The Green Heart Of Kaliningrad — Kant Island - Аренда Авто в Калининграде

Immanuel Kant Island is located in the heart of Kaliningrad. The island is washed by two branches of the Pregolya River. In the time of Konigsberg it was a city Kneiphof, which means “washed by water” in Prussian.

“History”

The first settlements were formed here in 1327. The cathedral, the main Catholic church of Prussia, was built with the funds of the Teutonic Order in 1380. The city grew rapidly and became rich, at that time it was connected to Konigsberg by five bridges, today there are only two left.

Peter the Great’s visit to Kneiphof is immortalized on the walls of the cathedral. The tsar was then impressed by the local engineering idea – to build houses on stilts because of the marshy terrain. Peter the Great borrowed this technology during the construction of Leningrad.

It’s hard to imagine, now we see a green island, but it wasn’t always like this. Not so long ago, I rode a tour boat and learned from the guide that the development on the island was so dense that from the window you could shake hands with a neighbor from the house opposite. For ladies in puffy dresses, special pockets were made on the streets, as sometimes it was not at all easy to disperse. That’s because there were 28 streets and 304 houses on the island!

“World War II”

In August 1944, the British air force carried out a massive raid on Kneiphof. Due to the dense construction, the city turned into a furnace, from which it was almost impossible to get out. About five thousand people died in those fateful days. There is nothing left of the city, only the ruins of the Church. To this day, human remains are found during excavations. Now you can observe construction work on the island, during excavations the walls of red brick are perfectly visible, probably the basements of residential buildings. The other day, the basement of a German bank was discovered. After almost 80 years, people visited it, watched, filmed a report and fell asleep, left it for posterity to study.

Let’s go back to 1945, Konigsberg was transferred to the jurisdiction of the USSR, then it was still unknown whether the city would go to Russia, so the place became a mine for the extraction of construction and engineering materials. No one began to restore anything, everything was dismantled and taken to Leningrad, for the restoration of the capital.

It was only in 1970 that trees began to be planted on the island and a sculpture park (mostly brought from the storerooms of museums) was installed. All this was connected with the construction of the bridge and the cultivation of the area around.

“The Cathedral”

The church began to be restored in the 2000s, for a long time the island was sparsely populated, there was no lighting at all, the sculpture park was quite gloomy, the place was unattractive. And only ten years ago, life returned to the island, infrastructure gradually began to develop, sports grounds, recreation areas, cafes appeared here, the cathedral was fully operational. The graduation ceremony for graduates of the I. Kant University is held in the cathedral.

Now the island pleases more and more every year. In summer, outdoor sports events, numerous concerts, master classes, cultural events, and strip food are held here. There are so many places that you can spend time, both fun and noisy, and calmly, sitting on a cozy bench with a book and your thoughts. It is very convenient to spend time under the bridge, on children’s and sports grounds, in any weather.

It’s great that the island is no longer called the ghost of our city, now it is the most attractive place for tourists and locals.

Quite often, movies are shot here. Kaliningrad and the region are generally attractive for cinematography. The Ministry of Culture offers a refund of 20 to 40% of the funds spent on filming.

A beautiful view of the island opens from the observation tower in the fishing village, where you can also buy souvenirs, postcards, jewelry at a good price.

Opposite the island there is a synagogue, built in 2018 in forms close to the original ones. The synagogue in Konigsberg, built in the 1890s on the island of Lomze and destroyed during World War II. During the Kristallnacht on November 9-10, 1938, the synagogues of Konigsberg were burned and destroyed, there were five of them in the city. Today, there is a dining room in the synagogue building, which anyone can visit.

“A few facts”

The initial stage of the restoration of the Cathedral was financed by the Germans.
The most accurate clock in Kaliningrad, produced by Siemens, is installed on the tower.
From the sale of each postcard with the image of the Cathedral, 10 rubles are deducted to the cathedral fund.
You can meet a walking Kant on the island.
The organ in the cathedral is one of the largest in Europe.
Sculpture Park from 1984.

Walking around the island is a pleasure. Here you can have a delicious meal in the fresh air, there is a Craft bakery near the bridge; delicious burgers with fish and meat are prepared near the cathedral. In the fishing village, there are many restaurants along the embankment, more than a kilometer long, the embankment leads to the stadium where the World Cup was held in 2018.

I recommend a ride on a tour boat, the walk will take 30 minutes. There are a lot of parking spaces here, almost all of them are free.

To explore other interesting places, we recommend choosing a car from our fleet, for example Hyundai Solaris, and moving around the city and the region with maximum comfort.