV with a request to help in the fight against Western invaders. The king willingly supported the rebels, who as a result captured a number of cities, in particular Koenigsberg. As a result, the war ended with the defeat of the Teutons.

At the same time, that part of the lands of the Teutonic Order, which became known as the Duchy of Prussia, fell into vassal dependence on the Commonwealth, and the other - royal Prussia - became just another Polish province.

Three cities in one

The duchy managed to free itself from the Polish "guardianship" only after 200 seconds. extra years when the Commonwealth crackled under the blows of Swedish and Russian troops in 1657. Prussia declared its independence. Since 1701, when Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg was crowned in Königsberg, the former duchy was proudly called a kingdom.

By that time, the forced Christianization of local residents and the active resettlement of German colonists to these lands greatly Germanized the Prussians, who almost lost their language and customs. On the other hand, the loss of Prussian national identity was influenced by long-term Polish and Lithuanian influence.

As for Koenigsberg, until the 18th century, three nearby cities actually existed under this name: Altstadt, Lebenicht and Kneiphof. Moreover, each of them had its own management system and its own burgomaster. This state of affairs persisted until 1724, when all urban settlements, as well as the ancient castle that had previously existed separately, were united by the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I into a single Koenigsberg.

Subjects of the Russian crown

This year went down in the history of the city as the time of birth of the most famous Koenigsberger, the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who lived there for 79 years and was buried in 1804 near the Koenigsberg Cathedral in the professorial crypt.

During the Seven Years' War, Prussia became the scene of hostilities in which leading role played by the Russian army. In 1757, the troops under the command of Stepan Apraksin crossed the border and during the battle of Gross-Jegersfeld defeated the soldiers of Field Marshal Johann von Lewald.

But another Russian military leader, Willim Fermor, who stormed Memel (now Klaipeda) was especially distinguished, and also cleared German troops all of Prussia.

At the beginning of 1858, Russian troops entered Koenigsberg, which was given to them without a fight. The city authorities immediately announced the readiness of the people of Koenigsberg to become subjects of the Russian Empress Elizabeth I.

The oath to the Russian crown and the fury of Frederick II

The townspeople, including Kant, willingly swore allegiance to the Russian crown. In response, they, as well as the inhabitants of all of East Prussia, were exempted from heavy requisitions in favor of the German Hohenzollern dynasty and military service. This act aroused such fury among the King of Prussia, Frederick II, who was beaten by Russian troops, that he vowed never to visit Koenigsberg again.

One of the governors of Prussia was General Vasily Suvorov, the father of the famous commander. In this post, he reduced the cost of various court entertainments and thoroughly replenished the state treasury.

For the entire duration of the war, Koenigsberg became the main supply base for Russian troops operating in Brandenburg and Pomerania. locals and the troops behaved towards each other loyally, while the townspeople noted that under the Russians, general discipline had improved much.

Elizabeth had no plans to occupy Prussia for a long time. There was an option to give it to Poland in exchange for Courland (the territory of modern Latvia). However, after the sudden death of the Empress at the end of 1761, Peter III, an active admirer of Frederick II and the local order, who ordered his troops to return home. Those who swore allegiance to Russia, he released from the oath.

As a result, in 1762 Koenigsberg again became a Prussian city.

Between France and Russia

In the 70s of the eighteenth century, after the partitions of Poland between Prussia, Austria and Russia, the Germans had new provinces - West Prussia, South Prussia and New East Prussia. However, soon came Napoleonic Wars, and French soldiers came to these lands. As the German poet Heinrich Heine figuratively put it, "Napoleon blew on Prussia - and she was gone," commenting on the fleeting campaign of 1806.

Gathering an army for a campaign in Russia in 1812, Napoleon forced the timid and indecisive King of Prussia, Frederick William III, to include his troops in the French "Armada".

After defeat great army in the Russian campaign, Friedrich Wilhelm III tossed between the French and Russians, and eventually concluded an agreement with Alexander I on a joint fight against Napoleon. Russian troops liberated Prussia from the famous Corsican.

After the war, the Polish state, on short period restored by Napoleon, was again divided by the victors. Prussia, in particular, departed the Grand Duchy of Poznań.

German bastion in the East

In 1878, a few years after the unification of Germany, West and East Prussia were divided into independent provinces. In connection with the cooling in relations between Germany and Russia, East Prussia began to be seen as a German bastion in the East in a future war.

They began to prepare for it here in advance. Villages and farmsteads were built according to plans approved in advance by the military command.

All stone houses and buildings had to have loopholes, allowing frontal and cross fire - both from small arms, and artillery.

During the First World War, East Prussia turned out to be almost the only German province where fighting. In 1914, the Russian armies of Generals Samsonov and Renenkampf occupied a significant part of the territory for a short time, but during the East Prussian operation they were forced back with losses for themselves. During fierce fighting, 39 cities and almost 2,000 villages were destroyed.

Cut off from the rest of Germany

However, where there was no resistance, life flowed according to the usual laws. One Russian officer wrote: "Shops, cafes, restaurants are open. Except for the evacuees public institutions, all residents remained in place. Our soldiers behaved very well. There have been no complaints from the public."

After the defeat of Germany, according to the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919, East Prussia was cut off from the rest of the country by the so-called Polish Corridor. The victors gave the Poles part of the German territories in the lower reaches of the Vistula and a 71-kilometer stretch of the Baltic Sea. This circumstance was one of the reasons for the outbreak of World War II for Hitler.

With the advent of the Nazis to power, Germany began to prepare for revenge. East Prussia, with its extremely fanatical Gauleiter Erich Koch, did not stand aside from this process. Preparing for the "Drang nah Osten", the Germans began the construction of long-term engineering structures modern type which continued until 1944.

Who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind

It was here that the "Wolf's Lair" was located - the Fuhrer's main headquarters for Eastern Front, which included a complex of more than eighty bunkers located in the middle of a dense forest on an area of ​​250 hectares. Koenigsberg was the most fortified city-fortress of the Third Reich. Its defense system included three defensive lines and more than a dozen powerful forts with numerous garrisons. Nevertheless, this knot of resistance was taken by the Soviet troops in 4 days.

During the East Prussian operation of the Red Army in the spring of 1945, the German group was first cut off from the main forces of the Third Reich, and then ceased to exist under the blows of the 3rd and 2nd Belorussian fronts. Defeated, Germany, which long time occupied a number of foreign territories, lost part of its own.

The Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945 decided to finally liquidate East Prussia as a German possession, transferring two-thirds of the land to Poland and one-third (together with Königsberg) to the Soviet Union.

In 1946, after the death of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Kalinin, the main city of the former East Prussia with adjacent territories began to bear his name. At present, the Kaliningrad region is the westernmost of the regions of Russia.

There was a Prussian fortress Tuwangste (Twangste, Twangste). History has not left reliable information about the foundation of Twangste and descriptions of the fortress itself. According to legend, Twangste Fortress was founded by Prince Zamo in the middle of the 6th century. There is information about an attempt to establish a settlement near the mouth of the Pregel, undertaken at the end of the 10th century by Hovkin, the son of the Danish king Harald I Sineguby. The German chronicles for 1242 contain information about the negotiations between the deputies of the city of Lübeck and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Gerhard von Malberg on the foundation of a free trading city on a hill on the banks of the Pregel.

In the middle of the 13th century, the toponym Twangste extended to the Prussian fortified settlement, the mountain on which it was located, and the surrounding forest.

The Twangste fortress was taken and burned at the beginning of 1255 during the campaign of the combined army of the knights of the Order and the Bohemian king Přemysl Otakar II. There is a legend according to which King Otakar II advised Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Poppo von Osterne to build an order fortress on the site of Twangste. The laying of the Koenigsberg fortress took place in early September 1255. Burkhard von Hornhausen became the first commander of Koenigsberg.

There are several versions of the origin of the name Koenigsberg. The most common version associates the name of the Königsberg fortress, Korolevskaya Gora, with King Otakar II. According to her, the fortress and the future city were named after the king of Bohemia. Other versions of the origin of the toponym associate it with the Vikings or Prussians. Perhaps "Kenigsberg" is a form from "Konungoberg", where "king", "kunnigs" - "prince", "leader", "head of the clan", and the word "berg" can mean both "mountain" and "precipitous, Highland". In Russian chronicles and maps until the end of the 17th century, instead of the name Koenigsberg, the toponym Korolevets was used.

The first two wooden blockhouses were built in 1255 on the mountain on the right bank of the Pregel. Koenigsberg was first mentioned in a document dated June 29, 1256. In 1257, to the west of the blockhouses, the construction of stone fortifications began. In 1260, 1263 and 1273 the castle was besieged by the rebellious Prussians, but was not taken. Since 1309, Konigsberg Castle has been the residence of the Marshal of the Teutonic Order.

On February 28, 1286, the Landmaster of Prussia Konrad von Thierberg granted the settlement, which arose near the castle walls, the status of a city on the basis of Kulm law. Most likely, the settlement was originally named after the name of the castle - Koenigsberg. However, later, with the emergence of neighboring settlements, it received the name Altstadt, translated from German language meaning " Old city". The settlement that arose east of the castle was called Neustadt ( New town). Later, Neustadt was renamed Löbenicht, and on May 27, 1300, Löbenicht received city rights from the commander of Koenigsberg, Berthold von Brühaven. On an island south of Altstadt, a settlement was formed, originally called Vogtswerder. In 1327, the settlement on the island received city rights. In the charter granting city rights, it is called Knipav, which most likely corresponds to the original Prussian toponym. Since 1333, the city was called Pregelmünde, but the original name in the Germanized form, Kneiphof, was gradually fixed.

The cities of Altstadt, Löbenicht and Kneiphof had their own coats of arms, city councils, burgomasters, and from the 14th century were members of the Hanseatic Trade Union.

In 1325, under the leadership of Bishop Johannes Clare, the construction of the Cathedral began on the island of Kneiphof. In a document dated September 13, 1333, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Luther von Braunschweig agreed to continue the construction of the cathedral, this date is considered the official start date for construction. The construction of the Cathedral was completed in 1380. In the winter of 1390-1391, an English detachment under the command of the Earl of Derby, the future King of England Henry IV Lancaster, stopped in Koenigsberg.

After the loss of Marienburg (Malbork, Poland) during the Thirteen Years' War in 1457, Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen moved the capital of the Teutonic Order to Königsberg. In 1523, Hans Weinreich, with the assistance of Grand Master Albrecht, opened the first printing house in Königsberg in Löbenicht, in which the first book was printed in 1524. On April 8, 1525, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach concluded the Peace of Krakow with King Sigismund I of Poland, as a result of which the Teutonic Order was secularized and the Duchy of Prussia was formed. Königsberg became the capital of Prussia. In 1544, a university was opened in Königsberg, which later received the name Albertina in honor of Duke Albrecht. Since 1660, a city newspaper began to be published in Koenigsberg. In May 1697, as part of the Grand Embassy, ​​under the name of the nobleman Peter Mikhailov, the Russian Tsar Peter I visited Koenigsberg, having lived in the city for about a month. Later, Peter I visited the city in November 1711, June 1712, February and April 1716.

On January 27, 1744, Sophia Augusta Frederick von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, the future Russian Empress Catherine II, passed from Stettin to St. Petersburg through Koenigsberg. On January 11, 1758, during the Seven Years' War, Russian troops entered Koenigsberg, after which, on January 24, representatives of all city classes took an oath of allegiance in the Cathedral Russian empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Until 1762 the city was part of the Russian Empire. In 1782 the city's population was 31,368. In 1793, the first obstetric and gynecological institution was opened in the city. On August 8, 1803, an earthquake occurred in Königsberg.

After the battles near Preussisch-Eylau in January and Friedland in June, on June 15, 1807, Koenigsberg was occupied by the French army. On July 10-13, 1807 and June 12-16, 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in the city. On the night of January 4-5, 1813, the French army left Koenigsberg, and around noon on January 5, troops of the Russian corps under the command of Peter Khristianovich Wittgenstein entered the city.

In 1813, an astronomical observatory was opened in Königsberg, with the eminent mathematician and astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel as its director. In 1830, the first (local) water pipe appeared in the city. In 1834 Moritz Hermann Jacobi demonstrated the world's first electric motor in the Königsberg laboratory. On July 28, 1851, the astronomer of the Königsberg Observatory August Ludwig Busch took a photograph for the first time in history. solar eclipse. On October 18, 1861, Wilhelm I, the future Kaiser of Germany, was crowned in Königsberg. In 1872-1874, the first city water supply network was built, in 1880 work began on laying the city sewer. In May 1881, the first horse tram route was opened in Königsberg, in 1888 the population of the city was 140.9 thousand people, in December 1890 - 161.7 thousand people. To protect the city along its perimeter, a defensive ring of 15 forts was built by the mid-1880s. In May 1895, the first trams ran along the streets of Königsberg. In 1896, the Königsberg Zoo was opened, with Hermann Klaas (1841-1914) becoming its director.

The population of Koenigsberg in 1910 was 249.6 thousand inhabitants. In 1919, Germany's first airport, Devau Airport, was opened in Königsberg. On September 28, 1920, German President Friedrich Ebert opened the first East Prussian fair in Königsberg, which was located on the territory of the zoo, and later in special pavilions. In 1939, the city had 373,464 inhabitants.

During the Second World War, Koenigsberg was repeatedly bombed from the air. The first raid on the city was made by Soviet aviation on September 1, 1941. The raid involved 11 Pe-8 bombers, none of which were shot down. The bombing produced a certain psychological effect, but no significant casualties or destruction were caused. On April 29, 1943, a Pe-8 bomber from the USSR Long-Range Aviation first dropped a 5-ton bomb on Koenigsberg. On the night of August 27, 1944, the 5th group of the Royal Air force Great Britain, as part of 174 Lancaster bombers, raided the city, during which the eastern outskirts were bombed, and the Royal Air Force lost 4 aircraft. The most massive and terrible raid on Koenigsberg was carried out by the British Air Force on the night of August 30, 1944. 189 Lancasters dropped 480 tons of bombs, as a result of which 4.2 thousand people died, 20% of industrial facilities and 41% of all buildings of the city were destroyed, the historical center of the city was wiped off the face of the earth. During the raid, napalm bombs were used for the first time. RAF losses were 15 bombers.

As a result of the East Prussian offensive operation of the Red Army, by January 26, 1945, Koenigsberg was under blockade. However, on January 30 tank division"Grossdeutschland" and one infantry division from the side of Brandenburg (now the village of Ushakovo) and the 5th Panzer Division and one infantry division from the side of Königsberg pushed the troops of the 11th Guards Army 5 kilometers from the Frisches-Haff Bay, releasing Königsberg from the south west. On February 19, counter strikes along the northern coast of the Frisches-Haff Bay from Fischhausen (now the city of Primorsk) and Koenigsberg broke through the defenses of the 39th Army and restored communication between Koenigsberg and the Zemland Peninsula.

From April 2 to April 5, 1945, Koenigsberg was subjected to massive artillery strikes and air raids. On April 6, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front launched an assault on the fortress city. Non-flying weather did not allow the full use of aviation, by the end of the day, assault detachments and groups reached the outskirts of the city. On April 7, the weather improved, and Königsberg was subjected to a massive bombardment. On April 8, the Red Army troops advancing from the north and south divided the enemy grouping into two parts. The 4th German army of General Muller tried to strike from the Zemland Peninsula to help the Koenigsberg garrison, but these attempts were thwarted Soviet aviation. By evening, the defending units of the Wehrmacht were squeezed in the city center under continuous attacks. Soviet artillery. On April 9, 1945, the commandant of the city and fortress of Koenigsberg, General Otto von Lyash, ordered the garrison to lay down their arms, for which he was sentenced to death in absentia by Hitler. The last pockets of resistance were eliminated on April 10, and the Red Banner was hoisted on the tower of the Don. More than 93 thousand German soldiers and officers were captured, about 42 thousand died during the assault. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army directly during the assault on Koenigsberg amounted to 3.7 thousand people.

The capture of Koenigsberg was marked in Moscow by 24 artillery volleys from 324 guns, the medal "For the Capture of Koenigsberg" was established - the only Soviet medal established for the capture of a city that was not the capital of the state. After the end of World War II, according to the decisions of the Potsdam Conference, the city of Koenigsberg was transferred to the Soviet Union.

On June 27, 1945, the Königsberg Zoo, in which only five animals remained after the April assault: a badger, a donkey, a fallow deer, an elephant calf and a wounded hippopotamus Hans, received its first post-war visitors.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on July 4, 1946, Koenigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad. The city was settled by immigrants from other regions of the Soviet Union, the German population by 1948 was deported to Germany. Due to an important strategic position and a large concentration of troops, Kaliningrad was closed to the public foreign citizens. In the postwar years Special attention was given to the restoration of production, the issues of preserving historical and cultural values ​​were of secondary importance, and often completely ignored. In 1967, by the decision of the first secretary of the Kaliningrad regional committee of the CPSU, N.S. Konovalov The Koenigsberg castle, seriously damaged during the British air raid in August 1944 and the assault on the city in April 1945, was blown up. The demolition of the ruins and a significant part of the surviving buildings continued until the mid-1970s, which caused irreparable damage to the architectural appearance of the city.

Since 1991 Kaliningrad has been open for international cooperation.