I have a fascination with these lost Prussian cities in the East. My Great Grandmother was a German Jew, born in Breslau before WW 1. I doubt there are many Germans, and, tragically, there are certainly fewer Jews, in what is now Polish Wroclaw...
Thanks for this article, and also your contribution to the latest David McWilliams podcast on the 10th anniversary of "Wir Schaffen Das". He alluded to your strong work /output ethic, which I also recognise, and wanted to compliment you on the "Substackhanovite" number of posts on this Substack...👏 😀 I suspect that I am not alone in reviewing my Substack paid subscriptions every so often, to see if they are worth continuing, but Zeitgeist never comes into that category!
Good morning Frau Hoyer, I will read the book because my mom lived and worked in Königsberg before the war and flew from there over the Haff to then Western Germany. She never stopped talking about her time in Königsberg and suffered from the loss…. Looking forward reading the book. Thank you 🙏
For me, Königsberg is like a mythological place- I can’t quite believe that it could be found, even on an old map. The name Kaliningrad conjures up a very different, more utilitarian kind of town.
I delved into the history of Königsberg a little when I was researching the life and art of Käthe Kollwitz. How dreadful it must have been for her and others of her generation to see their beloved town disappear.
I grew up in a small town in Rheinland Pfalz, surrounded by Flüchtlinge from Ostpreußen. Mother, grandparent, uncles and aunts, all survived the treacherous escape to the west.
Thank you, Katja, for again raising an exciting topic. Regrettably, I'm
not in London and can't attend the book launch with you and Christopher Clark at
Daunt Books in Marylebone today (Monday). However, being the chairman of
the international society FRIENDS OF KANT AND KÖNIGSBERG, I'm very pleased
that there will be a book entitled "A Scandal in Königsberg". Not having
read it yet, I can now only make some comments based on what you wrote, as
follows:
I don't agree with your allegation that Königsberg was "at the very edge of the
German-speaking realms." The German-speaking areas extended far to the east. The next big German speaking city in the east of
Königsberg was Riga. In Riga, the publisher Johann Friedrich Hartknoch
(born in East Prussia) in 1781 published Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"
and several other of his major works, as well as works by Johann Gottfried
Herder who lived in Riga from 1764 - 1769, and by many other German
writers. Although Riga in 1721 became part of the Russian empire, both
urban culture and large-scale land ownership in Latvia and Estonia were
dominated by the German upper class well into the 19th century. Many young
Baltic Germans went to study in Königsberg, and many were students of Kant.
Immanuel Kant's younger brother Johann Heinrich Kant was a Lutheran pastor
in Latvia, he preached in German. Riga adopted the Reformation in 1522.
The Lutheran protestant confession held Baltic Germans, Latvians, and
Estonians together.
Next to Riga there were other German Baltic towns,
like Mitau (now Jelgava) in Latvia and Dorpat (now Tartu) in Estonia.
Dorpat University, founded in 1632 by King Gustav II. Adolf and
re-established in 1802 by Baltic Germans, with the help of Tsar Alexander
I. was the only German language university of the Russian Empire. German
was the official language in Riga until 1891 (the German city
administration remained in place until 1904), after which it was replaced
by Russian. In Kant's view, the Baltic German countries east of Königsberg up to St.
Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, were without doubt a German
speaking area.
In his book "The Glass Wall - Lives on the Baltic Frontier" (London 2021), Max Egremont wrote: "Riga’s old city - its Lutheran cathedral with memorials to German bishops, its brick churches, spires, towers, merchants’ houses, bust of the philosopher Herder, offices of former guilds, the Teutonic Knights’ castle, those smart suburbs that could be in Hamburg - still feels defiantly German, on Europe’s eastern frontier."
I'm sorry that I must disagree with another allegation of yours. The capital of East Prussia was not "the Prussian kingdom’s
easternmost outpost", as you wrote. It was the capital of the Kingdom of
Prussia. Since this territory was situated outside of the Holy Roman
Empire of German Nationality, it was only there that Friedrich III., the
Prince Elector of Brandenburg, could crown himself as Friedrich I., "King
in Prussia" (not "of Prussia", because a part of it, the so-called "royal
Prussia", was under the suzerainty of the King of Poland until King
Friedrich II., "the Great", took it back in 1772 and called himself
thereafter "King of Prussia"). Kant was proud of the fact that he lived in
the capital of a Kingdom. In his book "Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point
of View", he explained why he never travelled: "A large city such as
Königsberg on the river Pregel, which is the centre of a kingdom, in which
the provincial councils of the government are located, which has a
university (for cultivation of the sciences), and which has also the right
location for maritime commerce – a city which, by way of rivers, has the
advantages of commerce both with the interior of the country and with
neighbouring and distant lands of different languages and customs, can
well be taken as an appropriate place for broadening one's knowledge of
human beings as well as of the world, where this knowledge can be acquired
without even travelling." Only after 1772 both Brandenburg and Prussia together were given the name of "Prussia", and the original Prussia was reduced to the name of province of "East Prussia".
Both in the 18th and the 19th century, Königsberg played a dominant role in Germany. In his book "Königsberg, Geschichte einer Weltbürgerrepublik" (History of
a World Citizen Republic), Jürgen Manthey wrote: "Almost a decade after
the crowning of Friedrich Wilhelm IV, all eyes in Germany were on
Königsberg. If people referred to England as the ‘Workshop of the world’
then Königsberg was at that time Germany’s workshop in which the social
and political structures that we now live in were designed."
You quoted the contemporary resident philosopher Karl Rosenkranz who described Königsberg as “the city in which everything exists in a state of almost” – almost a royal residence, almost an industrial city, almost a seaside city, almost wealthy, almost a fortress – “and so on and so forth…” May I continue by quoting what he wrote immediately thereafter: "Nevertheless, it is very important that Königsberg possesses such versatility. It thereby proves its aptitude for progress. It does not exclude anything from the outset but instead approaches even the most foreign things with receptiveness. But in its universality, it is at the same time relentlessly understanding. ... This understanding, in conjunction with that universality, is the reason for a rare fairness of judgement. ... If, therefore, the critical philosophy originated in Königsberg, this is indeed more than a coincidence."
To your readers who are interested in Königsberg and the German speaking realms of the east I recommend the books by Max Egremont:
"Forgotten Land. Journeys among the Ghosts of East Prussia", and
"Glass Wall. Lives on the Baltic Frontier".
With a bit of shameless self-promotion, I'd also like to recommend my own book: "Peace and War over Königsberg. Great Britain and the Destiny of Immanuel Kant's Hometown".
I wish you a good Monday evening right now in Marylebone!
I’ve recently finished reading Violence in Defeat (Bastiaan Willems, CUP ‘21) and it paints a grim picture of the fall of Könisberg in 1945. Grim history. I’m big fan of Clark’s books; most recently Revolutionary Spring. Looking forward to the book launch.
Thank you for telling us about this book. Ever since The Iron Kingdom, I have loved Christopher Clark's histories and look forward to A Scandal in Koenigsberg. Also, my grandfather, born in 1888, the subject of my memoir Api's Berlin Diaries, was from that area before he moved to Berlin. He absorbed the Prussian values of discipline and devotion, the belief in education and hard work as well as the Lutheran tendency toward introspection. As Stefan Zweig observes: "What a man has drawn into his blood from the air of the time cannot be expelled."
I have a fascination with these lost Prussian cities in the East. My Great Grandmother was a German Jew, born in Breslau before WW 1. I doubt there are many Germans, and, tragically, there are certainly fewer Jews, in what is now Polish Wroclaw...
Thank you Katja. I enjoyed Christopher Clark's other books. Iron Kingdom and Sleepwalkers.
Thanks for this article, and also your contribution to the latest David McWilliams podcast on the 10th anniversary of "Wir Schaffen Das". He alluded to your strong work /output ethic, which I also recognise, and wanted to compliment you on the "Substackhanovite" number of posts on this Substack...👏 😀 I suspect that I am not alone in reviewing my Substack paid subscriptions every so often, to see if they are worth continuing, but Zeitgeist never comes into that category!
Good morning Frau Hoyer, I will read the book because my mom lived and worked in Königsberg before the war and flew from there over the Haff to then Western Germany. She never stopped talking about her time in Königsberg and suffered from the loss…. Looking forward reading the book. Thank you 🙏
Looking forward to hearing more about this story. So I'll see you and Christopher Clark at Daunt books tomorrow.
For me, Königsberg is like a mythological place- I can’t quite believe that it could be found, even on an old map. The name Kaliningrad conjures up a very different, more utilitarian kind of town.
I delved into the history of Königsberg a little when I was researching the life and art of Käthe Kollwitz. How dreadful it must have been for her and others of her generation to see their beloved town disappear.
I grew up in a small town in Rheinland Pfalz, surrounded by Flüchtlinge from Ostpreußen. Mother, grandparent, uncles and aunts, all survived the treacherous escape to the west.
Interested in a copy of the book.
Thank you, Katja, for again raising an exciting topic. Regrettably, I'm
not in London and can't attend the book launch with you and Christopher Clark at
Daunt Books in Marylebone today (Monday). However, being the chairman of
the international society FRIENDS OF KANT AND KÖNIGSBERG, I'm very pleased
that there will be a book entitled "A Scandal in Königsberg". Not having
read it yet, I can now only make some comments based on what you wrote, as
follows:
I don't agree with your allegation that Königsberg was "at the very edge of the
German-speaking realms." The German-speaking areas extended far to the east. The next big German speaking city in the east of
Königsberg was Riga. In Riga, the publisher Johann Friedrich Hartknoch
(born in East Prussia) in 1781 published Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"
and several other of his major works, as well as works by Johann Gottfried
Herder who lived in Riga from 1764 - 1769, and by many other German
writers. Although Riga in 1721 became part of the Russian empire, both
urban culture and large-scale land ownership in Latvia and Estonia were
dominated by the German upper class well into the 19th century. Many young
Baltic Germans went to study in Königsberg, and many were students of Kant.
Immanuel Kant's younger brother Johann Heinrich Kant was a Lutheran pastor
in Latvia, he preached in German. Riga adopted the Reformation in 1522.
The Lutheran protestant confession held Baltic Germans, Latvians, and
Estonians together.
Next to Riga there were other German Baltic towns,
like Mitau (now Jelgava) in Latvia and Dorpat (now Tartu) in Estonia.
Dorpat University, founded in 1632 by King Gustav II. Adolf and
re-established in 1802 by Baltic Germans, with the help of Tsar Alexander
I. was the only German language university of the Russian Empire. German
was the official language in Riga until 1891 (the German city
administration remained in place until 1904), after which it was replaced
by Russian. In Kant's view, the Baltic German countries east of Königsberg up to St.
Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, were without doubt a German
speaking area.
In his book "The Glass Wall - Lives on the Baltic Frontier" (London 2021), Max Egremont wrote: "Riga’s old city - its Lutheran cathedral with memorials to German bishops, its brick churches, spires, towers, merchants’ houses, bust of the philosopher Herder, offices of former guilds, the Teutonic Knights’ castle, those smart suburbs that could be in Hamburg - still feels defiantly German, on Europe’s eastern frontier."
I'm sorry that I must disagree with another allegation of yours. The capital of East Prussia was not "the Prussian kingdom’s
easternmost outpost", as you wrote. It was the capital of the Kingdom of
Prussia. Since this territory was situated outside of the Holy Roman
Empire of German Nationality, it was only there that Friedrich III., the
Prince Elector of Brandenburg, could crown himself as Friedrich I., "King
in Prussia" (not "of Prussia", because a part of it, the so-called "royal
Prussia", was under the suzerainty of the King of Poland until King
Friedrich II., "the Great", took it back in 1772 and called himself
thereafter "King of Prussia"). Kant was proud of the fact that he lived in
the capital of a Kingdom. In his book "Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point
of View", he explained why he never travelled: "A large city such as
Königsberg on the river Pregel, which is the centre of a kingdom, in which
the provincial councils of the government are located, which has a
university (for cultivation of the sciences), and which has also the right
location for maritime commerce – a city which, by way of rivers, has the
advantages of commerce both with the interior of the country and with
neighbouring and distant lands of different languages and customs, can
well be taken as an appropriate place for broadening one's knowledge of
human beings as well as of the world, where this knowledge can be acquired
without even travelling." Only after 1772 both Brandenburg and Prussia together were given the name of "Prussia", and the original Prussia was reduced to the name of province of "East Prussia".
Both in the 18th and the 19th century, Königsberg played a dominant role in Germany. In his book "Königsberg, Geschichte einer Weltbürgerrepublik" (History of
a World Citizen Republic), Jürgen Manthey wrote: "Almost a decade after
the crowning of Friedrich Wilhelm IV, all eyes in Germany were on
Königsberg. If people referred to England as the ‘Workshop of the world’
then Königsberg was at that time Germany’s workshop in which the social
and political structures that we now live in were designed."
You quoted the contemporary resident philosopher Karl Rosenkranz who described Königsberg as “the city in which everything exists in a state of almost” – almost a royal residence, almost an industrial city, almost a seaside city, almost wealthy, almost a fortress – “and so on and so forth…” May I continue by quoting what he wrote immediately thereafter: "Nevertheless, it is very important that Königsberg possesses such versatility. It thereby proves its aptitude for progress. It does not exclude anything from the outset but instead approaches even the most foreign things with receptiveness. But in its universality, it is at the same time relentlessly understanding. ... This understanding, in conjunction with that universality, is the reason for a rare fairness of judgement. ... If, therefore, the critical philosophy originated in Königsberg, this is indeed more than a coincidence."
To your readers who are interested in Königsberg and the German speaking realms of the east I recommend the books by Max Egremont:
"Forgotten Land. Journeys among the Ghosts of East Prussia", and
"Glass Wall. Lives on the Baltic Frontier".
With a bit of shameless self-promotion, I'd also like to recommend my own book: "Peace and War over Königsberg. Great Britain and the Destiny of Immanuel Kant's Hometown".
I wish you a good Monday evening right now in Marylebone!
Looks interesting 👏👏 sometimes it’s nice to have a short concise read
I’ve recently finished reading Violence in Defeat (Bastiaan Willems, CUP ‘21) and it paints a grim picture of the fall of Könisberg in 1945. Grim history. I’m big fan of Clark’s books; most recently Revolutionary Spring. Looking forward to the book launch.
Thank you for telling us about this book. Ever since The Iron Kingdom, I have loved Christopher Clark's histories and look forward to A Scandal in Koenigsberg. Also, my grandfather, born in 1888, the subject of my memoir Api's Berlin Diaries, was from that area before he moved to Berlin. He absorbed the Prussian values of discipline and devotion, the belief in education and hard work as well as the Lutheran tendency toward introspection. As Stefan Zweig observes: "What a man has drawn into his blood from the air of the time cannot be expelled."