Castle Tower (Königsberg)

The tower was built in 1260, originally as a bergfried (non-residential defensive tower-citadel) of the Königsberg castle. Subsequently, it was rebuilt many times and changed its purpose.

In 1387, the tower was completed and began to be used as a bell tower. Windows were provided in its lower part, "bell floors" were located above, at the very top - several defensive floors. In addition to the functions of the bell tower, the tower also performed an observation, observation function. At the very top platform was an observer who lived on the lower floors.

In 1551, a four-sided clock was placed on the tower. In 1584 the tower was built up, the top became stepped. In the same year, the castle church was laid, construction continued until 1597. After the superstructure to a height of 81 m in 1600, the bell tower became the tallest building in the city, and remained until the beginning of the 18th century.

In 1686, a weather vane with the initials of Elector Brandenburg Friedrich Wilhelm I (CWF) was placed on the tower. In royal time, the initials on the weather vane did not change. In 1688, the top of the tower was completed with an octagonal tower crowned with a baroque dome ^[1] .

In the period from 1864 to 1866. The tower was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style . The weather vane of 1686 was again installed. The author of the project was the Prussian architect Friedrich August Stüler ^[2] . In 1877, the tower received a new lining.

The castle and the bell tower were badly damaged during British air raids in 1944 and the Red Army assaulted Koenigsberg in 1945. The ruins of the tower were blown up in the post-war period, in 1955. The ruins of the castle were blown up and finally demolished in 1967 , by decision of the first secretary of the CPSU regional committee Nikolai Konovalov .

Since the 19th century, the German tradition of “Turmblasen” has been supported in Königsberg: every day a choir performed on wind instruments sounded from the tower. Since 1628, from the bell tower of the castle, the choral had to sound twice daily: at 4 a.m. and at 8 p.m. A year later, another chorale was added, at 4 pm. The tower also served to alert citizens about fires and important visits ^[3] .

Since 1840, the chorale was performed twice a day: at 11 a.m. and at 9 p.m. In the morning, the melody of Vulpius was performed, “Christ is my life” ( German Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade ), in the evening - “Peace to all forests and fields” ( German Nun ruhen alle Wälder ) by Henrich Isaac . Four chapel musicians climbed 240 steps daily to climb the tower. The tradition continued during the Russian presence in the city during the Seven Years War . In 1935, as part of the Gleichschaltung, the posts of city musicians were reduced, and their place was taken by young musicians from the Hitler Youth . The tradition remained unchanged and was interrupted only after the British bombing of 1944 ^[3] .

According to the project “ Heart of the City” in 2015, the Royal Castle with a tower is subject to full or partial restoration. In the spring of 2015, excavations began at the castle site ^[4] .

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  Pregolya , Castle Tower (1944).

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  Pregolya , Castle Tower

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  Tower vane

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  Bell tower ruins

• Königsberg Castle
• Castle Church (Konigsberg)
• Muscovite Hall
• Lower pond (Kaliningrad)

• Vladimir Kulakov: History of Königsberg Castle, Publishing House "Live", Kaliningrad 2008
• Adolf Bötticher: Monuments in Pruszkow. Monuments in Koenigsberg, Koenigsberg 1897.
• Bernard Yenise: 750 years Kaliningrad / Koenigsberg , Marburg 2008.
• Baldur Köster: Koenigsberg: German Architecture , Husum 2000.
• Dmitry Navalikhin : On the reconstruction of the city center of Kaliningrad, Moscow 1958.
• Markush Share: Kaliningrad Architecture, Marburg 2012.

• Website of the project “Heart of the city”
• Description of the castle in the framework of the Klops.Ru project “Königsberg fragments”