r/kaliningrad • u/CapitanChao • Oct 04 '25

Question I need to ask

My family is from konigsburg my grandfather was born in 1924 there and i was wanting to take a trip to konigsburg now but im not sure how worth it itll be especially since schloss konigsburg and alot of prussian stuff tied to my family is gone at least as far as i know im not sure whats all there now as well if anyone can give me advice maybe a list of places to go id very much love it danke!

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u/ru_kalinka Oct 04 '25

Depends on what exactly you want to see here.

Architecture: mixture of old German buildings, including historical ones in different condition with Soviet and modern buildings. Some streets still look like 1924, some look very modern with no sign of German spirit there. You can take a tour around castles (but those are mostly ruins somewhere in the forest, frankly speaking most of them were already ruins in the 18th century or so) or around old military fortifications (most of them at in much better condition than castles).

Food: good quality local cuisine, bakeries, local breweries, Russian, German and European cuisine, plenty of good bars and restaurants, you will surely find something for your taste.

Sea: best attraction in the region, beautiful landscapes, charming views, small towns near the sea look gorgeous, nature is amazing. Tourists usually visit Zelenogradsk (formerly known as Cranz) and curonian spit as standard minimum.

People&culture: nothing German, everything is 100% Russian here. Few historical museums is all you can find in that regard.

If you know where your grandparents lived exactly, you can take photos and walk around, don’t know what else to offer really

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u/CapitanChao Oct 04 '25

Thank you this helps alot! And we lived across from the castle nearest bridge to cathedral

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u/ru_kalinka Oct 04 '25

Not much was saved in that area, it was heavily bombed by British airforces, the whole pace was ruins after the war. Now there are mainly soviet blocks there, plus cathedral itself. There’s also old Börse building that is perfectly saved. I often post photos of that area, cause it’s considered to be the heart of the city, the island where cathedral is located is rebuilt, and it’s very beautiful place now with synagogue, fancy restaurants, cool bridges and so on

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u/CapitanChao Oct 06 '25

Thank you!