Friedland Gate: address, history. Museums of Kaliningrad

Russian Kaliningrad is a city with an interesting history. Until 1946, it was called Koenigsberg and was one of the most important cultural and educational centers of Germany.

Unfortunately, during the battles of World War II, many of the city's architectural attractions were irretrievably lost. However, even the little that has survived is of great interest to lovers of antiquity.

Among the most interesting tourist objects of Kaliningrad are the Friedland Gate. For several decades, this museum has a museum dedicated to the pre-war history of the city.

Gate of Koenigsberg

The first gate in the city was built in the XIII century. After 4 centuries, work was carried out on the erection of the First Great Wall. It included 8 gates. Since all these structures were wooden, in 200 years they were decayed badly, and the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm Four, decided to build the Second Walled Fortification. The head of the works was appointed architect Ernst Ludwig von Aster, who decided to create a complex of buildings in the style of English neo-Gothic. The first ones they built were the Royal ones, the laying of which took place in 1843, and 10 years later the city was decorated with six more similar buildings: the Zakheim, Rossgarten, Steindamm, Tragheim, Ausfal and Hollanderbaum. The final point of the construction, which lasted almost 19 years, was the erection of two new gates of a two-hull design: the Friedland and Brandenburg. The first of them received their name in memory of the older building. It was located on the road connecting Königsberg and the city of Friedland, now called Pravdinsky. Through them came carriages with provisions from villages located to the south-east of modern Kaliningrad.

Friedland Gate: the history of the construction in the twentieth century

The second real fortification did not last very long defensive functions. By the beginning of the twentieth century, it became clear that they were not able to protect the city from new types of weapons that had appeared since their erection. In 1910, from the system of military fortifications were excluded and destroyed Tragheim, Shtayndamm and Hollanderbaum gates. Three more such structures were deprived of earthen ramparts, advanced fortifications and casemates. Only the Rossgarten and Friedland gates remained without reconstruction. However, the roads were detoured. At the same time, the buildings have a new function: they have turned into a pedestrian exit framing in the magnificent landscape Zuid-park.

In the Soviet period of the history of Kaliningrad, the gates of the gates were laid, and building warehouses were located in them. In the early 1990s, during the purification of serf water ditches in the park, a large number of household items of the early twentieth century were found. To present them to the city residents and tourists, an exhibition of finds was opened at the address: 30 Dzerzhinsky Street. In addition, during these years the gate and the landscape Zuid-Park became part of the excursion program for groups of Germans coming to their historical homeland.

Description of the structure

Like the other Konigsberg gates, the Friedlands were built in the Neo-Gothic style, which repeats the features typical of English architecture of the Tudor times. The author of the project is unknown, but the researchers believe that, most likely, he is Friedrich Stuyler.

From the side of the old city the facade of the Friedland Gate is divided into 6 parts by five buttresses. They end with pointed gabled decorative turrets and protrude above the decorative parapet with prongs. All the passages, doors and windows are decorated with portals and are made in the form of pointed arches.

The Friedland gates in the central part have two passages with a width of 4.39 m and a height of 4.24 m. At the edges of the structure there are casemates, and on the outside - a guardhouse. The surface of the facade of the gate is decorated with a grid. It is a rhombic ornament of bricks of a different color.

Sculptures on the facade

The Friedland Gate (Kaliningrad) was decorated with a statue of Friedrich von Zollern, who was one of the most famous Great Orders of the Teutonic Order. Unfortunately, the original was lost during the hostilities during the Second World War. Another sculpture of the knight - Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, Grand Master, who founded the Middle Castle in Marienburg - is located on the outside of the gate. Its author is the sculptor Wilhelm Ludwig Stürmer. In 2005 and 2008, work was carried out to restore these monuments and today they still occupy their seats and are one of the most frequently photographed objects in Kaliningrad.

The Museum of the Friedland Gate

This cultural institution is due to its appearance to two enthusiasts - Alexander Georgievich Novik and Avetisyants Elle Petrovna. They managed to turn a small exhibition into a modern one into a museum where active cultural and educational work is being conducted.

In 2007, it was recognized as one of the 3 best implemented projects in 2007-2008. In addition, the institution was recognized as the winner of the All-Russian competition of museums in the technical nomination.

Exposition

The first exposition is called "Fortress City". Visitors are invited to make a brief excursion through the pages of the history of Koenigsberg by viewing a 6-minute film and getting to know the information stands. Then they are invited to the big hall, where the second part of the exposition is located, and a virtual walk through the pre-war city takes place. It starts with a real cobblestone road that has been preserved inside the gate, turning into a virtual one, created by projecting onto the enclosed openings. Three projectors create an optical illusion, pushing the boundaries of the real world and "removing" the walls. The sound effects give even greater reliability to what is happening: the cart creaks, the children laugh and the female heels clink. Under these sounds, excursionists are transferred to Koenigsberg at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, nicknamed the garden city and the "German Atlantis".

Virtual walk

The light-sound show lasts exactly an hour. During this time, the participants of the excursion pass through the historical center of Koenigsberg, from which, unfortunately, nothing remains in real life. There they "peep" into the windows of cafes, shops and pharmacies, and also witness the divorce of the bridge across the Old Pergola. At the end of the virtual tour, the tourists find themselves in a real park, which was destroyed at the beginning of the 20th century on the site of former fortifications, and enjoy the beauty of the nature of the Kaliningrad region.

Exposition "Echo of War"

In the museum "Friedland Gate" visitors can experience the thrill of having been in a room stylized under the bomb shelter of the Second World War. There is an audio-visual exposition "Echo of War" deployed. It has a modern approach and active use of light, sound and optical effects due to the use of the latest technical means.

"Knight's Hall"

As already mentioned, the Friedland Gate (address: Dzerzhinsky, 30) was decorated with the symbolism of the Teutonic Order. In addition, they were installed statues of his prominent representatives. Therefore, it is no coincidence that today the museum has an exposition devoted to the Knights of the Teutonic Order, where the reconstruction of weapons and armor made according to old technologies is presented.

Civilization and sanitation

At one time, the Prussian city of Koenigsberg was considered one of the most comfortable cities in Germany and the Baltic region. The centralized sewage system there appeared much earlier than in most cities of the Russian Empire. The museum, operating inside the Friedland Gate, visitors are invited to see the exhibition devoted to this important component of modern communal services. She talks about the oldest sewerage system, created in the middle of the third millennium BC. E. In the city of Mohenjo-Daro, located on the territory of Pakistan, on the aqueduct in ancient Rome, as well as on the ways of water supply to medieval Europe and Russia. Tourists will also learn interesting information about the World Toilet Organization and that November 19 was proclaimed the International Toilet Day.

"With faith in the heart"

In the museum "Friedland Gate" (see the address above) the exposition with this name is dedicated to the first settlers who arrived in Kaliningrad, destroyed by British aviation and storming the Red Army from different parts of the USSR immediately after the war. Visitors to the museum will be shown how people saw this city who came to explore an unfamiliar region, and what family relics they brought with them. In addition, they will see the works of the artist R. Borisovas and a collection of objects used in divine services, which consists of crosses, folds and icons.

Museums of Kaliningrad

In the city there are many other interesting objects that will be interesting to visit tourists. Among them there is an art gallery, "FORT N 5", a collection of amber and articles from this stone and others. By the way, many of them are located in the former fortifications. For example, the Center for Contemporary Art found a refuge in the tower of the barracks "Kronprinz", built in the XIX century.

Now you know where the Friedland gates are. Kaliningrad is a city with a rich history and numerous sights. When he visits, it's worth to visit Dzerzhinsky Street 30, to visit the museum dedicated to the old Koenigsberg.