map of Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast (Russian: Калининградская область), informally called Yantarny kray (Russian:Янтарный Край - meaning Amber region) is an administrative division (oblast) of Russia on the Baltic coast, with no land connection to the rest of Russia: an enclave of the European Union. It is the westernmost parcel of land belonging to Russia, separated from the rest of Russia by Lithuania and Belarus. Its largest city is Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg), which has historical significance as both a major city of Prussia and the capital of the former German province East Prussia, of which the region remains the core remnant.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the oblast has been an exclave, being surrounded by other countries: Poland to the south and Lithuania to the east. Since 2004 this isolation is exacerbated by the fact that, unlike Russia, these two countries are members of the European Union and NATO.
History
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Historically, the area was part of East Prussia until its partition between Poland (Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship), Lithuania (Memelland), and Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) following WWII.
Pre-16th century
The peoples of this region have probably switched their nationalities more times than any other place in Europe.
A thousand years ago this area was inhabited by Prussian tribes of Baltic origin (not to be confused with "East Prussian", a later term meaning German people). At this time the current capital Kaliningrad was a town known as Tvanksta. The indigenous Prussians were pagans and the Teutonic order entered the area under the pretext of spreading Christianity . According to the Teutonic chronicles, the centre of Baltic paganism, which was also adhered to by the Lithuanians, Samogitians and various other Baltic nations, was a city known as Romuva (supposedly after "Rome") in the Prussian lands. This may well have been inaccurate because unlike Christianity the pagan religion had no central authority.
Unlike other Baltic nations the Prussians were unable to establish their own state and thus their lands were quickly overrun by the Teutonic Knights and formed the bulk of the Teutonic Order State. Germans colonized many cities and the German language was dominant in governmental affairs. The Latvians were also colonised by the order. The Prussians had more nationalistic tendencies, which led to several organised revolts against the Teutonic Order, including the famous revolt led by Herkus Mantas. These uprisings ultimately failed, resulting in the eventual destruction of the original Prussian culture, as the nation became thoroughly germanised. The Prussian language is known to have survived into the late medieval and renaissance periods as many of the Bibles from these periods were written in the Prussian language for those that did not speak German. The west of Koenigsberg was a centre for this language before it eventually died out.
The Second Treaty of Thorn in 1466 left western Prussia under Polish control under the name of "Royal Prussia", while the knights retained control of eastern Prussia, although it became a Polish fief. In 1525, Order's Grand Master secularised the Prussian branch of the Teutonic Order and established himself as the Duke of Prussia and as a vassal of the Polish crown.
16th-19th centuries
Outline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of 1619 superimposed on present-day national borders
Gradually, Ducal Prussia passed to the electors of Brandenburg, forming Brandenburg-Prussia. The elector-dukes freed themselves of their Polish vassaldom in the Treaty of Wehlau in 1660. They established the Albertina University, one of the most important centres of German-language education, in Konigsberg (1544).
The Hohenzollern dynasty transformed their state into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and annexed an area of Poland known as Warmia in 1773. Prussian kings were crowned at Konigsberg Castle, although the area was briefly overrun by Russians during the Seven Years' War.
By this point Lithuanians made up the majority of the population in more than half of what is currently Kaliningrad Oblast (eastern part) and significant minorities elsewhere. As a result this area was called Lithuania Minor but it was not part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Lithuanians living in this area were called Lietuvininks (Lietuvininkas/Lietuvininkai). Their religion differed from other Lithuanians in Lithuania as they were Lutherans and not Catholics like their cousins. Germans formed a large majority in city of Koenigsberg and the areas around it. They also formed a smaller majority in other western parts of modern Kaliningrad Oblast. Curonian spit was inhabited by a distinct Baltic tribe known as the Curonians.
The four counties where Lithuanian was spoken were referred to collectively as the Lithuanian province. In this province the church sermons were predominantly held in Lithuanian.
The Lithuanian province gradually became germanised due to the migration of wealthy Germans from other parts of the country into Lithuanian areas and the fact that the German language was seen as more prestigious than Lithuanian. Eventually the Lithuanian-speaking area shrank while the Curonian-speaking area disappeared altogether.
Despite this Lithuania Minor remained an important centre of Lithuanian culture largely due to Lutheranism, which along with the government promoted science and education. This led to Lithuania Minor advancing more scientifically and culturally than the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, (which was a direct part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). In fact the first Lithuanian books were released in the area of what is now Kaliningrad Oblast rather than Lithuania. Lithuania Minor also become a centre for Lithuanian patriotism as people tried to preserve Lithuanian culture and heritage, which even in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania itself was neglected in favour of the Polish language and culture among the wealthy and the nobility.
In the 19th century, Tilsit and several other towns of East Prussia were important for Lithuanian culture. Most of Lithuanian language books published at the time were printed in East Prussia and then smuggled into Lithuania, where the use of Lithuanian language in print and public performance was banned by Russian authorities.
The Lithuanian-speaking population continued to diminish due to further germanisation and in the XX century remained only in the northeast of what is now Kaliningrad Oblast, the rest of the area becoming predominantly German.
20th century
When the Nazis came to power in the 1930's they radically altered about a third of the topology of this area by eliminating all names of Polish or Lithuanian origin in 1938. During WWII the province of East Prussia was expanded at the expense of Poland.
The Soviet Red Army entered the eastern-most tip of Prussia on August 29, 1944. Rumours of massacres committed by the Soviet troops spread panic in the province and caused a mass flight westward. More than 2 million people were evacuated, many of them via the Baltic Sea.
The Yalta Conference of world powers assigned northern East Prussia to the Soviet Union. Sir Winston Churchill remarked that "this part of East Prussia is red from the Russian blood liberally shed for the common cause. Therefore the Russians have historical and well grounded claims on this German area" [1]. The northernmost part of the assigned area, however, was added to the Lithuanian SSR (see Klaipėda region).
According to some documents the Soviet government had planned to make the rest of the area a part of the Lithuanian SSR too. The leadership of Lithuanian SSR however refused to take the territory mainly because of its devastation in WWII and for other reasons as well. Instead the region was added to the Russian TSFR and since 1946 it has been known as Kaliningrad Oblast.
The Soviet government changed city names into Russian ones and encouraged Russians to migrate to the area along with Ukrainians and Belarusians (see the demography section). After the collapse of the USSR Germans once again began to migrate to the area, especially Volga Germans from other parts of Russia. Little of the original Lietuvininks (Lithuanian) population remains in Kaliningrad Oblast although many Lithuanians were moved into the area after WWII.
During the time of USSR the Russian language was heavily promoted and there were no other language schools and few cultural activities for minorities. In recent times the situation has slowly changed as the people of Kaliningrad begin to look back to their past. Germany and Lithuania have renewed contact with Kaliningrad Oblast through twin towns and other projects. This has helped to promote interest in the past and the culture of the East Prussian and Lietuvinink communities.
Administrative divisions
Districts
Kaliningrad Oblast consists of the following districts (Russian: районы):
Cities and towns
Main article: List of cities of Kaliningrad Oblast
The territory also includes the following towns (old names in italics are German, Polish, and Lithuanian in that order):
- Bagrationovsk (Preußisch Eylau, Iława Pruska, Yluva/Prūsų Ylava)
- Baltiysk (Pillau, Piława, Piliava)
- Chekhovo (Uderwangen, Udravangis)
- Chernyakhovsk (Insterburg, Wystruć, Įsrutis)
- Dobrovolsk (Pillkallen/Schloßberg, Pilkalnis)
- Druzhba (Allenburg, Alembork, Alna/Alenburgas)
- Gusev (Gumbinnen, Gąbin, Gumbinė)
- Gvardeisk (Tapiau, Tapiawa, Tepliava)
- Kalinino (Mehlkehmen/Birkenmühle, Mehlkehmen, Mielkiemis)
- Kamenskoe (Saalau, Żuława, Želvai)
- Krasnolesye (Groß Rominten/Hardteck, Rominty, Raminta)
- Krasnoznamensk (Lasdehnen/Haselberg, Lazdėnai)
- Krylovo (Nordenburg, Nordenburg, Nordenburgas/Ašvėnai)
- Mamonovo (Heiligenbeil, Święta Siekierka, Šventapilis)
- Mayovka (Georgenburg, Sparge, Jurbarkas/Spargė)
- Neman (Ragnit, Ragneta, Ragainė)
- Nesterov (Stallupönen/Ebenrode, Stołupiany, Stalupėnai)
- Ozyorsk (Darkehmen/Angerapp, Darkiejmy, Darkiemis)
- Polessk (Labiau, Labiawa, Labguva)
- Pravdinsk (Friedland, Frydląd, Frydlandas/Romuva)
- Primorsk (Fischhausen, Rybaki, Žuvininkai/Skanavikas)
- Slavsk (Heinrichswalde, Jedrzychowo, Gastos)
- Sovetsk (Tilsit, Tylża, Tilžė)
- Ushakovo (Brandenburg, Pokarmin, Pokarviai)
- Yasnaya Polyana (Trakehnen, Trakenach, Trakėnai)
- Zheleznodorozhny (Gerdauen, Gierdawy, Girdava )
- Znamensk (Wehlau, Welawa, Vėluva)
Demography
2002
According to the All-Russian Census (2002), the population of the region is 955,300; 78% urban, 22% rural. The Kaliningrad Oblast is the fourth most densely populated oblast in the Russian Federation (62.5 persons per sq.km).
97 nationalities and ehnic groups live in the region, including Russians - 78.1%, Byelorussians - 7.7%, Ukrainians - 7.6%, Lithuanians - 1.9%, Armenians - 0.8%, Germans - 0.6%, Poles - 0.5%.
External links
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