The Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad) has a large collection of historical artifacts, where Prussian history is intertwined with Soviet and modern. A huge number of archival documents, several branches allow the tourist to get to know the collisions, achievements and facts that are full of the historical life of the city and the region.
History
The Museum of History and Art (Kaliningrad) was founded as a museum of local lore in the same year as the entire Kaliningrad region. For the next two years, it existed only on paper, in the form of a decree on its organization, the exhibits were stored in different rooms of the city - no suitable building was found for the exposition. Since 1949, the premises on the street. Bohdan Khmelnitsky became a museum house for 22 years. The organization employed 16 employees who, by the fifth anniversary of the museum, opened the first permanent exhibition, which included materials on the history andnature of the Kaliningrad region.
The most extensive funds were materials from the period of the Great Patriotic War, which made it possible in 1968 to open the thematic branch "Dugout". The exposition recreates the situation in which the surrender of the German units settled in the Königsberg fortress was signed. The next branch - "The Command Post of the 43rd Army" - was opened in 1969 in the village of Kholmogorovka.
New home for the museum
The local history museum (Kaliningrad) moved to a new location in the fall of 1972. A year later, an extensive (800 sq. m.) exposition was opened, which constantly received visitors for 18 years. During this period, the staff created an art department and the Amber Museum, which opened in 1979. Two new branches were also opened - the Kristijonas Donelaitis Museum and the Fort No. 5 memorial, today it is a separate exposition of fortifications and wartime equipment.
A large number of open branches, active work to fill the expositions and the opening of new departments allowed the local history museum to change its status. Since 1977, the institution has received a new name - the Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad). In 1984, thanks to the efforts of employees, the "Sculpture Park" was opened, its area occupies 12 hectares on the island of Kneiphof.
Unification
The Kaliningrad Museum of History and Art in 1988 was replenished with a branch of the natural science direction called"Nature Museum of the Curonian Spit", now the branch is part of the National Natural Arboretum "Curonian Spit". In 1993, the museum staff initiated the opening of the next branch - the Museum of the History of the City of Sovetsk, which is currently a municipal one.
Since 1990, the museum has become an association with a common name - "Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Art and its branches." The main building of the museum is located in the former Stadthalle concert hall, which was built in 1912. The association includes:
- Head Museum.
- Museum of K. Donelaitis.
- Dugout Memorial.
- Memorial "Command post of the 43rd Army".
- Sculpture Park.
To replenish the funds, the employees continue research work in the archives, cooperate with archaeological expeditions. Director of the Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad) - T. A. Alexandrova makes a lot of efforts for the further prosperity of the institution.
Collections
The Regional Museum of History and Art has been collecting museum exhibits for seventy years. The first exhibits that appeared in the funds were samples of products from industrial enterprises of the Kaliningrad region, finds from excavations of archaeological expeditions, a jewelry exposition was laid by a collection of products from the Kaliningrad Amber Combine. Some material values were brought by the inhabitants of the city, most of them belonged to the pre-war period.
Today in fundsThe museum contains more than 140 thousand items. The most extensive collection is the archive of documents and photographs, the total number of which is 78,000 items. The collected materials reflect the events of the assault on Koenigsberg, the development of the Kaliningrad region, the events of the First World War and the Great Patriotic War.
More than 22 thousand exhibits are kept in the archaeological section of the museum. This collection is world-famous and is annually replenished with new items provided by the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences as part of expeditions around the region. It contains more than 12 thousand exhibits reflecting the post-war life, the fashion of that time, the products of enterprises, as well as personal belongings of the first settlers and famous people of the region.
The museum also has a numismatic collection (about 12 thousand exhibits), works of fine art (6 thousand copies), part of which is the thematic collection "Hoffmannian", amber products, a collection of works in various techniques by Kaliningrad authors. The natural science part of the collection is represented by a large collection of taxidermy exhibits, various herbariums, and a collection of minerals.
Thematic collections are complemented by systematic ones, which are of great scientific and research importance. The objects were inherited from the Königsberg Museum of Paleontology, the archaeological collection was preserved from the Prussia Museum. The historian is interested in the fate and origin of each individual exhibit andmuseums themselves.
Tours
The Museum of History and Art invites visitors to the five halls where the permanent exhibition is located:
- Hall of nature. There are several dioramas in the hall, recreating the characteristic landscape of the region. The stands display minerals, stuffed animals common in the region, flora samples.
- Hall of archeology. Here are exhibits covering history from ancient times - the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Bronze Age to the era of the Teutonic Order in Prussia. Also in this room are objects of the once vast Prussian Museum, which were considered lost. Found them in the nineties.
- Hall of regional history. The exposition is made up of household items, furniture, weapons and covers the period from the Teutonic invasion of Prussia to 1945.
- The hall of war. Here are collected evidence of military operations during the period of occupation and the liberation of the region from fascist invaders.
- Horizons of Memory Hall. The stands display items related to the development of the Kaliningrad region by the first settlers, amber products, manufactured goods from the first enterprises in the region, and dismantled monuments to Lenin.
Thematic excursions for children of different ages are held in the halls of the permanent exhibition to help the school curriculum. In total, the plan contains 14 excursions and lectures. For children, a club "Young local historian" was organized, where each student who attended at least four lectures is awarded a diploma.
Excursions in KOIHM branches
Employees of the Historical and Art Museum invite you to familiarize yourself with the expositions of the branches:
- Museum "Bunker". The exposition is located in two halls. The main part is devoted to the assault on the Königsberg fortress from April 6 to 9, 1945. In addition to stands with materials, the attention of the tourists is offered five dioramas that recreate the active phase of the battles and the surrender of the German command. The main excursion program is supplemented by four themes.
- Museum "Fort №5". The historical and memorial complex was built in 1878 and has a second name - "King Friedrich Wilhelm III". The defensive structure was part of the defense complex of Koenigsberg. The fort was used during the period of hostilities both during the war with Napoleon and in the Great Patriotic War. The tour allows you to get into the interior, get acquainted with military equipment and several military historical expositions.
- "Sculpture Park". It is located on the Central Island, where sculptures united by the common theme "Man and the World" are collected throughout the space. In total, there are about thirty works. In addition to sculptural compositions, the park has a dendrological collection of 1030 flora specimens, which includes trees, shrubs, and herbs. Here you can get acquainted with natives of the plant world from Europe, Mexico, Japan and other countries.
- "Royal Castle". Currently, excursions are held only in the warm season by prior request. Whole complexis a castle built in 1255 of great historical value. It was destroyed during British air raids in 1944. Today, excavations are being carried out on the territory, as a result of which a large number of rarities with high historical and artistic value have come to light.
- Museum "Command post of the 43rd Army". It is located on the territory of the former Fuchsberg estate. The museum is temporarily closed for now.
- Kristijonas Donelaitis Museum. The museum and exposition are dedicated to the Lithuanian poet of the 18th century, who left a rich literary and musical heritage and did a lot for the people. On the territory of the complex, visitors get acquainted with the restored Lutheran church, the pastoral house. The exposition contains more than 200 exhibits, documents and material evidence of the life of that time, poetic works of the poet.
- "Kant's House", or, the official name, "The House of the Pastor of the Parish of Yudtschen, XVIII - XIX centuries." The object is connected with the life of Immanuel Kant. At the moment, the concept of a new complex is being implemented, an ethnographic exposition and other components are being created, reflecting the environment in which one of the greatest thinkers of mankind grew up, formed and worked.
Visit times
Six operating branches and one in the process of formation are organized by employees whose main love is the historical and art museum (Kaliningrad). The schedule of excursions in the head exhibition center and in branches is as follows: from 10:00 to 18:00, ticket officecloses at 17:00, day off - every Monday. The museum has introduced one day (Wednesday) of accessible visits when no entrance fee is charged for certain groups of the population (disabled children, orphans living in boarding schools, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, etc.).
Exhibitions
Not only the creation of new branches, the collection of historical rarities and educational work is carried out within the walls of the museum. A large number of cultural events covers the whole of Kaliningrad. The Historical and Art Museum holds exhibitions and events on a regular basis. Children's morning performances, interesting fabulous excursions, paleontological expositions are planned for the winter holidays.
For adults, KOIHM also prepared a lot of interesting things, for example, the exhibition “War Posters. On the way to the Great Victory”, canvases from a private collection as part of the exhibition “Nature Sleeps in Winter Sleep…”, concert “Christmas Fantasy”. All visitors will be interested in the informative and spectacular exhibition "Animals of bygone eras" in 3D format.
Reviews
The museum is popular in Kaliningrad, the exhibits are famous in many countries. Positive reviews tell about the rich collection gathered by the staff, and about the interesting excursions held in the main building and in the branches. Many visitors indicate that it is necessary to use the services of a guide in order to get a complete picture of each exhibit, to understand the connection between events and objects.
Negative feedback addressed tosome scarcity and rare renewal of the main exposition. Museum of History and Art (Kaliningrad), address: Clinical street, building 21 - is waiting for new visitors.
