How to get to the Kaliningrad Cathedral on your own. Opening hours of the museum and organ hall, Kant's grave in the Cathedral.
On the territory of this city there are many ancient monuments that annually attract lovers of antiquity from all over the world. The place of honor in popularity among the sights of Kaliningrad is occupied by the Cathedral (Kreuzkirche), erected at the beginning of the 14th century under the leadership of Bishop John.
Cathedral of the times of Königsberg
The Cathedral of Kaliningrad was the central temple district of Kneiphof, where services were regularly held with the presence of the first persons of the city and the state.
Today you can admire the cathedral of the former Königsberg in its original form!
The remains of nobles and spiritual dignitaries lie in the crypts of the cathedral. The first grave belongs to the Grand Master of the Order of the Teutonic Knights Lutger von Braunschweig and has been located here since 1335. The last burial was made in 1809 - it belongs to the stillborn son of Princess Marianne and Prince Wilhelm. Among the legendary personalities who found last resort within the walls of the Königsberg Cathedral, there is more than one master Teutonic Order, some Zemland Bishops, professors of the local university and other equally significant people.
But the most prominent person, whose grave is also located within the walls of the cathedral, was the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. His burial stands out from the rest: relatively recently (in relation to the age of the cathedral, of course), namely in 1924, in honor of the 200th anniversary of Kant, a portico was built over his grave.
Until the Second World War, the Cathedral was a model of splendor; its walls housed one of the largest libraries in Prussia, founded by Martin von Walendorf in the 50s of the 17th century. In addition, the temple was proud of one of the largest organs in Europe.
But as a result of Allied air raids at the end of World War II, the cathedral was destroyed, and the interior decoration was lost. However, tombstones and epitaphs miraculously managed to survive.
Cathedral of Kaliningrad
Decades later, researchers and historians who studied the ruins of the cathedral managed to find funds and obtain an order to begin the restoration of the Kaliningrad Cathedral. It happened only in 1992. Thanks to an unexpected decision in those troubled times, today everyone can enjoy not only the facade of the cathedral that has risen from the ruins, but also the exposition of the museum named after I. Immanuel Kant.
Map of Königsberg and souvenirs on the territory of the Kaliningrad Cathedral
The route of the tour of the Cathedral includes a visit to the Kant Institute, an Orthodox chapel, a library restored “from the ashes”, etc.
But the main achievement of the restorers is the discovery concert hall for 700 visitors. The organ complex located here has no equal on the territory of Russia. It consists of a large and small organs and allows you to achieve amazingly rich sounds. In addition, the acoustic possibilities of the Cathedral itself are said to be limitless!
One conclusion can be drawn: the architects managed to restore not only the "body" of the cathedral to the smallest detail, but also to resurrect the spirit that hovered in these walls for many centuries of the cathedral's life.
Cathedral - how to get there
Kaliningrad Cathedral is located in the heart of Kneiphof Island (or Kant Island, as it is called), at the address: st. Kant, 1.
You can get to the island from Victory Square by tram No. 3, 5. The Fish Village stop, from which you will have to walk 300 meters. If Leninsky Prospekt is closer to you, choose any minibus and get off near. Then cross the road and move across the road bridge to Kneiphof - you will notice the Gothic spire from afar.
Opening hours of the museum and organ hall
Currently, Orthodox and Protestant chapels are open in the premises of the Cathedral. The following museum expositions are open: “History of Kneiphof Island”, “Immanuel Kant and Koenigsberg”, “Cathedral. Resurrection from the Ruins”, “Wallenrodt Library”.
In the altar part, at the stage of restoration, the gravestone of Duke Albrecht, a monument to which can be seen on the territory of the temple, opposite the grave of Kant.
Opening hours of the Cathedral: from 09-00 to 17-00 seven days a week.
Information can be specified on the official website - www.sobor-kaliningrad.ru. There you can also find the schedule of organ music concerts in the Kaliningrad Cathedral.
Excursions around Kaliningrad and the region
Unusual routes organized by locals. Creative people come up with excursions, who have something to tell about the city and its surroundings. They will tell you where to spend time and what you can save on.
Hotels in Kreuzkirche
If you liked the location of the Cathedral, then your intuition did not let you down - if somewhere it is worth living in Kaliningrad, then it is in the area of Kant Island. On the map below you will find all the hotels located in the vicinity of Kreuzkirche.
Summing up
It does not matter whether you are interested in the history of the building, whether you want to admire the restored library or whether you love organ music. If you have arrived in Kaliningrad for the first time, you should know that you will not be able to avoid visiting the Cathedral, because this is the soul of the city.
One of the main attractions of Kaliningrad is the Immanuel Kant Museum, located in the historic building of the Königsberg Cathedral. In three exhibition halls on the fourth floor of the building, expositions are presented: "Kant and Russia", "Kant and his entourage" and "Kant Memorial Hall". The island in the center of Kaliningrad, where the museum is located, is also named after Kant.
The life story of the famous philosopher Immanuel Kant, who lived in the capital of East Prussia - Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad), is widely presented in the memorial hall. The first knowledge, hobbies, works, scientific activities and people around the founder of German philosophy are described in detail in the Albertina exposition. Here you can learn a lot of new things, for example, that as a result of Russia's victory in the Seven Years' War, Immanuel Kant was a Russian citizen for several years. In the same room, you can see Kant's petition, sent to Empress Elizabeth, with a request to appoint him to the position of the head of the Department of Logic and Metaphysics. The Immanuel Kant Museum also details the habits of local Freemasons and the customs of the Masonic lodges of the 18th and 19th centuries. The windows of the museum are decorated with artistic stained-glass windows with Masonic symbols.
In the northeast corner of the cathedral is the grave of Professor Immanuel Kant of the University of Koenigsberg, who never left his hometown, but known throughout the world as a philosopher, standing on the verge of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The building of the Königsberg Cathedral also houses museum expositions telling about the history of Kneiphof Island (now Kant Island), the famous Wallenrodt Library and Königsberg University, whose activities are inextricably linked with the works of Kant.
In memory of Immanuel Kant, a monument was erected in Kaliningrad (made according to the author's model of Rauch) next to the University building and a bench near the Museum of the World Ocean, and an office-museum was created in the building of Kaliningrad University (formerly Albertina).
Kneiphof Island, Grosser Domplatz 58
Now official name No; applied by Kneiphof
In the western part (tower) today: an Orthodox chapel, an Evangelical chapel, the Cathedral Museum and the Kant Museum.
After restoration, the nave is to be used in a multicultural way.
Construction history:
The predecessor building was erected after the foundation of the Samland Cathedral Chapter in 1286 on the outskirts of the Altstadt between Pregel and Löbenicht (sometime between 1297 and 1302). Bishop Johannes Clare (1322-44), for whom this church seemed too small, began around 1327 on the eastern half of Kneiphof transferred to him, the construction of a walled episcopal courtyard, to which later a covered gallery and a shelter building were added in the southern part. Further towards Pregel, the episcopal chamber and, to the east of it, a school (later becoming a university), as well as a hospital, grew up. It is impossible to establish the exact date of the beginning of the construction of the Cathedral; in 1320, there is mention of the intention to build, probably the Bishop of Claret started the work sometime in 1332, at the latest in 1333. His original intention to make the Cathedral in the form of a fortified church is evidenced by the eastern wall of the choir built first of all, having a thickness of 3 m. A wide passage for the defenders was also to be built on top of this massive wall, and corner towers should be attached to it. And the construction of the northern wall was initially carried out up to a height of 2.75 meters with the same thickness. But further construction in such a massive manner failed due to the protest of the owner of the territory, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Duke Ludger von Braunschweig. Therefore, the upper part of the northern wall, as well as the south wall, which had not yet been erected at that time, had a thickness of only 1.28 m.
Between 1335 and 1340 the church choir was closed with a "half-timbered" wall as a temporary measure. After that, the temple of God began to be used as such. At this time, the famous frieze arose high above in the choirs, starting at the northern wall, passing further along the eastern and ending on the northern (it also disappeared completely, you can read about it in Seidel's book).
Presumably, only at that moment the western towers were erected (it is this explanation that lends itself to a slight displacement / breakage of the main axis visible in the plan). Both towers were built in 1344. Images of their appearance have not been preserved. They most likely arose on the model of Kulm or Kulmsee. At the same time, work on the longitudinal nave, laid out in the form of a basilica, progressed so much that it was possible to begin the construction of a wooden ceiling and roof (the roof was completed in 1351). But before the Cathedral was rebuilt, under the Grand Master Winrich von Kniprod (1351-82) perestroika had already begun: it was decided to build a hall church with three naves. Rebuilding with the construction of vaults lasted until 1382. At the same time, the windows in the middle nave disappeared, and the windows of the side aisles increased in height.
In 1544, both towers burned to the ground. Their re-erection took place during the Renaissance; a superstructure with 12 corners was added to the south tower, in which bells were hung. The north tower remained in a subordinate position with simple gables on the western and eastern sides. The designs for both were carried out by the former court joiner Hans Wagener. These works were completed in 1552.
In 1564 (or 1568) a charming little tower was erected on the roof of the longitudinal nave - a horse rider.
In 1650, the library, founded already in 1629 by chancellor Martin von Wallenrodt, was moved to a still unused room in the south tower under the bells.
In 1901-07, the Cathedral was restored under the leadership of the provincial conservator Richard Detlefsen. The purpose of this restoration was to restore the previous state before 1400. Following the dictates of the times, they used all their imagination; for example, on the southeast corner of the choir, a small fortified turret was re-created on the basis of the remains of a foundation in the wall. Inside, old frescoes were released from under the plaster. In addition, an attempt was made to counteract the poor building foundation and the lack of foundation (then a subsidence of 1.67 m deep was found under the south tower).
The bombings of August 1944 caused heavy damage. The church was completely burned out. The pediment of the north tower and parts of the vault collapsed. The remaining vaults could have been saved if conservation work and the erection of a temporary roof had been carried out in a timely manner. But for 20 years nothing happened, during which time the Cathedral was exposed to atmospheric influences, and given over to marauders; disappeared, first of all, including the remains of the monument untouched by the fire; and in general, the ruin was in a disconsolate state.
In 1972, the first maintenance work began on the structure. However, in 1975, the last span in the longitudinal nave collapsed. And only since 1976, certain conservation work began, for example, overlapping and additional laying of walls. Recovery, as such, began only in 1990.
Construction description
Western towers.
The western front is divided into three parts into the southern and northern towers and the middle structure. Both lower floors form a through basement. So on the entrance floor, three simple rooms with cross vaults appeared, connected to each other and a longitudinal nave. The middle room serves as a vestibule. It has a round, very original turret with a staircase leading to the upper floors. The middle room on the second floor was covered with a now reconstructed ribbed star-shaped vault. The floor above was the Wallenrodt Library in the room south tower(right under the belfry) and indoors in the middle. One of the rooms was painted, while in the other baroque figures and wood carvings were made. The room in the north tower was not previously used. All three rooms now house the Kant Museum.
The aforementioned three-part division into two towers and the middle structure has almost no effect on the facade. Rather, the façade is divided up to the bases of the towers by two narrow but noticeable decorative strips into horizontal fragments, which partially deprive the Gothic windows of the possibility of giving the impression of aspiration upwards. Below, in the basement passing under two floors, a closed brick wall prevails, which is somewhat enlivened by 11 axes of Gothic forms similar to the walls of the longitudinal nave, of which only three are real windows, and the rest are made in the form of blind arcades (of which later two were half covered with buttresses) . The second (or middle) fragment lying above is more interesting. Between two plaster belts, 18 very high and slender decorative arches are built close to each other, overlapped by lancet arches. In these high decorative arches on the second, distant level, other small decorative openings are arranged, divided into three floors. The forms vary in an exquisite way: on the sides of the towers, for example, internal decorative arches protrude over two "floors", while elongated forms, to increase the scope, stand above the short ones. And only upon closer examination it turns out that some of the decorative arches are made in the form of window openings. This shows that decorative arches were primarily a form of decoration and not meant to imitate windows.
And only above the second decorative belt is the tower zone with its middle pediment divided into five parts, two pilasters of which begin already between the decorative arches and are located in opposition to the horizontal decorative belts. Both towers could not be built to great heights due to poor building foundations. They remained tower stumps with stepped gables with gable roofs between them. These gables were demolished after a fire in 1544. On the square base of the south tower, a two-story superstructure with 12 corners was erected, on which a spire covered with flat tiles was built only in 1552. Interestingly, Gothic windows were replaced by Renaissance forms, supplemented by semicircular arches with small keystones. Yes, and the northern tower, restored with a simple pediment, shows typical forms of the Renaissance.
Longitudinal nave. By the nature of its plan, the Cathedral follows the scheme of order churches with a three-nave parish church and a single-nave choir with a direct ending, but without a crypt (underground chapel). According to the original concept, the parish church was made in the form of a basilica with high windows in the middle nave. Above it was built a simple wooden ceiling. Buttresses were not initially provided for, they were added only after the appearance of vaults.
The church, with three naves and five bays, gave the impression of space, although it did not have that upward aspiration that took place in the South and West German late Gothic. But with a height of 17 m, the width-to-height ratio of almost 1:1.5 deserves attention. The lower side aisles allow one only to guess the history of their origin from the former forms of the basilica. When the outer walls were raised, the windows were extended, and the existing decorative row was continued in the south in a vertical direction, and doubled in the north. As in the lower part of the western front, only one window was made in each span. For a more satisfactory design of the spaces between the two buttresses, decorative arches were added to the side of the windows (which had been painted over before, and during the restoration in 1907 were supplemented with decorated openwork ornamental forms). During the rebuilding for the parish church, new, richly profiled columns were erected, which were slightly elongated at the base. And only their sandstone plinths remained from the time of the original basilica. The columns passed without heels into arches, carrying a star-shaped dome of 12 parts. The domes of the side aisles had a peculiar shape: The middle rib in the form of a pear-shaped rib (*) crossed the entire space, on both sides segmental vaults adjoined it along the vaults. After 1500, the eastern span of the northern nave collapsed. During the re-erection, the star vault was again preferred. The inner surfaces of the fired brick wall and column were plastered and partly decorated. Already in 1833, wall paintings were discovered in the choir stalls and in 1863 in the parish church, others were found during restoration in 1907.
On the western end of the middle nave, an organ platform was built in 1717, which was expanded in 1833 to a singing empora. Being a little over 3 m high, at first it blocked the incoming full view of the church nave. The organ itself was made in 1721 by Joshua Mozengel.
In the east, the middle nave ended triumphal arch, whose height roughly corresponds to the height of the lowest choir. Initially, a 4 m high lettner stood here, which had two passages. Later, the opening was enlarged, and in this place a renaissance altar was built, which was enlarged with the addition of baroque elements.
Choir section. Section along the longitudinal nave.
On the reverse side of the tomb to Duke Albrecht. As of 1350 (approximately)
Condition 1340-1944 (tombs from 1571)
The single-nave choir, five bays long, shows, especially today, when its powerful brick structure is not covered by anything, its character of a defensive structure. Its “defensive” function was used by the French during the occupation in 1807, when they abused it for a short time, adapting it to a military prison. After the transformation into a normal church, which the Grand Master demanded shortly after the start of construction, the southern wall probably became 2.60 m higher than the northern one. Because of this, the truss truss, which is located misaligned above the choirs, turned out to be uneven. From the very beginning, the construction of vaulted ceilings over the choirs was envisaged, as evidenced by the buttresses made together with the outer walls. The heel stones of the stellated vaults in the form of thin columns adjoined the wall for a length of 2.80 meters.
Inside, the choirs were separated by a lattice: two eastern spans formed a high choir; since the burial of Duke Albrecht, a princely crypt has appeared here. The three remaining bays were accessible to all and formed the lower choir, there were also seats for the choirs.
Externally, the south side of the choir was made with less decoration, most likely, there used to be a covered gallery here. But the north side, overlooking the Altstadt, was made using large funds with profiled windows and buttresses. The upper completion of the side walls in its division corresponded to the originally planned covered gallery. In the north, these were semi-circular, in the south, decorative lancet rows. Together with a new roof structure, they were restored in 1997 and 1998.
a common part
Lengthwise cut.
Status for 1907 - 1944
Königsberg Cathedral is hardly a building structure that could impress with its particularly successful proportions or uniform decoration. The significance of the Cathedral is more evident as a powerful order church, which - in accordance with the requirements of the time - was constantly rebuilt and shaped in a new way from the Gothic to the Baroque, until at the beginning of the 20th century it underwent a thorough restoration in the manner appropriate to that time.
The great length of 98 m is striking, which was best observed in 1994, when the towers again reached their former height, and the longitudinal nave and choirs joined them in the form of a “low” ruin, which stretched and stretched in length. Due to the newly restored very high roof, this impression of “infinity” is blunted, and the power of the building can now be perceived in its entirety. In particular, the southern tower with its spire, which until 1997, due to its height, was presented in a certain sense even in a more favorable light, gives the impression of being crushed, subordinating to the long church nave.
In the fantasy-filled times of rebuilding and new design at the end of the 19th century, there were projects for the erection of both towers in the “Gothic” sense, that is, higher (which has already happened in other places, but fortunately not in Königsberg). It is impossible to imagine that tall towers were able to create balance with a very elongated nave. So the tower side with the spire and the trench is just a showcase in the best sense of the word: starting with the Gothic aspiration to the sky with high rows of windows and narrow decorative arches above them presented at the top in the Renaissance, this aspiration is calmed down by the wide pediment of the north tower and compact semi-circular windows. south tower. Well, then, as a dot above the “i”, everything is dodecagonal superstructure of the southern tower with its sharp pyramidal roof - elements that are once again tied to the Gothic aspiration to the sky.
Outbuildings
Like all medieval churches, the cathedral in Königsberg acquired several outbuildings:
The baptismal chapel was added in 1595. The two buttresses of the northern wall of the longitudinal nave were connected to each other, and the entire room was covered with a wooden vault. As a dividing wall from the side nave, a form typical of the Renaissance was taken: on the parapet, eleven slender Ionic columns with an ancient system of beams were placed in two rows. The opening in the middle was crowned with a semicircular arch.
The sacristy was built in the corner between the south wall of the side nave and the choirs. It consisted of the sacristy itself with a vault and an auxiliary room, access to which was possible only from the outside. On the walls of the base of both rooms, an auxiliary room for technical devices has now appeared, made of bricks of a different type.
Professor's tomb. Since 1558, all professors of the university opposite had the right to be buried in an open gallery along the northern wall of the choir. Immanuel Kant was in 1804 the last one who solemnly found his eternal rest here. In 1809 an open promenade gallery was erected, but due to poor condition it was demolished in 1880. A small hall with two pediments in the Gothic style was erected over the burial place of Kant, which, however, soon also fell into disrepair. And only on the great anniversary of Kant in 1924, a new worthy building was erected on the same place.
Today's state
The appearance of the cathedral with the help of restoration work has been mostly restored (if you do not take into account the condition brick wall, unsatisfactory work to improve it and not always the right shape and material for covering the buttresses, the roof, the spire of the tower and the sacristy). The final restoration of the outer part of the wall began in 1999, while the places that were not well executed during the early restorations should also be updated.
In the inner part of the choirs and the parish church (both covered with a roof of a light metal structure, the side walls are fixed with a steel structure) one could see the horrifying state in which the Cathedral was back in 1976 when the conservation work began or in 1990, when the restoration itself began.
All the very rich interior decoration burned down in 1944, the vaults collapsed one after another, the baked brick walls appear to be bare without plaster, the side walls, although they still exist, stand crookedly and, at a height of 17.7 m, deviated from the vertical up to 42 cm Even the initially preserved floor was destroyed during the first conservation work. The epitaphs on the walls, which came out of the war relatively intact, were destroyed beyond recognition only in subsequent years.
But the curvature of the interior walls is not the result of a lack of maintenance work, it is a problem that has been troublesome since the beginning of the cathedral's construction work in the 14th century. The building soil of the island on Pregel consists of an earth embankment, a 3-4 meter layer of peat, and under them there is sludge and quicksand. These layers are by no means load-bearing. The outer walls stand on arched devices, and only the columns most likely stand on stilts.
Interior
Monument to Duke Albrecht as of 1945
It's me.))) This is how our generation remembered him............
The mentioned rich interior, which was constantly enriched from the 14th to the 19th century, was in 1944 and in the first post-war years it was almost completely destroyed. Only parts of individual epitaphs and crypts in the wall remained.
Almost the entire eastern wall is still occupied by a monument to Duke Albrecht (it remained almost undamaged after the bombing, but then all the figures, coats of arms, columns and other decorations were taken away, today only a bare architectural frame remains - 11 m high, 12.5 m width). This monument is considered one of the main works of the sculptor Cornelis Floris of Antwerp (1513 - 1575) and was made in Antwerp. Duke Albrecht died in 1568, the year 1570 is on the monument, and it was erected in 1571. The Italian graves of the heyday of the Renaissance served as a model, which in turn are rooted in ancient Rome.
The middle part is formed by a large semi-circular niche, surrounded on the sides by four small niches, in front of which there are Corinthian columns with a ceiling structure. A luxurious sarcophagus stood in a large niche, on its slab the duke knelt, praying in front of the altar. Allegorical figures stood in the side niches. Under the pediment that completed everything was a very realistic image of the Last Judgment. The figures were made of white alabaster, the architectural parts were made of Belgian limestone.
Of the more than 100 epitaphs formerly located on the outer and inner walls, only a few have survived. Inside, in addition to the monument to Albrecht in the choirs on south wall only the remains of two epitaphs can be seen. Plate for the epitaph to Prince Bogislav Radziwill (died in 1669) and his wife Anna Maria, nee. Princess Radziwill (two large wreaths with inscriptions and two full-size busts are missing); then the architectural framework of the epitaph to Duchess Anna Maria, second wife of Duke Albrecht (died 1568); and there is a lack of inscriptions and figurative decorations.
The round stair tower shown below in the entrance hall has already been mentioned. Square columns make it possible to see a spiral staircase. In the lower part and under the roof, semicircular vaults are so intertwined with each other that they form small lancet vaults. Boetticher wrote: “The turret is so original that it is impossible to put anything similar next to it.” Arches intertwined in the form of lancet vaults are one of the inventions of Norman architecture in Sicily in the 11th and 13th centuries.
epitaphs
better preserved on the outer walls, since they mostly do not contain any luxurious architectural details and no figured decorations, but are simply set into the wall in the form of slabs. They were restored and mothballed in 1995/96.
Let's start from the south side of the cathedral:
Outside, on the last, eastern span of the longitudinal nave, in the lower part of the decorative window, there is a simple tablet in honor of Sarah Bregelia; it consists only of an inscription framed in a frame.
Further, already on the outer wall of the choirs in the second bay (to the east of the extension of the former sacristy) there is a well-preserved (albeit broken in three places) epitaph of Suzanne von Kalkstein. Above the inscription are two coats of arms; the slab is framed by a saying in the form of a frame on all four.
At the fifth and last bay of the choirs is the epitaph of Chancellor Johann von Kreutzen and his wife Jeofemia, née Damerau; above the inscription, the couple itself is visible, he is wearing knightly armor, and she is wearing a long dress and a necklace around her neck; above a row of coats of arms.
Now let's move on to the eastern wall of the choirs: there hangs, near the Kantian portico, a well-preserved epitaph of Ursula von Pudlitz, nee von Grünberg, wife of the noble Mr. Wedigo Raymar zu Pudlitz, year of death - 1612. Both coats of arms are set above the inscription in the recess.
Other epitaphs are located on the northern side of the Cathedral facing the city. In the penultimate bay (next to Kant's tomb) on the outer wall is a heavily blurred epitaph of Albrecht Baron von Kittelitz, regent and landhofmeister (you can hardly recognize the figures with folded hands).
The next epitaph is located on the wall of the choir and is better preserved; it is dedicated to Koelestin Kowalewski (the medallion located above the inscription is now missing).
Well, in the end, in the second span, we see the well-preserved epitaph of Andreas Fabricius. It is decorated richer with a coat of arms in the middle, framed by a vault of the Renaissance. There is also a saying on it, which encloses the entire slab like a frame on four sides.
On the northern wall of the longitudinal nave on the fifth eastern span, there are two epitaphs at once: the first is not identified and consists only of a frame. The second row, richly decorated, is dedicated to Matthias Stoius. This one is reminiscent of its division into two parts and a small pediment on top of the epitaph in the church premises.
The last epitaph is located to the left of the window of the 4th bay (the bay east of the baptismal chapel) and is dedicated to Christopher Preuss and his wife Jeofemia Stolpiana. It is framed by an eye-catching frame.
Inside the choirs on the floor there was a tombstone of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Luther von Braunschweig (at first it was temporarily surrounded by boards). This plate with inscriptions is broken in several places. In 1998, she was photographed for restoration.
