Kaliningrad is a city rich in history, and most of its tourist attractions are related to its Prussian past. One of these sights is the Brandenburger Tor, the only one of the seven city gates still being used for its intended purpose.
When I visited Kaliningrad in late October 2017, I researched many places I wanted to see during my days there, like the House of Soviets. One of the areas that I was most excited to see was the Brandenburger Tor. It felt odd to have a city in Russia with a city gate that shared the same name as one of the leading tourist destinations here in Berlin.
I arrived in Kaliningrad on a bus from Gdansk in the middle of the night. The bus station is located in the south part of the city, next to the train station. When I arrived, I followed a map and walked to my hotel. There wasn’t a taxi close by, and my lack of Russian, combined with the late arrival, just made me too lazy to ask around for directions. So, I decided to walk a few kilometers between the bus station and my hotel.
The first sigh I saw on my walk was the impressive looking train station decorated with Soviet symbols. A few meters later, there is a statue of Mikhail Kalinin, one of the original Bolsheviks and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The city and the state, or Oblast in Russian, received his name after he died in 1946. But the most exciting sight was just a block away.
I was walking down a dark street somewhere in Russia when I looked to my right side while crossing a street, and there was something I recognized. The Brandenburger Tor was there, standing as one of the city gates of Königsberg.
I stopped briefly in front of it and took some pictures before I continued my walk to the hotel, excited about everything I would be able to see in Kaliningrad.
The History of the Brandenburger Tor in Kaliningrad
The Brandenburger Tor was built in 1657 in the south-western part of Königsberg. The city was strengthening its walls and decided to create a gate on the road leading to Brandenburg Castle, where it got its name. At first, due to a lack of funds, the gate was made of wood and stayed like this for some hundred years.
The original brick structure was torn down and rebuilt in the order of Frederick II of Prussia. During restoration work in 1843, it was altered and richly decorated. Stylized leaves on the tops, coats of arms and medallions, decorative pediments, and cruciform sandstone color were added.
Together with it, sculptures of Field Marshal Hermann von Boyen (1771–1848), a war minister and reformer of the Prussian army, and Lieutenant-General Ernst von Aster (1778–1855), chief of the engineering corps and one of the initiators of the second strengthening of the city walls, can be found decorating the Brandenburger Tor in Kaliningrad.
The Architecture Style of the Brandenburger Tor in Kaliningrad
When it comes to architecture, the Brandenburger Tor in Kaliningrad looks a little bit out of place. Not just because there is nothing much happening around it, but because it was built in a Gothic Revival, also known as Neo-Gothic. This is a little odd because this style of architecture was popular a century before it was made.
The Brandenburger Tor in Kaliningrad vividly expresses its gothic motifs with its leaves, coats of arms, and decorations. But my favorite part is the pediments on top of it, shaped like arrows, which give the gate a sense of height.
After my first surprise visit to the Brandenburger Tor in Kaliningrad, I returned to it several times to take pictures. One of these visits marked the only time I saw tourists in the city besides myself. There, I saw two German guys taking photos of the gate, and it felt good to see somebody else exploring this beautiful and exciting city in Russia.
The Brandenburger Tor is in the southwestern part of old Kaliningrad, close to the South Kaliningrad Train Station. Look at the map below; you will find it easily.
The Brandenburger Tor in Kaliningrad: A Must-See for History Buffs
Ulitsa Bagrationa, 137, Konigsberg,
Kaliningradskaya oblast’, Russia, 236039
