An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town , or the place where the central administration of a commune , is located.
115-583: Kaliningrad , known as Königsberg until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast , a Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland . The city sits about 663 kilometres (412 mi) west of the bulk of Russia . The city is situated on the Pregolya River , at the head of the Vistula Lagoon on the Baltic Sea , and is the only ice-free Russian port on
230-404: A chef-lieu ( French pronunciation: [ʃɛfljø] , plural form chefs-lieux , literally 'chief place' or 'main place'), is a town or city that is important from an administrative perspective. The capital of an Algerian province is called a chef-lieu . The capital of a district , the next largest division, is also called a chef-lieu , whilst the capital of the lowest division,
345-513: A Free Economic Zone ( FEZ Yantar ). In 2005 the city celebrated its 750th anniversary. In July 2007 Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov declared that if US-controlled missile defence systems were deployed in Poland, then nuclear weapons might be deployed in Kaliningrad. On 5 November 2008 Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that installing missiles in Kaliningrad was almost
460-465: A central city as chef-lieu of delegation . In the United Kingdom it is the centre of a local authority , which is distinct from a historic county with a county town. Old Prussians Old Prussians , Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians were a Baltic people that inhabited the region of Prussia , on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea between the Vistula Lagoon to
575-585: A certainty. These plans were suspended, however, in January 2009. During late 2011, a long range Voronezh radar was commissioned to monitor missile launches within about 6,000 kilometres (3,728 miles). It is situated in the settlement of Pionersky (formerly German Neukuhren ) in Kaliningrad Oblast. Kaliningrad was one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia. Kaliningrad
690-409: A district ( liwa ), or a governorate ( muhafazah ). Luxembourg is divided into two judicial arrondissements (Luxembourg City, Diekirch), four electoral circonscriptions (constituencies), twelve cantons , as well as 100 communes (municipalities; Luxembourgish: Gemengen ). Arrondissements, districts and cantons have each a chef-lieu and are named after it. The same is true for each commune which
805-534: A dozen or so laukses. Because the Baltic tribes inhabiting Prussia never formed a common political and territorial organisation, they had no reason to adopt a common ethnic or national name. Instead they used the name of the region from which they came – Galindians , Sambians , Bartians , Nadruvians , Natangians , Scalovians , Sudovians , etc. It is not known when and how the first general names came into being. This lack of unity weakened them severely, similar to
920-685: A geographical basis. These were: The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan (in Anglo-Saxon ) ( English translation ) describes a ninth century voyage by traveller and trader Wulfstan of Hedeby to the land of the Old Prussians. He observed their funeral customs. Characterized as a humble people, who dressed plainly, the Old Prussians were distinguished for their valor and great bodily strength . They generally rejected luxury, yet were very hospitable, and enjoyed celebrating and drinking excessively, usually mead . Wulfstan of Hedeby , who visited
1035-576: A household was the buttataws (literally, the house father , from buttan , meaning home , and taws , meaning father ). Larger political and territorial organisations, called terrula in Latin (a small land), existed in the early 13th century in the territories which later comprised Prussia, Latvia and Lithuania and centred on strongholds or hill forts. Such a political territorial unit covered up to 300 km (120 sq mi) and could have up to 2,000 inhabitants. They were known as pulka , comprising
1150-405: A lack of confirmation about their original location and context, all subsequent questions on their age, the chronology of the objects, an exact definition of their function, their provenance, pointing to which cultural influence have not been addressed until the late 19th century. A majority of past and present researchers agree the babas were created between the 8th and 13th centuries as a "result of
1265-421: A long cultural process among the population of early Iron Age area of the south-eastern Baltic coast, which was affected by both the early traditions of the local craft and inspirations from countries already under Christian influence." Because they did not know God, therefore, in their error, they worshipped every creature as divine, namely the sun, moon and stars, thunder, birds, even four-legged animals, even
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#17327649680501380-655: A major rebellion in 1286, were defeated by the Teutonic Knights. In 1283, according to the chronicler of the Teutonic Knights, Peter of Dusburg, the conquest of the Prussians ended and the war with the Lithuanians began. In 1243, papal legate William of Modena divided Prussia into four bishoprics – Culm , Pomesania , Ermland , and Samland – under the Bishopric of Riga . Prussians were baptised at
1495-443: A male head of the family and centred on strongholds or hill forts. The supreme power resided in general gatherings of all adult males, who discussed important matters concerning the community and elected the leader and chief; the leader was responsible for the supervision of the everyday matters, while the chief (the rikīs ) was in charge of the road and watchtower building, and border defense, undertaken by Vidivarii . The head of
1610-689: A segment in Baltic settlement names, especially in Curonian , and is found in Old Prussian placenames such as in Stablack , from stabs (stone) + laūks (field, thus stone field ). The plural is not attested in Old Prussian, but the Lithuanian plural of laukas ("field") is laukai . A laūks was also formed by a group of farms, that shared economic interests and a desire for safety, ruled by
1725-485: A settlement of Germans and the city became predominantly German, with Polish (up to 30% in the 17th century), Lithuanian and Latvian minorities. In 1454, the city integrated within borders of Poland for a year thanks to King Casimir IV Jagiellon as the capital of the Królewiec Voivodeship , and became a fief of Poland from 1466, also considered part of "one and indivisible" Kingdom of Poland. After
1840-468: A soul and an afterlife, and practiced ancestor worship . Some authors, by contrast, have argued for a well developed, sophisticated Old Prussian polytheism with a clearly defined pantheon of gods. The highest priest Kriwe-Kriwajto was to be in permanent connection with the spirits of the dead ancestors. He lived in a sacred grove, the Romove , a place off limit for anyone but elite clergy. Each district
1955-506: Is a term commonly ascribed to the settlement that serves as a municipal administrative centre. This level handles the local administrative and political tasks of the surrounding settlements. Since central place theory was the guiding principle during the municipal reform 1962–1977, most municipalities were dominated by a larger urban area where the political seat was located. Most municipalities are named for their central locality, but there are several exceptions. There are many deviations from
2070-465: Is also Interpersonal Communications Development Central located in the park. The Kaliningrad Zoo was opened as the Königsberg Zoo in 1896. The collection, which extends over 16.5 ha (40 acres), comprises 315 species with a total of 2,264 individual animals (as of 2005). The Kaliningrad Zoo is also an arboretum . Centrally located in the city is Lower Pond , an artificial lake. Lower Pond
2185-465: Is also home to small communities of Tatars , Germans , Armenians , Poles , and Lithuanians . Ethnic composition, Russian 2010 census : The pre-war city center (Altstadt and Kneiphof) consists of parks, broad avenues, a square on the site of the former Königsberg Castle , and the restored Königsberg Cathedral on the Kneiphof island (now "Kant island"). Immanuel Kant's grave is situated next to
2300-577: Is at first warm and usually sunny, turning cold, damp and foggy in November. Winter includes periods of snow. January and February are the coldest months with the temperature sometimes dropping as low as −15 °C (5 °F). The original German population fled or was expelled after the end of World War II , when the territory was annexed by the Soviet Union, and in the following few years. In October 1945, only about 5,000 Soviet civilians lived in
2415-558: Is at the mouth of the navigable Pregolya River , which empties into the Vistula Lagoon , an inlet of the Baltic Sea . Sea vessels can access Gdańsk Bay and the Baltic Sea by way of the Vistula Lagoon and the Strait of Baltiysk . Until around 1900, ships drawing more than 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) of water could not pass the bar and use the city's docks; larger vessels had to anchor at Pillau (now Baltiysk ), where cargo
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#17327649680502530-644: Is based. The name of Pameddi , the ( Pomesania ) tribe, is derived from the words pa ("by" or "near") and median ("forest"), which can be traced to the Proto-Indo-European adjective *médʰyos 'middle'. Nadruvia may be a compound of the words na ("by" or "on") and drawē ("wood"). The name of the Bartians , a Prussian tribe, and the name of the Bārta river in Latvia are possibly cognates . In
2645-599: Is composed of more than one town or village. Usually (with a few exceptions), the commune is named after the communal chef-lieu. In Russia , several million-plus cities in federal districts have the official status of an administrative centre: Moscow (as the main city of the Central Federal District ), Vladivostok , Volgograd , Yekaterinburg , Nizhny Novgorod , Novosibirsk , Pyatigorsk , Rostov-on-Don and St. Petersburg . The main cities of regions and municipal districts are also called unofficially
2760-537: Is initially cold and windy, later becoming pleasantly warm and often very sunny. Summer, which begins in June, is predominantly warm but hot at times (with temperatures reaching as high as +30–+35 °C (86–95 °F) at least once per year) with plenty of sunshine interspersed with heavy showers. The average annual hours of sunshine for Kaliningrad is 1,700, similar to other northern cities. Autumn comes in September and
2875-635: Is located on that square. The oldest building in Kaliningrad is the Juditten Church (built before 1288). Also worth seeing are the former Stock Exchange , the surviving churches, and the remaining city gates. In counter-clockwise order these gates are: the Sackheim Gate , King's Gate , Rossgarten Gate , Attack Gate ( German : Ausfallstor , or Sally Port), Railway Gate ( Eisenbahntor ), Brandenburg Gate , and Friedland Gate ( Friedländer Tor (Kaliningrad) [ de ] ). Apart from
2990-633: Is surrounded by a promenade and is an area for recreation especially in summer. North of the Lower Pond is the larger Upper Pond in northern Kaliningrad. Leonhard Euler 's 1736 paper on the puzzle of the Seven Bridges of Königsberg was a seminal work in the fields of graph theory and topology . Only two of the structures from his era survive. Administrative centre In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and many African countries),
3105-597: The Archbishopric of Magdeburg , while Germans and Dutch settlers colonized the lands of the native Prussians; Poles and Lithuanians also settled in southern and eastern Prussia, respectively. Significant pockets of Old Prussians were left in a matrix of Germans throughout Prussia and in what is now the Kaliningrad Oblast . The monks and scholars of the Teutonic Order took an interest in
3220-517: The Bavarian Geographer in the ninth century. More extensive mention of the Old Prussians in historical sources is in connection with Adalbert of Prague , who was sent by Bolesław I of Poland . Adalbert was slain in 997 during a missionary effort to Christianize the Prussians. As soon as the first Polish dukes had been established with Mieszko I in 966, they undertook a number of conquests and crusades not only against Prussians and
3335-614: The Duchy of Prussia (1525–1701) and East Prussia . Königsberg remained the coronation city of the Prussian monarchy, though the capital was moved to Berlin in 1701. From 1454 to 1455, the city under the name of Królewiec belonged to the Kingdom of Poland , and from 1466 to 1657 it was a Polish fief . Königsberg was the easternmost large city in Germany until World War II . The city
3450-781: The European Union in 2004 . All military and civilian land links between the region and the rest of Russia have to pass through members of NATO and the EU. Special travel arrangements for the territory's inhabitants have been made through the Facilitated Transit Document (FTD) and Facilitated Rail Transit Document (FRTD) . While in the 1990s some Soviet-era city names commemorating communist leaders were changed (e.g., Leningrad reverting to Saint Petersburg and Kalinin, also named after Mikhail Kalinin , reverting to Tver ), Kaliningrad remains named as it was, though
3565-733: The German city of Königsberg from 1657 to 1945; and the Russian city of Kaliningrad from 1945 to present. Königsberg was preceded by a Sambian ( Old Prussian tribe) fort called Twangste (Prussian word tvinksta means a pond made by a dam). During the conquest of the Sambians by the Teutonic Knights in 1255, Twangste was destroyed and replaced by a new fortress named Königsberg in honor of Bohemian king Ottokar II . The declining Old Prussian culture finally became extinct around
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3680-467: The Lithuanian SSR because the resolution from the conference specifies that Kaliningrad's border would be at the (pre-war) Lithuanian frontier. The remaining German population was forcibly expelled between 1947 and 1948. The annexed territory was populated with Soviet citizens , mostly ethnic Russians but to a lesser extent also Ukrainians and Belarusians. The German language was replaced with
3795-736: The Poles to the south, the Sudovians (sometimes considered a separate people, other times regarded as a Prussian tribe) to the east and south-east, the Skalvians to the north, and the Lithuanians to the northeast. The smallest social unit in Baltic lands was the laūks , a word attested in Old Prussian as "field", which were small family oriented settlements, households and the surrounding fields, only separated from one another by uninhabited areas of forest, swamp and marsh. The word appears as
3910-646: The Sirgune River and the Prussians suffered a decisive defeat. The Prussians took the Christian bishop and imprisoned him for several years. Numerous knights from throughout Catholic Europe joined in the Prussian Crusades , which lasted sixty years. Many of the native Prussians from Sudovia who survived were resettled in Samland ; Sudauer Winkel was named after them. Frequent revolts , including
4025-676: The Soviet Union ) 1945–1991 [REDACTED] Russian Federation 1991–present Under the Potsdam Agreement of 1 August 1945, the city became part of the Soviet Union pending the final determination of territorial borders. This final determination eventually took place on 12 September 1990 when the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany was signed. The excerpt from the initial agreement pertaining to
4140-501: The Stockholm metropolitan area . The term central locality has no legal standing and it is unclear how it should be applied to these municipalities. Some municipalities appointing one or several localities to be the central locality. A residence city (Swedish: "residensstad") is the town or city which is the political and administrative seat of the county . This level handles the more regional political and administrative tasks of
4255-691: The University of Königsberg , the second-oldest university of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . In 1618 the Duchy of Prussia fell under the control of the Electors of Brandenburg and in 1657 it became controlled in personal union with Brandenburg (sometimes referred to as Brandenberg-Prussia). The city had strong ties with Poland, and Polish authorities several times confirmed and extended its rights in support against absolutist ambitions of
4370-512: The Västra Götaland Region . The term chef-lieu is applied to the capital of each Swiss canton . In 16 of the 26 cantons, the territory is subdivided into districts. Every district also has a location nominated as chef-lieu and each has a prefect. The term chef-lieu is used to designate the capital of each gouvernorat (department). Each of the 24 gouvernorats is subdivided into delegations (districts) which each have
4485-473: The municipalities , is called agglomération de chef-lieu (chef-lieu agglomeration ) and is abbreviated as A.C.L. The chef-lieu in Belgium is the administrative centre of each of the ten provinces of Belgium . Three of these cities also give their name to their province ( Antwerp , Liège and Namur ). The chef-lieu of a département is known as the préfecture . This is the town or city where
4600-469: The prefect of the department (and all services under their control) are situated, in a building known as the prefecture . In every French region , one of the departments has pre-eminence over the others, and the prefect carries the title of Prefect of region X..., Prefect of Department Z... and the city where the regional prefect is found is known as chef-lieu of the region or, more commonly, Regional prefecture . The services are, however, controlled by
4715-569: The secularization of the Teutonic Order in 1525, Königsberg became the capital of the Duchy of Prussia , remaining under Polish suzerainty, and the black Prussian eagle had a crown around its neck bearing the letter "S" from the Latinized name of Polish King Sigismund I the Old . The multi-ethnic city was an important center of Polish and Lithuanian culture, especially as one of the pioneering centers of Polish and Lithuanian printing, and also thanks to
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4830-519: The 10th century with the failed Christianisation by Adalbert of Prague (997 AD), the first conquest attempts at the expense of the Old Prussians by the duchy of the Polans under Mieszko I and the Duchy of Greater Poland under his son Bolesław , as a number of border areas were eventually lost. Around the year 1,000 AD, the Kashubians and Pomeranians lived to the west of the Old Prussians,
4945-480: The 1990s, the chef-lieu has transitioned from the location of the Governor, Commandant, or Prefect and their staff, to the location of Commune, Cercles of Mali / Departments of Niger , and Regional Councils and a variety of decentralized bodies. The chefs-lieux of a Region, Cercle or Département, is usually also a Communal chef-lieu. Both nations collect these councils in a "High Council of Collectivites" seated at
5060-586: The Baltic Sea. Its population in 2020 was 489,359. Kaliningrad is the second-largest city in the Northwestern Federal District , after Saint Petersburg , the third-largest city in the Baltic region , and the seventh-largest city on the Baltic Sea. Modern-day Kaliningrad was renamed, rebuilt and repopulated by Russians starting in 1946 in the ruins of Königsberg, in which only Lithuanian inhabitants were allowed to remain. Meanwhile,
5175-642: The Baltic states from the West. Others think that the reason was that the region was far too strategic for the USSR to leave it in the hands of another SSR other than the Russian one. In the 1950s, Nikita Khrushchev offered the entire Kaliningrad Oblast to the Lithuanian SSR but Antanas Sniečkus refused to accept the territory because it would add at least a million ethnic Russians to Lithuania proper. In 2010,
5290-484: The Baltic tribes during the 10th century, but repeatedly encountered strong resistance. Not until the 13th century were the Old Prussians subjugated and their lands conquered by the Teutonic Order . The remaining Old Prussians were assimilated during the following two centuries. The Old Prussian language , documented only in a limited way, was effectively extinct by the 18th century. The original territory of
5405-672: The Dohna Tower, which houses the Amber Museum, the Wrangel Tower also remains as a reminder of the former Königsberg city walls. Only the gate of the former Fort Friedrichsburg remains. Notable monuments include the statue of Immanuel Kant in front of the Immanuel Kant State University of Russia . The statue was made by notable sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch and unveiled in 1864. The statue
5520-584: The Duchy of Prussia and unofficially in the Polish province of Royal Prussia , while Catholicism survived in the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia , the territory of secular rule comprising a third of the then Diocese of Warmia . With Protestantism came the use of the vernacular in church services instead of Latin , so Albert had the Catechisms translated into Old Prussian. Because of the conquest of
5635-760: The East and West, particularly Poland and the Netherlands. From 1701, Brandenberg-Prussia became a Kingdom and the entire area was referred to as the Kingdom of Prussia . While the Brandenberg portion was a part of the Holy Roman Empire and later the German Confederation , Prussia (later called East Prussia) was not included within those territorial boundaries. In 1734–1736, during the War of
5750-475: The German magazine Der Spiegel published a report claiming that Kaliningrad had been offered to Germany in 1990 (against payment). The offer was not seriously considered by the West German government which, at the time, saw reunification with East Germany as a higher priority. However, this story was later denied by Mikhail Gorbachev . The town of Baltiysk , just outside Kaliningrad, is the only Russian Baltic Sea port said to be "ice-free" all year round, and
5865-402: The German population was ethnically cleansed , in effect creating a new city. Königsberg itself had been founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement Twangste by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades , and named Königsberg in honor of King Ottokar II of Bohemia . A Baltic port city, it successively became the capital of the State of the Teutonic Order ,
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#17327649680505980-424: The Gothic Empire. The original Old Prussian settlement area in the western Baltics, as well as that of the eastern Balts, was much larger than in historical times. The archaeological documentation and associated finds confirm uninterrupted presence from the Iron Age (fifth century BC) to the successive conquest by Slavic tribes, beginning in the Migration Period . Permanent recorded Baltic history begins in
6095-400: The Iron Age (5th century BC – 1st century AD), the western Baltic kurgan and barrow culture was widespread among the Old Prussians. It was then that cremation in urns appeared. Grave mounds were raised over stone cells for up to 30 urns, or stone boxes for the urns were buried in Bronze Age style barrows. During the early phase of imperial Rome, shallow graves appeared in which the corpse
6210-408: The Just invaded Prussia, this time along the river Drewenz ( Drwęca ). He forced some of the Prussian tribes to pay tribute and then withdrew. Several attacks by Konrad of Masovia in the early 13th century were also successfully repelled by the Prussians. In 1209 Pope Innocent III commissioned the Cistercian monk Christian of Oliva with the conversion of the pagan Prussians. In 1215, Christian
6325-404: The Kreuzkirche building was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. For foreigners, the city was completely closed and, with the exception of rare visits of friendship from neighboring Poland, it was practically not visited by foreigners. The old city was not restored, and the ruins of the Königsberg Castle were demolished in the late 1960s, on Leonid Brezhnev 's personal orders, despite
6440-400: The Old Prussians prior to the first clashes with the Polans consisted of central and southern West and East Prussia , equivalent to parts of the modern areas of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland , the Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia and the southern Klaipėda Region in Lithuania . The territory was also inhabited by Scalovians , a tribe related to
6555-450: The Polish Succession , it was the place of stay of Polish King Stanisław Leszczyński and many of his prominent supporters. In the context of the Seven Years' War , the city was conquered and occupied by the Russian Empire (1758–1762), whose initial plan was to offer the city and region to Poland as part of a territorial exchange desired by Russia. Immanuel Kant is famous for having sworn allegiance to Empress Elizabeth of Russia . In
6670-414: The Popes, but also under the control of the empire, took control of much of the Baltic, establishing their own monastic state in Prussia. In 1230, following the Golden Bull of Rimini , Grand Master Hermann von Salza and Duke Konrad I of Masovia launched the Prussian Crusade , a joint invasion of Prussia to Christianise the Baltic Old Prussians. The Order then created the independent Monastic State of
6785-421: The Prussian dukes, and after 1657 the city actively opposed secession from Poland. The city acted as an intermediary in maritime trade between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Netherlands , England and France , with the 17th-century stock exchange including a painting depicting a townswoman buying goods from a Pole and a Dutchman, embracing the notion that the city's prosperity was based on trade with
6900-410: The Prussians, Curonians and Eastern Balts. "Prussians" is an exonym for these peoples, i.e., they did not refer to themselves with this word. The words "Prussians/Prussia" may originate from toponymy , as the word Prūsas (a Prussian) can be derived from the term for a body of water, an understandable convention in a coastal region dotted with thousands of lakes, streams and swamps ( Masuria ). To
7015-419: The Prussians. In 1224, Emperor Frederick II proclaimed that he himself and the Empire took the population of Prussia and the neighboring provinces under their direct protection; the inhabitants were declared to be Reichsfreie , to be subordinated directly to the Church and the Empire only, and exempted from service to and the jurisdiction of other dukes. The Teutonic Order , officially subject directly to
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#17327649680507130-404: The Russian language. In 1950, there were 1,165,000 inhabitants, which was only half the number of the pre-war population. From 1953 to 1962, a monument to Stalin stood on Victory Square. In 1973, the town hall was turned into the House of Soviets. In 1975, the trolleybus was launched again. In 1980, a concert hall was opened in the building of the former Lutheran Church of the Holy Family. In 1986,
7245-405: The Soviet Union of the city of Koenigsberg and the area adjacent to it as described above, subject to expert examination of the actual frontier. The President of the United States and the British Prime Minister supported the proposal of the Conference at the forthcoming peace settlement. Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 after the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of
7360-415: The Teutonic Knights and received help from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 13th century in their quest to free themselves of the military order. In 1525 Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach secularized the Order's Prussian territories into the Protestant Duchy of Prussia , a vassal of the crown of Poland. During the Reformation , Lutheranism spread throughout the territories, officially in
7475-504: The Teutonic Knights in the conquered territory and subsequently conquered Courland, Livonia, and Estonia. The Dukes of Poland accused the Order of holding lands illegally. During an attack on Prussia in 1233, over 21,000 crusaders took part, of which the burggrave of Magdeburg brought 5,000 warriors, Duke Henry of Silesia 3,000, Duke Konrad of Masovia 4,000, Duke Casimir of Kuyavia 2,000, Duke Wladyslaw of Greater Poland 2,200 and Dukes of Pomerania 5,000 warriors. The main battle took place at
7590-447: The USSR Mikhail Kalinin , although Kalinin was unrelated to the city, and there were already cities named in honour of Kalinin in the Soviet Union, namely Kalinin (now Tver) and Kaliningrad (now Korolev, Moscow Oblast ). Kalinin was one of six Politburo members who signed the order to execute more than 21,000 Polish prisoners of war at Katyn and elsewhere in 1940. Some historians speculate that it may have originally been offered to
7705-410: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which is adjacent to the Baltic Sea should pass from a point on the eastern shore of the Bay of Danzig to the east, north of Braunsberg – Goldep , to the meeting point of the frontiers of Lithuania , the Polish Republic and East Prussia . The Conference has agreed in principle to the proposal of the Soviet Government concerning the ultimate transfer to
7820-432: The administration being devolved usually to the Secretary-general of the departmental prefecture , who functions as sub-prefect for the arrondissement. The chef-lieu of a canton is usually the biggest city or town within the canton, but has only a nominal role. No specific services are controlled by it. In past decades, there was always a Gendarmerie , a treasurer and a justice of the peace. The chef-lieu indicates
7935-430: The administrative centre or simply the centre. The only exception to this rule is the republics , for which the term " capital " is used to refer to the seat of government. The capital of Russia is also an entity to which the term "administrative centre" does not apply. In Sweden there are two levels of administrative centre; the local municipal and the regional county . Central locality ( Swedish : "centralort")
8050-446: The administrative subdivisions down to the Commune level each have a formal place of administrative headquarters, titled the chef-lieu. The larger portion of the terminology of administrative division is inherited from colonial rule as part of French West Africa , and has survived and been somewhat modified over time. In both nations there have been remarkably parallel histories. With the decentralization process begun in both nations in
8165-420: The cathedral. The never-finished House of Soviets ("Dom Sovyetov") sat roughly on the site of the former castle before its demolition in 2023-24. Many German-era buildings in the historic city centre have been preserved and even rebuilt, including the reconstruction of the Königsberg Synagogue . The new city centre is concentrated around Victory Square . The Cathedral of Christ the Savior , consecrated in 2005,
8280-450: The central locality principle. Some municipalities are dominated by two or more towns of similar size, and sometimes they share the municipal administration, with the municipality having its official address in one of the towns. For example, both Skillingaryd and Vaggeryd are central localities of Vaggeryd Municipality . Conversely, there are municipalities within metropolitan areas . For example, there are twenty-six municipalities within
8395-570: The city is named, the statue for Tsar Peter the Great , Vladimir Vysotsky , the "Mother Russia" monument, and the Monument for the 1200 Guardsmen, remembering the Battle of Königsberg . Kaliningrad is a "green" city with many parks and areas with many trees and lawns. Parks range from tiny city squares to massive parks. The Youth Recreation Park is one of the most popular parks in the city. The park
8510-412: The city is sometimes colloquially referred to as König or Kyonig ( Russian : Кёниг ). The question of the name of the city has been raised multiple times; in 2009, the head of the city administration, Felix Lapin, said he personally supported the return of the historical name of the city, and in 2011, the governor of Kaliningrad Oblast, Nikolay Tsukanov , suggested a referendum could be held to resolve
8625-480: The city, were born before this time. The first civil airport in Germany (Devau near Königsberg) opened 1919. In that time a new central railway station and modern buildings for the harbour and trade fair were built. In World War II , the city's Polish and Jewish populations were persecuted by Nazi Germany with mass arrests and deportations to concentration camps , and Poles and Jews were among forced labourers in
8740-1111: The city. The city was heavily damaged by a British bombing attack in 1944 and the massive Soviet siege in spring 1945 . At the end of World War II in 1945, the city became part of the Russian SFSR (as part of the Soviet Union ). Old Prussians (until 1255) [REDACTED] Teutonic Order 1255–1454 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Poland 1454–1455 [REDACTED] Teutonic Order 1455–1466 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Poland / [REDACTED] Teutonic Order (fief of Poland ) 1466–1525 [REDACTED] Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth / [REDACTED] Duchy of Prussia (fief of Poland ) 1525–1656 [REDACTED] Sweden 1656–1657 [REDACTED] Duchy of Prussia 1657–1701 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1758 [REDACTED] Russian Empire 1758–1762 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Prussia 1762–1918 [REDACTED] German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED] Weimar Germany 1918–1933 [REDACTED] Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED] Russian SFSR (as part of
8855-604: The closely related Sudovians , but against the Pomeranians and Wends as well. Beginning in 1147, the Polish duke Bolesław IV the Curly (securing the help of Ruthenian troops) tried to subdue Prussia, supposedly as punishment for the close cooperation of Prussians with Władysław II the Exile . The only source is unclear about the results of his attempts, vaguely only mentioning that the Prussians were defeated. Whatever were
8970-520: The condition of Germany during the Middle Ages . According to Jan Długosz , the Prussians, Samogitians , and Lithuanians were the same tribe. The Prussian tribal structure is well attested in the Chronicon terrae Prussiae of contemporary author Peter of Dusburg , a chronicler of the Teutonic Order . The work is dated to 1326. He lists eleven lands and ten tribes, which were named on
9085-572: The context of the Reformation . Cassiodorus ' Variae , published in 537, contains a letter written by Cassiodorus in the name of Theodoric the Great , addressed to the Aesti : It is gratifying to us to know that you have heard of our fame, and have sent ambassadors who have passed through so many strange nations to seek our friendship. We have received the amber which you have sent us. You say that you gather this lightest of all substances from
9200-504: The county, such as healthcare and public transport . The name comes from that this is the town or city where the governor ( Swedish : "landshövding") have their residence . There are some exceptions to this, however. In the newer amalgamated "greater counties", often referred to as "regions", the administrative centre is placed in one of the older residence cities . Examples of this is Malmö in Region Scania and Gothenburg in
9315-590: The early 18th century with the Great Plague, and the surviving Old Prussians were integrated through assimilation. The settlement on the site of present-day Kaliningrad was founded as a military fortress in 1255 after the Prussian Crusade by the Teutonic Knights against Baltic Prussians . The new settlement was named in honor of the Bohemian (Czech) King Ottokar II . The crusade was followed by
9430-696: The ensuing two centuries the city, first as part of the Kingdom of Prussia, then from 1866 as part of the North German Confederation , and then from 1871 as part of the German Empire , continued to flourish and many iconic landmarks of Königsberg were built. The city had around 370,000 inhabitants and was a cultural and administrative center of Prussia and the German Empire. Immanuel Kant and E. T. A. Hoffmann , notable sons of
9545-414: The husband's table. Commercial marriage was widespread and after the husband's death, the widow fell to the son, like other inheritance. Polygyny, up to three wives, was widespread. Adultery was a serious crime, punishable with death. After the submission, commercial marriage and polygyny were forbidden. According to archaeological evidence, pre-Christian burial customs changed over the centuries. During
9660-619: The isotherm chosen for class D climates), with cold and cloudy (though moderate compared to most of Russia) winters and mild summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms. Average temperatures range from −1.5 to +18.1 °C (29.3 to 64.6 °F) and rainfall varies from 36.0 millimeters (1.42 in)/month to 97.0 millimeters (3.82 in)/month. In general, it has maritime influences and therefore damp, variable and mild, with vast temperature differences between July and January. The seasons are clearly differentiated. Spring starts in March and
9775-488: The issue, but stated that he was against renaming. No further plans have been announced since, and in 2022 the government officially confirmed that renaming the city would be "inappropriate". Some of the cultural heritage, most notably the Königsberg Cathedral , was restored in the 1990s, as citizens started to examine the previously ignored German past. Since the early 1990s, the Kaliningrad oblast has been
9890-488: The language spoken by the Prussians and tried to record it. In addition, missionaries needed to communicate with the Prussians in order to convert them. Records of the Old Prussian language therefore survive; along with little-known Galindian and better-known Sudovian , these records are all that remain of the West Baltic language group. As might be expected, it is a very archaic Baltic language. Old Prussians resisted
10005-481: The margin of sea, and further purified by the rolling of the tides, it is at length transported to your shores to be cast upon them. We have thought it better to point this out to you, lest you should imagine that your supposed secrets have escaped our knowledge . We sent you some presents by our ambassadors, and shall be glad to receive further visits from you by the road which you have thus opened up , and to show you future favors. The Old Prussians are called Brus by
10120-617: The modern toponym Estonia . On the other hand, the Old Prussian and modern Lithuanian names for localities, such as the Vistula Lagoon , Aīstinmari and Aistmarės , respectively, also appear to derive from Aesti and mari (" lagoon " or "fresh-water bay"), which suggests that the area around the lagoon had links with the Aesti . The original settlers tended to name their assets after surrounding localities (streams, lakes, seas, forests, etc.). The clan or tribal entity into which their descendants later were organized continued to use
10235-533: The names. This source is perhaps the one used in the very name of Prusa (Prussia), for which an earlier Latin-language word Bruzi is found in the Bavarian Geographer . In Tacitus' Germania , the Lugii Buri are mentioned living within the eastern range of the Germans. Lugi may descend from Pokorny's *leug- (2), "black, swamp" (Page 686), while Buri is perhaps the root on which the toponym "Prussia"
10350-644: The nation's capital. Smaller sub-divisions in Mali's Communes (Villages, Tribal councils, Quarters) are administered from or identified as a Place / Site ( Site in French), so the chef-lieu is literally the Chief-Place even at the lowest level. In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , the administrative centres are known as "chief towns" or nahias . Nahias may be in charge of a sub-district ( qda ),
10465-404: The old paganism lived on cannot be inferred from the sources. Pagan customs are said to have lasted the longest with the remote Sudauers . In the 16th century, the so-called Sudovian Book ( Sudauerbüchlein ) was created, which described a list of gods, "pagan" festivals and goat sanctification. However, researchers argue that this little book misinterpreted traditional folk customs as 'pagan' in
10580-466: The partition of East Prussia, including the area surrounding Königsberg, is as follows (note that Königsberg is spelt "Koenigsberg" in the original document): VI. CITY OF KOENIGSBERG AND THE ADJACENT AREA The Conference examined a proposal by the Soviet Government that pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement, the section of the western frontier of
10695-405: The prefecture of the department. The chef-lieu of an arrondissement , commonly known as the sous-préfecture is the city or town where the sub-prefect of the arrondissement (and the services directly under their control) are situated, in a building called the sub-prefecture . The arrondissement where the département prefecture is located does not normally have a sub-prefect or sub-prefecture,
10810-469: The principal city of the provinces of New Caledonia. So Nouméa is the chef-lieu of South Province. But the chef-lieu can also mean the principal area within a town. So Wé is part of the town of Lifou , but is the chef-lieu of Lifou. In the Loyalty Islands and the other islands, the name of the chef-lieu differs from that of the name of the town. For the towns of the mainland, the chef-lieu has
10925-459: The protests of architects, historians and residents of the city. The reconstruction of the oblast, threatened by hunger in the immediate post-war years, was carried out through an ambitious policy of oceanic fishing with the creation of one of the main fishing harbours of the USSR in Kaliningrad city. Fishing not only fed the regional economy but also was a basis for social and scientific development, in particular oceanography. In 1957, an agreement
11040-602: The region hence plays an important role in maintenance of the Baltic Fleet . Kaliningrad Oblast was an exclave of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 it became separated from the rest of Russia by independent countries. This isolation from the rest of Russia became even more pronounced politically when Poland and Lithuania became members of NATO and subsequently
11155-543: The results, in 1157 some Prussian troops supported the Polish army in their fight against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa . In 1166, two Polish dukes, Bolesław IV and his younger brother Henry , came into Prussia, again over the Ossa River. The prepared Prussians led the Polish army, under the leadership of Henry, into an area of marshy morass. Whoever did not drown was felled by an arrow or by throwing clubs, and nearly all Polish troops perished. From 1191 to 1193 Casimir II
11270-596: The same name as the town. Nouméa is a town composed only of Nouméa. Many of the West African states which gained independence from France in the mid-20th century also inherited the French administrative structure of Departments and Communes, headed by a Chief-Lieu . States still using Chief-Lieu to identify the administrative headquarters of a government subdivision include Senegal , Burkina Faso , Benin , Mali , and Niger . Taking Niger and Mali as examples,
11385-764: The second century AD, the geographer Claudius Ptolemy listed some Borusci living in European Sarmatia (in his Eighth Map of Europe ), which was separated from Germania by the Vistula Flumen . His map is very confusing in that region, but the Borusci seem further east than the Prussians, which would have been under the Gythones ( Goths ) at the mouth of the Vistula. The Aesti recorded by Tacitus , were 450 years later recorded by Jordanes as part of
11500-460: The shores of ocean, but how it comes thither you know not. But as an author named Cornelius (Tacitus) informs us, it is gathered in the innermost islands of the ocean, being formed originally of the juice of a tree (whence its name succinum), and gradually hardened by the heat of the sun. Thus it becomes an exuded metal, a transparent softness, sometimes blushing with the color of saffron, sometimes glowing with flame-like clearness. Then, gliding down to
11615-544: The south, the terrain runs into the vast wetlands of the Pripet Marshes at the headwaters of the Dnieper River , which has been an effective natural barrier throughout the millennia. Writing in 98 CE, Roman historian Tacitus described the pagan Aesti who lived somewhere by the Baltic Sea coast and east of the Vistula estuary. It has been suggested that the name Aesti could be etymologically related to
11730-484: The territory. Between October 1947 and October 1948 approximately 100,000 Germans were forcibly moved to Germany, and by 1948 about 400,000 Soviet civilians had arrived in the Oblast. Today the overwhelming majority of Kaliningrad's residents are Russians settled after 1945, and their descendants. A minority of the population are from other Slavic ethnic groups, including Belarusians and Ukrainians . Kaliningrad today
11845-448: The toad. They also had forests, fields and bodies of water, which they held so sacred that they neither chopped wood nor dared to cultivate fields or fish in them. Baltic paganism has been described as a form of polydoxy , a belief in the sacredness of all natural forces and phenomena, not personified but possessing their own spirits and magical powers. They thought the world inhabited by a limitless number of spirits and demons, believed in
11960-427: The trading town of Truso at the Vistula Lagoon , observed that wealthy people drank fermented mare's milk kumis instead of mead . According to Adam of Bremen, the Sambians are said to have consumed horse blood as well as horse milk. He also mentions that horse meat was eaten. Women held no powerful positions among the Old Prussians and, according to Peter von Dusburg, were treated like servants, forbidden to share
12075-493: The west and the Curonian Lagoon to the east. As Balts, they spoke an Indo-European language of the Baltic branch now known as Old Prussian and worshipped pre-Christian deities . Their ethnonym was later adopted by predominantly Low German -speaking inhabitants of the region. The duchy of the Polans under Mieszko I , which was the predecessor of the Kingdom of Poland , first attempted to conquer and baptize
12190-533: The westernmost oblast of Russia . As a major transport hub, with sea and river ports, the city is home to the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy , and is one of the largest industrial centres in Russia. It was deemed the best city in Russia in 2012, 2013, and 2014 in Kommersant 's magazine The Firm's Secret , the best city in Russia for business in 2013 according to Forbes , and
12305-553: Was buried in tree coffins. Cremation with urns spread from the third century onwards. Except for the Samians and Sudauers, where shallow grave fields existed until Christianization, cremation pits without urns increasingly became the only form of burials among the Prussians. However, different forms of burial could occur side by side at the same time. The Stone babas , found all over Old Prussia, have for centuries caused considerable speculation and dissent among scholars. Beginning with
12420-514: Was destroyed in 1945, but was remoulded in 1992 on the initiative of Marion Dönhoff , a native East Prussian who became prominent in the West. Also worth seeing is the Cosmonaut monument, which honours the Kaliningrad cosmonauts Alexey Leonov , Yuri Romanenko and Aleksandr Viktorenko . Other statues and monuments include the statue for Duke Albert, the statue for Friedrich Schiller , the statue for communist functionary Mikhail Kalinin for whom
12535-599: Was established in the 1920s–1930s in the English style. It reopened its doors post-war and was popular among citizens in the 1980s–1990s with its boat house and tennis courts, as well as merry-go-rounds. The park had a massive reconstruction in 2004 adding a cafe, carting, and various modern entertainments. It is located in the quiet area of the city, in Leningradsky area, and is connected to the Lower Pond. Youth Recreation Park provides entertainment for all age groups. There
12650-481: Was headed by its Kriwe , who also served as lawgiver and judge. The Kriwe-Kriwajto's next in rank, the Siggonen were expected to maintain the healthy spiritual connection with natural sacred sites, like springs and trees. The Wurskaiten – priests of lower rank – were supposed to superintend rites and ceremonies. With the submission to the Teutonic Order in 1231, the Old Prussians were Christianised . How long
12765-451: Was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1944 and during the Battle of Königsberg in 1945; it was then captured by the Soviet Union on 9 April 1945. The Potsdam Agreement of 1945 placed it under Soviet administration. The city was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 in honor of Russian Bolshevik leader Mikhail Kalinin . Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union , it has been governed as the administrative centre of Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast,
12880-502: Was installed as the first bishop of Prussia. The Duchy of Masovia, and especially the region of Culmerland , become the object of constant Prussian counter-raids. In response, Konrad I of Masovia called on the Pope for aid several times, and founded a military order (the Order of Dobrzyń ) before calling on the Teutonic Order . The results were edicts calling for Northern Crusades against
12995-601: Was ranked fifth in the Urban Environment Quality Index published by Minstroy in 2019. Kaliningrad has been a major internal migration attraction in Russia over the past two decades, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup . The history of the city may be divided into four periods: the Old Prussian settlement known as Twangste before 1255; the Polish city of Królewiec from 1454 to 1455 and then fief of Poland from 1456 to 1657;
13110-542: Was signed and later came into force which delimited the border between the Polish People's Republic (a Soviet satellite state at the time) and the Soviet Union. The region was added as a semi-exclave to the Russian SFSR; since 1946 it has been known as the Kaliningrad Oblast. According to some historians, Joseph Stalin created it as an oblast separate from the Lithuanian SSR because it further separated
13225-429: Was transferred to smaller vessels. In 1901, a ship canal between Königsberg and Pillau, completed at a cost of 13 million German marks, enabled vessels of a 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in) draught to moor alongside the town (see also Ports of the Baltic Sea ). Kaliningrad has an oceanic climate ( Cfb , depending on the isotherm chosen for class C climates) or a humid continental climate ( Dfb , depending on
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