Even in the late Middle Ages, the lands located between the Neman and the Vistula rivers got their name East Prussia. Throughout its existence, this power experienced various periods. This is the order time, and the Prussian duchy, and then the kingdom, and the province, as well as the post-war country until the renaming due to the redistribution between Poland and the Soviet Union.
Ownership History
More than ten centuries have passed since the first mention of Prussian lands. Initially, the people who inhabited these territories were divided into clans (tribes), which were divided by conditional borders.
The expanses of the Prussian possessions covered the now existing
Kaliningrad region, part of Poland and Lithuania. These included Sambia and Skalovia, Warmia and Pogezaniya, Pomezany and Kulm land, Natangia and Bartia, Galindia and Sassen, Skalovia and Nadrovia, Mazovia and Sudovia.
Numerous Conquests
Prussian lands throughout their existence have been constantly subjected to attempts to conquer by more powerful and aggressive neighbors. So, in the twelfth century, the Teutonic knights - crusaders - came to these rich and alluring open spaces. They built numerous fortresses and castles, for example Kulm, Reden, Thorn.
However, in 1410, after the famous Battle of Grunwald, the territory of the Prussians began to smoothly pass into the hands of Poland and Lithuania.
The seven-year war in the eighteenth century undermined the forces of the Prussian army and led to the fact that some of the eastern lands were conquered by the Russian Empire.
In the twentieth century, hostilities also did not bypass these lands. Since 1914, East Prussia was involved in the First World War, and in 1944 - in the Second World War.
And after the victory of the Soviet troops in 1945, it generally ceased to exist and was transformed into the Kaliningrad region.
Existence between wars
During the First World War, East Prussia suffered heavy losses. The 1939 map already had changes, and the renewed province was in terrible condition. After all, it was the only territory of Germany, which was swallowed by fighting.
The signing of the Treaty of Versailles was expensive for East Prussia. The winners decided to reduce its territory. Therefore, from 1920 to 1923, the city of Memel and the Memel district began to be controlled by the League of Nations with the help of French troops. But after the January uprising of 1923, the situation changed. And already in 1924, these lands, as the autonomous region, became part of Lithuania.
In addition, East Prussia also lost the territory of Zoldau (the city of Dzialdovo).
In total, about 315 thousand hectares of land were disconnected. And this is a considerable territory. As a result of such changes, the remaining province fell into a difficult situation, accompanied by enormous economic difficulties.
Economic and political situation in the 20s and 30s.
In the early twenties, after the normalization of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Germany, the standard of living of the population in East Prussia began to gradually improve. The Moscow-Königsberg airline was opened, the German East Fair was resumed, the Königsberg city radio station began work.
Nevertheless, the global economic crisis has not spared these ancient lands. And in five years (1929-1933), only in Koenigsberg five hundred and thirteen different enterprises were bankrupted, and the unemployment rate increased to one hundred thousand people. In this situation, taking advantage of the precarious and uncertain position of the current government, the Nazi party took control.
Redistribution of territory
Before 1945, a considerable number of changes were made to the geographical maps of East Prussia. The same thing happened in 1939 after the occupation of Poland by the troops of Nazi Germany. As a result of the new regionalization, part of the Polish lands and the Klaipeda (Memel) region of Lithuania were formed in the province. And the cities of Elbing, Marienburg and Marienwerder became part of the new district of West Prussia.
The Nazis launched grandiose plans for the redivision of Europe. And the map of East Prussia, in their opinion, was to become the center of the economic space between the Baltic and Black Seas, subject to the annexation of the territories of the Soviet Union. However, these plans could not be translated into reality.
Post-war time
As Soviet troops arrived, East Prussia also gradually transformed. Military commandant's offices were created, which by April 1945 numbered thirty-six. Their tasks were the recount of the German population, an inventory and a gradual transition to a peaceful life.
In those years, thousands of German officers and soldiers were hiding all over East Prussia; there were groups engaged in sabotage and sabotage. In April 1945 alone, military commandant's offices captured more than three thousand armed fascists.
However, on the territory of Koenigsberg and in the surrounding areas, ordinary German citizens lived. There were about 140 thousand people.
In 1946, the city of Konigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad, as a result of which the Kaliningrad region was formed. And later the names of other settlements were changed. In connection with such changes, the 1945 map of East Prussia existing before that was redone.
East Prussian lands today
Today, the Kaliningrad region is located on the former territory of the Prussians. East Prussia ceased to exist in 1945. And although the region is part of the Russian Federation, they are geographically fragmented. In addition to the administrative center - Kaliningrad (until 1946 it was named Koenigsberg), cities such as Bagrationovsk, Baltiysk, Gvardeysk, Yantarny, Sovetsk, Chernyakhovsk, Krasnoznamensk, Neman, Ozersk, Primorsk, Svetlogorsk are well developed. The region consists of seven urban districts, two cities and twelve districts. The main peoples living in this territory are Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Armenians and Germans.
Today, the Kaliningrad region takes the first place in the production of amber, storing in its bowels about ninety percent of its world reserves.
Interesting places of modern East Prussia
And although today the map of East Prussia has been changed beyond recognition, the lands with the towns and villages located on them still keep the memory of the past. The spirit of the disappeared great country is still felt in the current Kaliningrad region in cities called Tapiau and Taplaken, Insterburg and Tilsit, Ragnit and Waldau.
Tourists enjoy excursions at the Georgenburg stud farm. It existed at the beginning of the thirteenth century. The fortress of Georgenburg was a haven for German knights and crusaders, whose main business was horse breeding.
Until now, the church built in the fourteenth century (in the former cities of Heiligenwald and Arnau), as well as the church of the sixteenth century on the territory of the former city of Tapiau, have been fairly well preserved. These magnificent buildings constantly remind people of the old days of the prosperity of the Teutonic Order.
Knight's castles
The land rich in amber reserves from the most distant times attracted the German conquerors. In the thirteenth century, the Polish princes, together with the knights of the Teutonic Order, gradually seized these possessions and rebuilt numerous castles on them. The remains of some of them, being architectural monuments, today make an indelible impression on contemporaries. The largest number of knightly castles was erected in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Their place of construction was captured Prussian ramparts. When building castles, traditions in the style of the Order of the Gothic architecture of the late Middle Ages were necessarily observed. In addition, all buildings corresponded to a single plan for their construction. Today, an unusual open-air museum is opened in the ancient castle Insterburg .
Among residents and guests of the
Kaliningrad region, the village of Nizovye is very popular. It houses a unique local history museum with ancient cellars
of Waldau Castle. Having visited it, it is safe to say that the whole history of East Prussia, from the time of the most ancient Prussians to the era of Soviet immigrants, flashes before our eyes.