Edgelands, episode 3: Exploring the fascinating former closed city of Kaliningrad
Over the last three months, adventurer Ash Bhardwaj has been travelling Russia's long-contested European border, from the Arctic Circle to Ukraine. In this third episode of Edgelands, he visits Kaliningrad - the enclave that has been cut off from Russia.
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Episode three
In pictures and videos: minute-by-minute
00"38 A peculiar outpost of Russia, 300 miles away from the mainland
01"18 "A quite extraordinary sandback called the Curonian Spit"
06"04 "Robust border control - nothing wrong with that"
10"00 Kaliningrad's "dancing forest"
19"13 The House of Soviets, a "massive white elephant" in the city centre
23"15 Konigsberg Cathedral
25"15 Bar Yeltsin - the hipster bar in Kaliningrad
In depth: behind the scenes of episode three
By Ash Bhardwaj
The city of Kaliningrad was once known as Konigsberg, the capital of East Prussia. It was devastated by RAF bombing in World War Two, then captured by the Red Army, when it was renamed Kaliningrad. After the Soviet Union collapsed it remained a part of Russia, separated from the rest of the country by 600km.
Kaliningrad district is actually much larger than its eponymous city and has several towns along the Baltic coast. As the home of Russia’s Baltic Fleet, adrift in a sea of NATO nations, Kaliningrad is a militarily sensitive place. I first saw it from Lithuania, from a viewpoint on a beach. Whilst gazing at my destination, a Lithuanian Border Guard drone flew to where I was standing, filmed me for a few minutes, then flew back to its patrol base.
I was thus a little nervous when I approached the border the next morning. But the Russian guard, was very helpful and just asked if I was planning a trip for the football World Cup.
“Not for the football,” I said, “Just a spot of tourism.”
“Good to hear,” he said, with a smile, “We Russians love tourism, just not terrorism!”
I wasn’t quite sure if I was allowed to laugh, but I was impressed by his wordplay in a second-language.
On the other side of the border I stopped at Café Zfa and was met by Olga, who had once guided Michael Palin on his tour around “New Europe.”
“He said in his book that I had the physique of a former dancer,” she said, “And he was right!”
With a flourish, Olga launched herself into a splits. Sergey, the café owner, applauded heartily. I notice that he was wearing the black cap of a Muslim, something I hadn’t expected to find in Russia’s westernmost exclave.
“I’m from Uzbekistan,” he said, “But I moved here with the Soviet Army, and liked it so much that I stayed. There’s something different about Kaliningrad. It’s less hard, somehow.”
The smell of spices drifted out as he prepared the day’s special, but crossing the border had taken me back a time-zone, so I was too early for lunch.
“Don’t worry,” said Olga, “We’ll eat at the Cuban place.”
I was amazed that Kaliningrad had such diverse culinary options.
“After the war, the Germans living here were evicted,” explained Olga, “And the Soviet authorities had to repopulate it. People came from across the Soviet Union, and even from other Communist countries because there were good opportunities. So no-one in Kaliningrad is from here: we all started on the same level, and built a melting pot of a society.”
We drove to Zelonogradsk, a coastal town that was once known as Cranz. It’s small, appealing and confusing, with the outward appearance of rural Germany, but with a Slavic flavour from Soviet statues and Cyrillic writing.
“The Soviets didn’t knock down Prussian buildings for the sake of it,” says Olga, “The were just used by the new inhabitants. But we were never openly taught about the German past of Kaliningrad. It was only after Perestroika and Glasnost that we learned the full history.”
The city of Kaliningrad is actually known as Konig to locals, but it's hard to find any trace of its German heritage. The remnants of Konigsberg castle were cleared to make way for the “House of Soviets”, an enormous, Brutalist blight on the city that was never finished. It now stands as an empty monument to Communism.
Konigsberg Cathedral was rebuilt in 1992, funded by donations from “nostalgic Germans” who were evicted by the Soviets. Most of the rebuilt city centre is unappealing, but a little exploration reaps great reward: heading north from the House of Soviets, I discovered a tree-lined waterway that made me think of the Regent’s Canal near London Zoo; and at the Upper Pool, there are Prussian fortifications dating from the 19th century.
In nearby Bar Yeltsin I chatted to Igor, a young musician who had moved here from Moscow.
“People in Kaliningrad travel more than most Russians,” he said, “Even with the sanctions, people go to Poland or Lithuania for shopping. And that means people here are more open-minded.”
As we chatted in English, other locals came over to ask where I was from, excited and proud that people were visiting their city as tourists.
“Lots of the politics today is about being anti-Western or anti-Russian,” said Igor, “But look at us: we are Russian, but we are in the middle of Europe; we have German history and Russian people. So we are a way to create dialogue.”
At a time of diplomatic tension, dialogue is what’s needed most. With its unique location and history, Kaliningrad will continue to be a bridge between Russia and the West.
After all, the Russians love tourism.
How To Get There
Baltic Holidays are the experts on Kaliningrad, creating bespoke tours that include neighbouring countries www.balticholidays.com. For more information about Russia, and for organising visas, speak to The Russian National Tourist Office via www.visitrussia.org.uk.
