Victory Square (Kaliningrad)
Siegesplatz ( Russian Площадь победы ) is a central square in Kaliningrad , the capital of the Russian Oblast Kaliningrad , which was the capital of the East Prussia province until 1945 as the German city of Königsberg (Pr) .
history
Until 1934 the forecourt of the Cranzer and Samland train stations (from 1930 Nordbahnhof ) was called Hansaplatz and during the Third Reich it was called Adolf-Hitler-Platz . After the destruction of Koenigsberg city center by British air raids in 1944 and in the Battle of Königsberg 1945, the city by the Soviet Union and the expulsion of the remaining Konigsberg civilians and resettlement of Soviet citizens of the area around the former Hansaplatz under the name developed by Conquest Victory Square to a new center of the city, which was named Kaliningrad in 1946. The square was expanded to include the south-western area of the former German East Fair , thus almost doubling the square. Today, the former Hansaplatz in front of the station building is of secondary importance and is used as a parking area, while the new part of the square is representative.
location
Today there are numerous banks, shops, shopping centers and the city council. The north station , built in 1930, also contains a business center. The new town hall , built by Hanns Hopp in 1923 , is still the seat of the city administration (2008) after a renovation. In the area around the square there are several renovated old mansion houses, which give an impression of the wealth of the former Königsberg . Other prominent buildings are the former court (today the university) with a baroque portal, the former police headquarters ( KGB during the Soviet era ), and the former Oberpostdirektion (today the General Staff of the Baltic Fleet ).
As part of the 750th anniversary of the city in 2005, the square was decorated in a representative way, in particular it received a fountain in its center and the newly built Christ the Savior Cathedral was opened. The Lenin Monument, which was in front of the cathedral, was removed from the square and then placed again in a different location in Kaliningrad in the spring of 2006.
Image gallery
Hansaplatz in Königsberg with the north station around 1942
Victory Square in Kaliningrad with the North Railway Station around 2002
Lenin statue in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (1990s)
literature
- Rainer Eisenschmid: Baltic States. Baedeker 2001, page 454
- Veronika Wengert: Russia: European part . Baedeker 2009, ISBN 9783829711739 , p. 297 ( excerpt (Google) )
Web links
- Kaliningrad: Victory Square is taking shape on Russia Update February 28, 2006
Coordinates: 54 ° 43 '12.3 " N , 20 ° 30' 2.6" E