Vladimir Vasilyevich Chodakovsky

The coronation church of the Prussian residence was to be preserved according to the plans of the city architect Chodakowski (model of the church with bell tower).

Wladimir Wassiljewitsch Chodakovsky ( Russian: Владимир Васильевич Ходаковский , scientific transliteration Vladimir Vasil'evič Chodakovskij ; * 1911 in Kiev ; † 1994 in Kaliningrad ) was a Russian architect . As Kaliningrad's chief architect, he campaigned for the rescue of the Königsberg Palace and was the initiator of public resistance against the plans for its destruction. He resigned from his post as chief architect to protest the destruction of the palace.

Life

Chodakowski studied from 1937 to 1941 at the Azerbaijan Institute for Industry in Baku , then at the Polytechnic Institute in Kaunas . From 1941 to 1945 he did military service as a soldier in World War II . From 1946 to 1951 he worked at the Institute for Transport Projects in Lithuania . From 1951 to 1961 he worked in the project planning office Wojenmorprojekt ( Russian "Военморпроект" ). From 1961 to 1965 he was the chief architect of Kaliningrad. Even before he held this office, he held a meeting of the Kaliningrad Architects' Union (KOSA) in April 1960, in which he proposed that the "Old Castle" be preserved, which he said could be done with "little money". Chodakowski did not want to "hide the ruins anymore". He was supported by Arseni Wladimirowitsch Maximow . Khodakovsky led the supporters of the castle. Parts of the population of Kaliningrad campaigned for the preservation of the castle until 1965.

However, the reconstruction of the ruins turned out to be difficult for other reasons as well, such as the prevailing industrialized construction and the centralized decision-making process. GOSSTROJ, the central Moscow authority for urban development and planning, decided on the reconstruction of every single ruin in Kaliningrad. In the 1960s, Chodakowski first had to submit detailed documentation of the project with floor plans and elevations, an appraisal of the existing building fabric, various photos of the ruins and documents about the budget for the reconstruction in Moscow. Therefore, Chodakowski declared:

“In connection with the current transition to industrial building methods using prefabricated elements, it is practically impossible to use the existing standardized elements in the reconstruction of ruins with non-typed dimensions. In the reconstruction of these ruins, non-mechanized manual work is essentially used. "

When Chodakowski became Kaliningrad's chief architect in 1961, there were only ten architects in the entire city. Khodakovsky wrote a report in 1961 for the party leader of Kaliningrad, G. Druzinski, and the chairman of the city soviet, N. Korovkin. In it he described the situation of urban development in the Kaliningrad region and complained that there were too few architects for the reconstruction of the old city center of Kaliningrad.

After Chodakowski was officially appointed chief architect, he went “public” with the castle rescue. In his first interview with Kaliningradskaya Pravda , he described the possibility of rescuing the castle. In September 1961 he wrote an article in which he was against the demolition of the castle ruins:

“It would make sense with simple means to convert the ruins into a memorial against the devastating wars, into a call for friendship among peoples. For example, through the illuminated silhouettes of a dove of peace, a crossed out bomb, a person who forges a sword into a ploughshare or a mother who presses her child to the heart, these gigantic silhouettes against the background of the castle ruins could be an architectural and impressive one in its impressiveness create artistic image. "

Possibly he orientated himself on the pre-war period. The figure “Der Frieden”, a female figure with her child, adorned Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz .

After Chodakowski's newspaper article with his suggestions for the reconstruction of the Prussian residence was published in September 1961, interest in the Königsberg ruins was “expanded beyond the boundaries of the area”. At the same time, “other, influential departments” of the Association of Architects were informed about the events in Kaliningrad, especially the tradition- conscious Saint Petersburg department. In a letter dated January 18, 1962, chairman S. Speranski asked the Moscow headquarters of the Union of Architects to restore the monuments of Kaliningrad. Speranski wrote that there was “a certain tendency” in Kaliningrad to “not take into account the medieval buildings of the castle and cathedral in the center of the city that are planned for demolition according to the project” in the planned redesign and demolition measures Speranski added an expertise on the value of the Königsberg Palace as a monument.

Chodakowski's new plans for the city center from 1961 and 1962 show the city center of Kaliningrad, with the west wing of the palace and cathedral on the Kneiphof. His sketch for the design of the city center was printed on September 20, 1962 in Kaliningradskaya Pravda .

Chodakovsky's perspective today: House of the Soviets (right), Hotel Kaliningrad (center) and House of Communication-Telecom (left): " Acropolis of Modernity " ( Markus Podehl )

Chodakovsky's perspective today: House of Communication Telecom (left) and Hotel Kaliningrad (center).

The starting point is the perspective from the former suburb across the island to the former castle with the former Gesecusplatz. From the northern end of the former Suburban Long Street (then Mayakovsky Street) follows the viewer's gaze to the broad Lenin Prospekt , the 550-meter long flyover the Cathedral Island bridges, on the other Pregelufer leads and lose behind a wide fork (Gesecusplatz).

According to Chodakowski's design from 1961, the cityscape showed three buildings or parts of buildings of the former Königsberg, including the two round towers and the western wall of the former Königsberg coronation church, which is strongly structured by buttresses. Accordingly, a building complex was to be added to the fragment of the castle on the former north wing, which also integrated the unrest building as a new east side. The square with the southern façade with the ornamental gable of the castle church facing the former Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz and the square on which the Stülersche castle tower stood was to remain undeveloped. Other historical buildings that can be seen there were the cathedral ruins and the old stock exchange. A large parade ground was to be created below the former Schlossberg, on the area of ​​the former old town. A flat hall building was to be built there. Five to six-story prefabricated buildings were in the background.

In 1963, at the suggestion of Chodakowski, a project was presented at a meeting of the Kaliningrad Architects' Union, which provided for the integration of the castle into a central townhouse. This proposal from 1963 formed "in the following years the basis of all KOSA projects". The town house should contain event rooms, restaurants and a museum about the storming of Königsberg.

When work on a new project for the Kaliningrad city center was to begin in mid-1963, Chodakowski was committed to the preservation of the palace as a supplement to the planning task. The restoration of the castle became its precondition, which was incorporated into the order for GIPROGOR , the State Institute for Urban Planning.

However, this was rejected by the city executive committee. So he went public one more time. By mobilizing them, he tried to compensate for his lack of institutional influence and so force the city leaders to approve the rejected supplementary project for the planning task.

Therefore, on November 17, 1963, he wrote a full-page article on Leninsky Prospect in Kalingradskaya Prada . In it he presented his idea of ​​a people's house in which the castle ruins were integrated. Chodakowski also presented a new political message. It was also a plea for a more open society. No office fortress should be built instead of the castle ruins, but the castle should be converted into an open house for the people and history. He refuses "to erect some large, purely decorative administrative buildings in place of the former palace, such as a house of the Soviets, etc." He pleaded for the "development and perfection of socialist democracy, the further development of the democratic foundations in the administrations, the Strengthening the role of local public organizations “He rejected the idea of ​​a House of Soviets on Palace Square. He criticizes “the character and quality of the administrative buildings necessary for the city. Even approximate calculations show that the city and the area will not need such a large complex of administrative buildings in the next ten years ”.

In February 1964, Chodakowski developed a new compromise strategy to save the castle. Chodakowski wanted to convince GIPROGOR that a new building could be placed next to the castle ruins as a contrast instead of on the foundations of a demolished castle. This would not "erase the history of the city".

As a further argument against the construction of the House of Soviets, Chodakowski took advantage of the then applicable construction freeze for administrative buildings. An administration building as a replacement for a lock that has to be demolished is not expected for years and “with that we will save the lock”. As a further measure, Chodakowski suggested that a number of specialists should be invited to Kaliningrad to advise on the question of the castle "in order to assert our opinion in this way."

On March 26 and 27, 1964, a conference of architects, town planners and preservationists took place in Kaliningrad with a lecture by Chodakowski. He emphasized that the new Kaliningrad should not become uglier than the old Königsberg, which was one of the "largest and most beautiful cities in the Baltic States" and started the "attempt to evaluate the castle as a distinctive feature of the urban landscape."

In March 1964, Chodakowski complained that Kaliningrad was the "only major city still badly damaged" in the Soviet Union. Later in 1964 "he achieved only one modest success" and his request for more architects was granted. Khodakovsky had written a number of letters to the directors of the polytechnic institutes and schools of architecture. In it he complained that there were too few architects in Kaliningrad and called for graduates to be sent to Kaliningrad. They were supposed to develop local projects for the Kaliningrad city center. But only two graduates from Lithuania came to Kaliningrad.

The letter from the deputy head of the Department of Museums and Monument Protection, A. Sergin, dated August 4, 1964, confirmed Khodakovsky's position to restore the castle:

"The Ministry of Culture is for the preservation of the remains of the castle and justifies this from the historical importance for the Russian people."

Kaliningrad Port Authority

Leonid Brezhnev , however, ordered the immediate demolition. In his letter of November 20, 1965 to Brezhnev, Chodakovsky pleaded for the castle to be preserved:

"« В настоящее время только Ваше вмешательство может остановить бессмысленные и нессмысленные и нессмысленные и нессмысленные и и несмысленные и и несгагавимыл. Убедительно прошу направить в г. Калининград специальную комиссию для изучения сложившегося положения, с целью присняваг.
Translation: At the moment only your word of power can end "the senseless and irreparable demolition of the castle". I urge you to send a special commission on the Kaliningrad matter to study the situation and come to a decision that is worthy of our state. "

After the demolition in 1965, Chodakowski resigned as city architect.

From 1965 to 1994 he was the chief architect in the 28th Wojenmor project ( Russian 28 ‑ м "Военморпроекте" ), the Kaliningrad Department of the State Institute for Sea Transport Projects ( Russian Калининградский филиан госвекотинго порадский филиан госуекто . There he was among others. responsible for the planning of hotels and restaurants, a cinema as well as 5- and 9-storey houses in a new development area of Baltiysk .

literature

• Markus Podehl: Architektura Kaliningrada: How Königsberg became Kaliningrad (=  materials on the art, culture and history of East Central Europe . Volume 1 ). Herder Institute, Marburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-87969-375-7 .
• Bert Hoppe: On the ruins of Königsberg. Kaliningrad 1946–1970 (=  series of the quarterly books for contemporary history . Volume 80 ). Oldenbourg, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-486-64580-3 . [On Chodakovskij, Vladimir V.] pp. 79, 94, 102, 130-135, 143f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} cf. Biography of Khodakovsky in the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary of Kaliningrad Oblast
2. ↑ In Russian, the usual shorthand for Projektny institut wojenno-morskogo flota (Проектный институт военно-морского флота), German "Project planning institute for the naval fleet"
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Hoppe, p. 130.
4. ↑ cf. Podehl, p. 248.
5. ↑ Hoppe, p. 102.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} cf. Hoppe, p. 94.
7. ↑ Hoppe, p. 131.
8. ↑ Hoppe pp. 131-132
9. ↑ Podehl, p. 248.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Hoppe, p. 133.
11. ↑ cf. Podehl, p. 248.
12. ↑ Hoppe, p. 134, note in footnote no. 67.
13. ↑ Podehl, p. 230: Figure 252: “Sketch for the new planning of the city center by the city architect Chodakovskij from 1961”.
14. ↑ Podehl, p. 231: Figure 253: “Sketch for the new planning of the city center by the city architect Chodakovskij from 1962”.
15. ↑ Podehl, pp. 266-267.
16. ↑ cf. Podehl, pp. 221f.
17. ↑ Podehl, p. 248.
18. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Hoppe, p. 132.
19. ↑ cf. Hoppe, p. 132.
20. ↑ cf. Hoppe, p. 132.
21. ↑ cf. Hoppe, p. 133.
22. ↑ cf. Hoppe, p. 134.
23. ↑ ^{a b} Hoppe, p. 135.
24. ↑ Hoppe, p. 79.
25. ↑ Hoppe, p. 94.
26. ↑ cf. Hoppe, p. 94.
27. ↑ cf. Hoppe, p. 94.
28. ↑ Podehl, p. 248.
29. ↑ Hoppe, p. 143.
30. ↑ Hoppe, pp. 79, 94, 102, 130-135, 143f.