Kaliningrad

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The history of the city may be divided into four periods: the Old Prussian settlement known as Twangste before 1255; the Polish city of Królewiec from 1454 to 1455 and then fief of Poland from 1456 to 1657; the German city of Königsberg from 1657 to 1945; and the Russian city of Kaliningrad from 1945 to present.

{{stack|File:Prussian clans 13th century.png clans in the 13th century (Sambia - orange)]]}}

Königsberg was preceded by a Sambian (Old Prussian tribe) fort called Twangste (Prussian word tvinksta means "a pond made by a dam").Silvija Ozola. [https://old.du.lv/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Art_Tempus_II.pdf Churches — Building Dominances of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia Urban Centres in the 17th Century] // ART TEMPUS / Mg. art., Mg. paed. Zeltite Barsevska. — Daugavpils : Institute of Art, Daugavpils University, 2014. — V. 2. — P. 11. — {{ISSN|2255-9396}}. During the conquest of the Sambians by the Teutonic Knights in 1255, Twangste was destroyed and replaced by a new fortress named Königsberg in honor of Bohemian king Ottokar II. The declining Old Prussian culture finally became extinct around the early 18th century with the Great Plague,Roqueplo O: La Russie & son miroir d'Extrême-Occident, HAL, 2018 and the surviving Old Prussians were integrated through assimilation.

{{Main|Königsberg}}

The settlement on the site of present-day Kaliningrad was founded as a military fortress in 1255 after the Prussian Crusade by the Teutonic Knights against Baltic Prussians. The new settlement was named in honor of the Bohemian (Czech) King Ottokar II. The crusade was followed by a settlement of Germans and the city became predominantly German, with Polish (up to 30% in the 17th century),{{cite journal|last=Jasiński|first=Janusz|year=2005|title=Polska a Królewiec|journal=Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie|volume=2|issue=1|language=pl|page=123}} Lithuanian, French (Huguenot community founded in 1686){{cite book|last=Gresch|first=Eberhard|title=Im Blickpunkt der Geschichte der Reformation: Evangelisch-Reformierte in (Ost-)Preußen|year=2012|pages=30–32|language=de}} and Latvian minorities.

In 1454, the city integrated within borders of Poland for a year thanks to King Casimir IV Jagiellon as the capital of the Królewiec Voivodeship, and became a fief of Poland from 1466, also considered part of "one and indivisible" Kingdom of Poland.{{Cite book|last=Górski|first=Karol|title=Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych|year=1949|publisher=Instytut Zachodni|location=Poznań|language=pl,la|pages=54, 71–72, 96–97, 214–215}} After the secularization of the Teutonic Order in 1525, Königsberg became the capital of the Duchy of Prussia, remaining under Polish suzerainty, and the black Prussian eagle had a crown around its neck bearing the letter "S" from the Latinized name of Polish King Sigismund I the Old. The multi-ethnic city was an important center of Polish and Lithuanian culture, especially as one of the pioneering centers of Polish and Lithuanian printing, and also thanks to the University of Königsberg, the second-oldest university of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The population became predominantly Lutheran, although in the 17th century Roman Catholic and Calvinist churches were erected with Polish and German services in both rites, Lithuanian in the Catholic and French and English in the Calvinist.{{cite journal|last=Szorc|first=Alojzy|year=1995|title=Dzieje parafii katolickiej w Królewcu 1614–1650|journal=Studia Warmińskie|volume=XXXII|language=pl|page=157}} In 1618 the Duchy of Prussia fell under the control of the Electors of Brandenburg and in 1657 it became controlled in personal union with Brandenburg (sometimes referred to as Brandenberg-Prussia). The city had strong ties with Poland, and Polish authorities several times confirmed and extended its rights in support against absolutist ambitions of the Prussian dukes, and after 1657 the city actively opposed secession from Poland.{{cite magazine|last=Małłek|first=Janusz|year=1992|title=Polityka miasta Królewca wobec Polski w latach 1525–1701|magazine=Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie|language=pl|issue=3–4|pages=249–250, 252–255}} The city acted as an intermediary in maritime trade between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Netherlands, England and France, with the 17th-century stock exchange including a painting depicting a townswoman buying goods from a Pole and a Dutchman, embracing the notion that the city's prosperity was based on trade with the East and West, particularly Poland and the Netherlands.{{cite journal|last=Jasiński|first=Janusz|year=2005|title=Polska a Królewiec|journal=Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie|volume=2|issue=1|language=pl|page=131}}

File:Preussen 1701 Königsberg.jpg after his coronation as King in Prussia in Königsberg, 1701]]

From 1701, Brandenberg-Prussia became a Kingdom and the entire area was referred to as the Kingdom of Prussia. While the Brandenberg portion was a part of the Holy Roman Empire and later the German Confederation, Prussia (later called East Prussia) was not included within those territorial boundaries. In 1734–1736, during the War of the Polish Succession, it was the place of stay of Polish King Stanisław Leszczyński and many of his prominent supporters.{{cite book|last=Ciesielski|first=Tomasz|editor-last=Gieszczyński|editor-first=Witold|editor-last2=Kasparek|editor-first2=Norbert|year=2010|title=Wielkie wojny w Prusach. Działania militarne między dolną Wisłą a Niemnem na przestrzeni wieków|language=pl|location=Dąbrówno|pages=108–110, 113|chapter=Prusy Wschodnie w trakcie polskiej wojny sukcesyjnej i wojny siedmioletniej|isbn=978-83-62552-00-9}} Church services in Polish, Lithuanian and French were held until the 19th century.

In the context of the Seven Years' War, the city was conquered and occupied by the Russian Empire (1758–1762),Roqueplo O. La Russie et son miroir d'Extrême-Occident, HAL, 2018 whose initial plan was to offer the city and region to Poland as part of a territorial exchange desired by Russia.Ciesielski, p. 118 Immanuel Kant is famous for having sworn allegiance to Empress Elizabeth of Russia.

In the ensuing two centuries the city, first as part of the Kingdom of Prussia, then from 1866 as part of the North German Confederation, and then from 1871 as part of the German Empire, continued to flourish and many iconic landmarks of Königsberg were built. The city had around 370,000 inhabitants and was a cultural and administrative center of Prussia and the German Empire. Immanuel Kant and E. T. A. Hoffmann, notable sons of the city, were born before this time. The first civil airport in Germany (Devau near Königsberg) opened 1919. In that time a new central railway station and modern buildings for the harbour and trade fair were built.

During World War II, the city's Polish and Jewish populations were persecuted by Nazi Germany with mass arrests and deportations to concentration camps, and Poles and Jews were among forced labourers in the city. The Polish resistance movement was active in the city, which served as one of the region's main transfer points for smuggled Polish underground press.{{cite book|last=Chrzanowski|first=Bogdan|year=2022|title=Polskie Państwo Podziemne na Pomorzu w latach 1939–1945|language=pl|location=Gdańsk|publisher=IPN|page=57|isbn=978-83-8229-411-8}} In 1944, the city was heavily damaged by a British bombing attack, as well as a massive Soviet siege in the spring of 1945. At the end of World War II, the city became part of the Russian SFSR (as part of the Soviet Union).

{{Quote box

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| quote = Old Prussians (until 1255)
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Teutonic Order.svg}} Teutonic Order 1255–1454
{{Flagicon image|Kingdom of Poland-flag.svg}} Kingdom of Poland 1454–1455
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Teutonic Order.svg}} Teutonic Order 1455–1466
{{Flagicon image|Kingdom of Poland-flag.svg}} Kingdom of Poland / {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Teutonic Order.svg}} Teutonic Order (fief of Poland) 1466–1525
{{Flagicon image|Chorągiew_królewska_króla_Zygmunta_III_Wazy.svg}} Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth / {{Flagicon image|Flag of Ducal Prussia.svg}} Duchy of Prussia (fief of Poland) 1525–1656
{{Flagicon image|Flag of Sweden.svg}} Sweden 1656–1657
{{Flagicon image|Flag of Ducal Prussia.svg}} Duchy of Prussia 1657–1701
{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1750-1801).svg}} Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1758
{{Flagdeco|Russia}} Russian Empire 1758–1762
{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1892).svg}} Kingdom of Prussia 1762–1918
{{Flagdeco|German Empire}} German Empire 1871–1918
{{Flagdeco|Germany}} Weimar Republic 1918–1933
{{Flag|Nazi Germany}} 1933–1945
{{Flagdeco|Russian SFSR}} Russian SFSR (as part of the Soviet Union) 1945–1991
{{Flagdeco|Russia}} Russian Federation 1991–present

}}

Under the Potsdam Agreement of 1 August 1945, the city became part of the Soviet Union pending the final determination of territorial borders. This final determination eventually took place on 12 September 1990 when the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany was signed. The excerpt from the initial agreement pertaining to the partition of East Prussia, including the area surrounding Königsberg, is as follows (note that Königsberg is spelt "Koenigsberg" in the original document):

VI. CITY OF KOENIGSBERG AND THE ADJACENT AREA
The Conference examined a proposal by the Soviet Government that pending the final determination of territorial questions at the peace settlement, the section of the western frontier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which is adjacent to the Baltic Sea should pass from a point on the eastern shore of the Bay of Danzig to the east, north of Braunsberg – Goldep, to the meeting point of the frontiers of Lithuania, the Polish Republic and East Prussia.

The Conference has agreed in principle to the proposal of the Soviet Government concerning the ultimate transfer to the Soviet Union of the city of Koenigsberg and the area adjacent to it as described above, subject to expert examination of the actual frontier.

The President of the United States and the British Prime Minister supported the proposal of the Conference at the forthcoming peace settlement.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1945/450802a.html|title=The Potsdam Declaration|access-date=April 2, 2009}}

File:Памятник Калинину.jpg (former Reichsplatz), built in 1959]]

Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in July 1946 in honor of Mikhail Kalinin, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, who had recently died.{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Saul Bernard |title=The Columbia Gazetteer of the World: A to G |date=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-14554-1 |page=1810 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Columbia_Gazetteer_of_the_World_A_to/C6PLxz8EMk0C |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Krickus |first1=Richard J. |title=The Kaliningrad Question |date=2002 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-0-7425-1705-9 |page=2 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Kaliningrad_Question/sDOUZEEnHFUC |language=en}} Kalinin was unrelated to the city,{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Wayne C. |title=Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2020–2022 |date=15 September 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-1-4758-5626-2 |page=179 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Nordic_Central_and_Southeastern_Europe_2/lttJEAAAQBAJ |language=en}} and there were already cities named in honour of Kalinin in the Soviet Union, namely Kalinin (now Tver) and Kaliningrad (now Korolev, Moscow Oblast).[https://www.klgd.ru/city/history/almanac/a5_4.php Кёнигсберг мог стать Балтийском.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201084522/https://www.klgd.ru/city/history/almanac/a5_4.php |date=February 1, 2022 }} // klgd.ru[https://www.klgd.ru/city/history/almanac/a8_5.php Кёнигсберг-Калининград. Поиск самоидентификации.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106035920/https://www.klgd.ru/city/history/almanac/a8_5.php |date=November 6, 2018 }} // klgd.ru

Some historians speculate that it may have originally been offered to the Lithuanian SSR because the resolution from the conference specifies that Kaliningrad's border would be at the (pre-war) Lithuanian frontier. The remaining German population was forcibly expelled between 1947 and 1948. The annexed territory was populated with Soviet citizens, mostly ethnic Russians but to a lesser extent also Ukrainians and Belarusians.{{cite book|author=Milan Bufon|title=The New European Frontiers: Social and Spatial (Re)Integration Issues in Multicultural and Border Regions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GpoxBwAAQBAJ&q=kaliningrad&pg=PA97|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|page=98|isbn=978-1-4438-5936-3|date=11 April 2014}}

The German language was replaced with the Russian language. In 1950, there were 1,165,000 inhabitants, which was only half the number of the pre-war population.

From 1953 to 1962, a monument to Stalin stood on Victory Square. In 1973, the town hall was turned into the House of Soviets. In 1975, the trolleybus was launched again. In 1980, a concert hall was opened in the building of the former Lutheran Church of the Holy Family. In 1986, the Kreuzkirche building was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church.

For foreigners, the city was completely closed and, with the exception of rare visits of friendship from neighboring Poland, it was practically not visited by foreigners.[http://window.edu.ru/window/library/pdf2txt?p_id=5810 Социально-экономическая география Балтийского региона.] // window.edu.ru[http://www.newkaliningrad.ru/news/politics/k95640.html Калининград: От реликта России до процветающего города Прибалтики («The Independent», Великобритания).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827151959/http://www.newkaliningrad.ru/news/politics/k95640.html |date=August 27, 2016 }} // newkaliningrad.ru

File:Königsberger schloss schlossturm sprengung 1959.tif with explosives, 1959. The last remnants were destroyed by 1968.]]

The old city was not restored, and the ruins of the Königsberg Castle were demolished in the late 1960s,{{Cite web|url=http://www.ng.ru/regions/2008-11-11/100_zamok.html |title=Калининградские руины еще немного подождут |first=Alexander |last=Ryabushev |website=ng.ru |date=November 11, 2008 |access-date=March 19, 2020 |language=ru}} on Leonid Brezhnev's personal orders,{{cite news |last1=Artamonova |first1=Alexandra |title=Raze and rebuild: Kaliningrad's battle to preserve its complex post-war cityscape |url=https://www.calvertjournal.com/features/show/10130/beyond-the-game-kaliningrad-architecture |publisher=The Calvert Journal |access-date=5 January 2021 |date=7 June 2018}} despite the protests of architects, historians and residents of the city.{{cite web |url = http://www.archikld.ru/publications_3_56 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120730023356/http://www.archikld.ru/publications_3_56 |url-status = dead |archive-date = July 30, 2012 |title = Калининградская архитектура|website=archikld.ru }}[https://www.klgd.ru/city/history/almanac/a2_1.php О восстановлении послевоенного Калининграда 1946—1953 гг.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925103426/https://www.klgd.ru/city/history/almanac/a2_1.php |date=September 25, 2020 }} // klgd.ru{{cite book |author=Клемешев А. П., Калининградский государственный университет |title=На перекрёстке культур: русские в Балтийском регионе. Выпуск 7. Часть 2 |date=2004 |publisher=КГУ |pages=206–207}}

The reconstruction of the oblast, threatened by hunger in the immediate post-war years, was carried out through an ambitious policy of oceanic fishingRoqueplo O: La Russie et son Miroir d'Extrême-Occident, Langues'O, HAL, 2018 with the creation of one of the main fishing harbours of the USSR in Kaliningrad city. Fishing not only fed the regional economy but also was a basis for social and scientific development, in particular oceanography.Roqueplo O: La Russie et son miroir d'Extrême-Occident, 2018

In 1957, an agreement was signed and later came into force which delimited the border between the Polish People's Republic (a Soviet satellite state at the time) and the Soviet Union.{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/TREATIES/RUS-POL1957SF.PDF|title=Russia (USSR) / Poland Treaty (with annexed maps) concerning the Demarcation of the Existing Soviet–Polish State Frontier in the Sector Adjoining the Baltic Sea 5 March 1957|access-date=2 April 2009}}For other issues of the frontier delimitation see {{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/STATEFILES/POL.htm|title=Maritime boundary delimitation agreements and other material|access-date=2 April 2009}}

The region was added as a semi-exclave to the Russian SFSR; since 1946 it has been known as the Kaliningrad Oblast. According to some historians, Joseph Stalin created it as an oblast separate from the Lithuanian SSR because it further separated the Baltic states from the West.{{cite book|last=Weinberg|first=Gerhard L.|title=Visions of Victory: The hopes of eight World War II leaders|url=https://archive.org/details/visionsofvictory00wein|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85254-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/visionsofvictory00wein/page/114 114]}} Others think that the reason was that the region was far too strategic for the USSR to leave it in the hands of another SSR other than the Russian one. In the 1950s, Nikita Khrushchev offered the entire Kaliningrad Oblast to the Lithuanian SSR but Antanas Sniečkus refused to accept the territory because it would add at least a million ethnic Russians to Lithuania proper.{{cite book |title=The Kaliningrad Question |first=Richard J. |last=Krickus |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDOUZEEnHFUC |via=Google Books |isbn=978-0-7425-1705-9 |year=2002 |publication-place=Lanham, Maryland, United States |page=39 |chapter=2. Kaliningrad under Soviet and Russian Rule |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDOUZEEnHFUC&pg=PA39 }}

In 2010, the German magazine Der Spiegel published a report claiming that Kaliningrad had been offered to Germany in 1990 (against payment). The offer was not seriously considered by the West German government which, at the time, saw reunification with East Germany as a higher priority.{{cite web |last=Wiegrefe |first=Klaus |date=22 May 2010 |title=Zeitgeschichte: Historischer Ballast |work=Der Spiegel |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014130823/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-70569479.html |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-70569479.html |language=German |trans-title=Contemporary History: Historical Ballast |publication-place=Hamburg, Germany |issn=2195-1349 |publisher=Spiegel-Berlag |editor1-first=Mathias |editor1-last=Müller von Blumencron |editor2-first=Georg |editor2-last=Mascolo }} However, this story was later denied by Mikhail Gorbachev.{{cite web |work=The Guardian |archive-date=6 February 2021 |editor-first=Alan |editor-last=Rusbridger |editor-link=Alan Rusbridger |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206033943/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/31/kalingrad-kant-home-return-german |publication-place=London, England, United Kingdom |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/31/kalingrad-kant-home-return-german |issn=1756-3224 |oclc=60623878 |title=Should Kant's home once again be German? |first=Stefan |last=Berger |date=31 July 2010 }}

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img04 Kant Island.jpg, restored in the 1990s{{cite news|last1=Weir|first1=Fred|title=Living on Prussia's ruins, Kaliningraders embrace Germanic past|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/0726/Living-on-Prussia-s-ruins-Kaliningraders-embrace-Germanic-past|access-date=25 July 2017|publisher=Christian Science Monitor|date=July 26, 2015}}]]

The town of Baltiysk, just outside Kaliningrad, is the only Russian Baltic Sea port said to be "ice-free" all year round, and the region hence plays an important role in maintenance of the Baltic Fleet.

Kaliningrad Oblast was an exclave of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 it became separated from the rest of Russia by independent countries. This isolation from the rest of Russia became even more pronounced politically when Poland and Lithuania became members of NATO and subsequently the European Union in 2004. All military and civilian land links between the region and the rest of Russia have to pass through members of NATO and the EU. Special travel arrangements for the territory's inhabitants have been made through the Facilitated Transit Document (FTD) and Facilitated Rail Transit Document (FRTD).{{cite web |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3Al14557 |title=Facilitated transit document (FTD) and facilitated rail transit document (FRTD) |work=EUR-lex |date=2020-01-07 |access-date=2020-07-05}}

While in the 1990s some Soviet-era city names commemorating communist leaders were changed (e.g., Leningrad reverting to Saint Petersburg and Kalinin, also named after Mikhail Kalinin, reverting to Tver), Kaliningrad remains named as it was,{{cite book |author=Karl W. Ryavec |title=Russian bureaucracy: power and pathology |location=Lanham, Md. |date=2003 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Pub |isbn=978-0-8476-9503-4 |oclc=51647481}} though the city is sometimes colloquially referred to as König or Kyonig ({{langx|ru|Кёниг}}).{{cite web|url=https://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/6667/|title=Kaliningraders want old name Koenigsberg back|website=The Baltic Times|date=18 July 2002}} The question of the name of the city has been raised multiple times; in 2009, the head of the city administration, Felix Lapin, said he personally supported the return of the historical name of the city,{{cite web|url=https://www.interfax.ru/russia/79673|title=Калининград или Кенигсберг?|website=Interfax|date=14 May 2009}} and in 2011, the governor of Kaliningrad Oblast, Nikolay Tsukanov, suggested a referendum could be held to resolve the issue, but stated that he was against renaming.{{cite web|url=https://www.rosbalt.ru/russia/2011/09/21/892249.html|title=Вопрос о переименовании Калининграда может быть решен на референдуме|website=Rosbalt|date=21 September 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newkaliningrad.ru/news/politics/k1357853.html|title=Цуканов заявил, что он против переименования Калининграда|website=newkaliningrad.ru|date=21 September 2011}} No further plans have been announced since, and in 2022 the government officially confirmed that renaming the city would be "inappropriate".[https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/62c304499a79470c66b630bf В Калининграде сочли неуместной идею переименовать город во Владибалтийск]

Some of the cultural heritage, most notably the Königsberg Cathedral, was restored in the 1990s, as citizens started to examine the previously ignored German past.

Since the early 1990s, the Kaliningrad oblast has been a Free Economic Zone (FEZ Yantar). In 2005 the city celebrated its 750th anniversary.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/world/europe/03iht-web.0703kalin.html |title=Kaliningrad's 750th anniversary |date=July 3, 2005 |work=New York Times |access-date=2014-12-29}} In July 2007 Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov declared that if US-controlled missile defence systems were deployed in Poland, then nuclear weapons might be deployed in Kaliningrad. On 5 November 2008 Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that installing missiles in Kaliningrad was almost a certainty.{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Nov06/0,4670,EURussiaMedvedev,00.html|title=Medvedev Says Russia to Deploy Missiles Near Poland|date=November 6, 2008|first1=Steve|last1=Gutterman|first2=Vladimir|last2=Isachenkov|agency=Associated Press|work=Fox News}} These plans were suspended, however, in January 2009.{{cite news |first=Luke |last=Harding |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/28/russia-missiles-kaliningrad-obama |title=Russia scraps plans to deploy nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad|newspaper=The Guardian |date=2009-01-28 |access-date=2013-12-21}}

During late 2011, a long range Voronezh radar was commissioned to monitor missile launches within about {{convert|6000|km|0|abbr=off}}. It is situated in the settlement of Pionersky (formerly German Neukuhren) in Kaliningrad Oblast.{{cite web |first=Dmitry |last=Sudakov |url=http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/28-11-2011/119757-russia_radar_europe-0/ |title=Russia's new radar to monitor all Europe including Britain |work=Pravda.ru |date=2011-11-28 |access-date=2013-12-21}}

Kaliningrad was one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44438504|title=World Cup 2018: Kaliningrad - the venue next door to the West|website=BBC News|date=12 June 2018}}

In February 2025, Kaliningrad's power grid became disconnected from Russia's power grid as the Baltic states interrupted the interconnector at Viļaka. An estimated 1 billion dollars had to be spent (partially on additional gas-powered plants) to balance the grid internally.{{cite news|access-date=2025-02-09|title=Baltic states leave Russian power grid in closer EU integration|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/08/baltic-states-leave-russian-power-grid-in-closer-eu-integration|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2025-02-08|issn=0261-3077}}

Kaliningrad is at the mouth of the navigable Pregolya River, which empties into the Vistula Lagoon, an inlet of the Baltic Sea.

Sea vessels can access Gdańsk Bay and the Baltic Sea by way of the Vistula Lagoon and the Strait of Baltiysk.

Until around 1900, ships drawing more than {{convert|2|m|sp=us}} of water could not pass the bar and use the city's docks;{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} larger vessels had to anchor at Pillau (now Baltiysk), where cargo was transferred to smaller vessels. In 1901, a ship canal between Königsberg and Pillau, completed at a cost of 13 million German marks,{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} enabled vessels of a {{convert|6.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} draught to moor alongside the town (see also Ports of the Baltic Sea).

Kaliningrad has an oceanic climate (Cfb, depending on the isotherm chosen for class C climates) or a humid continental climate (Dfb, depending on the isotherm chosen for class D climates), with cold and cloudy (though moderate compared to most of Russia) winters and mild summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms. Average temperatures range from {{convert|-1.5|to|+18.1|C|F|abbr=on}} and rainfall varies from {{convert|36.0|mm|sp=us}}/month to {{convert|97.0|mm|sp=us}}/month. In general, it has maritime influences and therefore damp, variable and mild, with vast temperature differences between July and January.

The seasons are clearly differentiated. Spring starts in March and is initially cold and windy, later becoming pleasantly warm and often very sunny. Summer, which begins in June, is predominantly warm but hot at times (with temperatures reaching as high as {{convert|+30|-|+35|C}} at least once per year) with plenty of sunshine interspersed with heavy showers. The average annual hours of sunshine for Kaliningrad is 1,700, similar to other northern cities. Autumn comes in September and is at first warm and usually sunny, turning cold, damp and foggy in November.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} Winter includes periods of snow. January and February are the coldest months with the temperature sometimes dropping as low as {{convert|-15|C}}.

{{Weather box

|location = Kaliningrad (1991–2020, extremes 1848–present)

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan record high C = 12.7

|Feb record high C = 16.9

|Mar record high C = 23.3

|Apr record high C = 28.5

|May record high C = 30.6

|Jun record high C = 34.0

|Jul record high C = 36.3

|Aug record high C = 36.5

|Sep record high C = 33.8

|Oct record high C = 26.4

|Nov record high C = 19.4

|Dec record high C = 13.3

|year record high C = 36.5

|Jan high C = 1.1

|Feb high C = 2.1

|Mar high C = 6.1

|Apr high C = 13.1

|May high C = 18.2

|Jun high C = 21.3

|Jul high C = 23.5

|Aug high C = 23.3

|Sep high C = 18.4

|Oct high C = 12.2

|Nov high C = 6.2

|Dec high C = 2.6

|year high C = 12.3

|Jan mean C = -1.2

|Feb mean C = -0.6

|Mar mean C = 2.4

|Apr mean C = 7.9

|May mean C = 12.7

|Jun mean C = 16.1

|Jul mean C = 18.5

|Aug mean C = 18.1

|Sep mean C = 13.5

|Oct mean C = 8.4

|Nov mean C = 3.9

|Dec mean C = 0.4

|year mean C = 8.3

|Jan low C = -3.5

|Feb low C = -3.0

|Mar low C = -0.8

|Apr low C = 3.4

|May low C = 7.5

|Jun low C = 11.3

|Jul low C = 13.9

|Aug low C = 13.3

|Sep low C = 9.4

|Oct low C = 5.2

|Nov low C = 1.7

|Dec low C = -1.8

|year low C = 4.7

|Jan record low C = -32.5

|Feb record low C = -33.3

|Mar record low C = -21.7

|Apr record low C = -5.8

|May record low C = -3.1

|Jun record low C = 0.7

|Jul record low C = 4.5

|Aug record low C = 1.6

|Sep record low C = -2.0

|Oct record low C = -11.1

|Nov record low C = -18.7

|Dec record low C = -25.6

|year record low C = -33.3

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 68

|Feb precipitation mm = 54

|Mar precipitation mm = 49

|Apr precipitation mm = 38

|May precipitation mm = 52

|Jun precipitation mm = 69

|Jul precipitation mm = 91

|Aug precipitation mm = 91

|Sep precipitation mm = 73

|Oct precipitation mm = 86

|Nov precipitation mm = 76

|Dec precipitation mm = 69

|year precipitation mm = 816

|Jan snow depth cm = 7

|Feb snow depth cm = 7

|Mar snow depth cm = 3

|Apr snow depth cm = 0

|May snow depth cm = 0

|Jun snow depth cm = 0

|Jul snow depth cm = 0

|Aug snow depth cm = 0

|Sep snow depth cm = 0

|Oct snow depth cm = 0

|Nov snow depth cm = 2

|Dec snow depth cm = 5

|year snow depth cm = 7

|Jan rain days = 14

|Feb rain days = 13

|Mar rain days = 14

|Apr rain days = 14

|May rain days = 14

|Jun rain days = 16

|Jul rain days = 15

|Aug rain days = 16

|Sep rain days = 17

|Oct rain days = 18

|Nov rain days = 18

|Dec rain days = 16

|year rain days = 185

|Jan snow days = 15

|Feb snow days = 15

|Mar snow days = 10

|Apr snow days = 3

|May snow days = 0

|Jun snow days = 0

|Jul snow days = 0

|Aug snow days = 0

|Sep snow days = 0

|Oct snow days = 1

|Nov snow days = 7

|Dec snow days = 13

|year snow days = 64

|Jan humidity = 85

|Feb humidity = 83

|Mar humidity = 78

|Apr humidity = 72

|May humidity = 71

|Jun humidity = 74

|Jul humidity = 75

|Aug humidity = 77

|Sep humidity = 81

|Oct humidity = 83

|Nov humidity = 86

|Dec humidity = 87

|year humidity = 79

|Jan sun = 35

|Feb sun = 61

|Mar sun = 120

|Apr sun = 171

|May sun = 253

|Jun sun = 264

|Jul sun = 257

|Aug sun = 228

|Sep sun = 158

|Oct sun = 96

|Nov sun = 38

|Dec sun = 26

|year sun = 1707

|source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net{{cite web |url=http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/26702.htm |title=Weather and Climate-The Climate of Kaliningrad |access-date=8 November 2021 |publisher=Погода и климат |language=ru}}

|source 2 = NOAA (sun 1961–1990){{cite web |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/TABLES/REG_VI/RE/26702.TXT |title=Kaliningrad Climate Normals 1961–1990 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=3 November 2021}}

|date=August 2011

}}

{{Historical populations|1897|162000|7=1959|8=203570|9=1970|10=296962|11=1979|12=354788|13=1989|14=401280|15=2002|16=430003|17=2010|18=431902|19=2021|20=490449|type=|footnote=Source: Census data{{cn|date=March 2025|reason=The numbers contradict referenced statements in the text of the chapter: e.g. 400,000 migrants by 1948}}}}The original German population fled or was expelled after the end of World War II, when the territory was annexed by the Soviet Union, and in the following few years. In October 1945, only about 5,000 Soviet civilians lived in the territory.{{cite web |last1=Malinkin |first1=Mary Elizabeth |title=Building a Soviet City: the Transformation of Königsberg |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/building-soviet-city-the-transformation-konigsberg |website=Wilson Center |access-date=2 May 2018 |date=8 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707061350/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/building-soviet-city-the-transformation-konigsberg |archive-date=7 July 2017 }} Between October 1947 and October 1948 approximately 100,000 Germans were forcibly moved to Germany,{{clarify|to East Germany? to West Germany? to both countries and the people got to choose?|date=June 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Berger |first1=Stefan |title=How to be Russian with a Difference? Kaliningrad and its German Past |journal=Geopolitics |date=13 May 2010 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=345–366 |doi=10.1080/14650040903486967|s2cid=143378878 }} and by 1948 about 400,000 Soviet civilians had arrived in the Oblast.

File:Victory Day in Kaliningrad 2017-05-09 49.jpg", carrying portraits of their ancestors who fought in World War II]]

Today the overwhelming majority of Kaliningrad's residents are Russians settled after 1945, and their descendants. A minority of the population are from other Slavic ethnic groups, including Belarusians and Ukrainians. Kaliningrad today is also home to small communities of Tatars, Germans, Armenians, Poles, and Lithuanians.

Ethnic composition, Russian 2010 census:

{{multiple image |align=right |caption_align=center |perrow=2 |total_width=360

| image1 = Kaliningrad 05-2017 img38 Church of the Holy Family.jpg

| image2 = Kaliningrad 05-2017 img40 Friedrichsburg Gate.jpg

| image3 = Калининград 2014 (680).jpg

| image4 = Свято-Никольский собор в Калининграде (Юдиттен-кирха Кёнигсберга).JPG

| caption1 = Church of the Holy Family

| caption2 = Friedrichsburg Gate

| caption3 = Sackheim Gate

| caption4 = Juditten Church}}

The pre-war city center (Altstadt and Kneiphof) consists of parks, broad avenues, a square on the site of the former Königsberg Castle, and the restored Königsberg Cathedral on the Kneiphof island (now "Kant island"). Immanuel Kant's grave is situated next to the cathedral. The never-finished House of Soviets ("Dom Sovyetov") sat roughly on the site of the former castle before its demolition in 2023-24. Many German-era buildings in the historic city centre have been preserved and even rebuilt, including the reconstruction of the Königsberg Synagogue. The new city centre is concentrated around Victory Square. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior, consecrated in 2005, is located on that square.

The oldest building in Kaliningrad is the Juditten Church (built before 1288). Also worth seeing are the former Stock Exchange, the surviving churches, and the remaining city gates. In counter-clockwise order these gates are: the Sackheim Gate, King's Gate, Rossgarten Gate, Attack Gate ({{langx|de|Ausfallstor}}, or Sally Port), Railway Gate (Eisenbahntor), Brandenburg Gate, and Friedland Gate ({{Interlanguage link|Friedländer Tor (Kaliningrad)|de}}). Apart from the Dohna Tower, which houses the Amber Museum, the Wrangel Tower also remains as a reminder of the former Königsberg city walls. Only the gate of the former Fort Friedrichsburg remains.

Notable monuments include the statue of Immanuel Kant in front of the Immanuel Kant State University of Russia. The statue was made by notable sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch and unveiled in 1864. The statue was destroyed in 1945, but was remoulded in 1992 on the initiative of Marion Dönhoff, a native East Prussian who became prominent in the West. Also worth seeing is the Cosmonaut monument, which honours the Kaliningrad cosmonauts Alexey Leonov, Yuri Romanenko and Aleksandr Viktorenko. Other statues and monuments include the statue for Duke Albert, the statue for Friedrich Schiller, the statue for communist functionary Mikhail Kalinin for whom the city is named,[https://www.prussia39.ru/sight/index.php?sid=808 Памятник М.И. Калинину (Калининград)] the statue for Tsar Peter the Great, Vladimir Vysotsky, the "Mother Russia" monument, and the Monument for the 1200 Guardsmen, remembering the Battle of Königsberg.

Kaliningrad is a "green" city with many parks{{cite news|title=Russia Kaliningrad region: unique Russian exclave in the heart of Europe|url=https://www.thetribune.com/kaliningrad-region-unique-russian-exclave-in-the-heart-of-europe/|website=The Tribune|date=16 June 2022}} and areas with many trees and lawns. Parks range from tiny city squares to massive parks.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The Youth Recreation Park is one of the most popular parks in the city.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} The park was established in the 1920s–1930s in the English style. It reopened its doors post-war and was popular among citizens in the 1980s–1990s with its boat house and tennis courts, as well as merry-go-rounds.{{Cite web|url=http://www.park-unost.ru/park-news|title=Новости! Анонсы! Акции! {{!}} Парк "Юность", г.Калининград|website=www.park-unost.ru|access-date=2017-08-18|archive-date=August 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818173424/http://www.park-unost.ru/park-news}} The park had a massive reconstruction in 2004 adding a cafe, carting, and various modern entertainments. It is located in the quiet area of the city, in Leningradsky area, and is connected to the Lower Pond. Youth Recreation Park provides entertainment for all age groups. There is also Interpersonal Communications Development Central located in the park.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The Kaliningrad Zoo was opened as the Königsberg Zoo in 1896. The collection, which extends over 16.5 ha (40 acres), comprises 315 species with a total of 2,264 individual animals ({{As of|2005|lc=y}}). The Kaliningrad Zoo is also an arboretum.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Centrally located in the city is Lower Pond, an artificial lake. Lower Pond is surrounded by a promenade and is an area for recreation especially in summer. North of the Lower Pond is the larger Upper Pond in northern Kaliningrad.

Leonhard Euler's 1736 paper on the puzzle of the Seven Bridges of Königsberg was a seminal work in the fields of graph theory and topology. Only two of the structures from his era survive.

In 2018, the Kaliningrad Stadium, located on Oktyabrsky Island, near the embankment of the Staraya Pregolya River, was opened. The stadium has a seating capacity of 35,000.

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img62 Ocean Museum.jpg "Vityaz" from the collection of the Museum of the World Ocean]]

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img13 Amber Museum.jpg]]

There are many museums in Kaliningrad.

• Museum of the World Ocean
• Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Arts
• Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum
• Kaliningrad State Art Gallery
• Friedland Gate Museum

The Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Arts is the oldest museum in Kaliningrad, founded in 1946. In addition to the main building, the museum has four branches in Kaliningrad (including "Blindage" and "{{nowrap|Fort No. 5}}") and two elsewhere in the region.

In 1979, the Kaliningrad Regional Amber Museum was opened in the building of the Don, a former defensive tower. Initially, it was a branch of the Historical and Art Museum, but since 2004 it has operated independently.

The Kaliningrad State Art Gallery, which opened on November 24, 1988, is{{when|date=February 2024}} one of the youngest and fastest-growing museums in Russia, known both domestically and abroad. Up to 40 exhibitions of domestic and foreign art are held annually in eight exhibition halls with a total exhibition area of more than 3,000 square metres ({{nowrap|¾ acre}}).

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Museum of the World Ocean, which was unique in Russia at the time, was gradually created, and now offers exhibitions and six museum vessels:

• Research ship-museum "Vityaz"
• Submarine B-413
• Space communication vessel "Cosmonaut Viktor Patsaev"
• Fishing boat-museum "SRT-129"
• Floating lighthouse "Irbensky"
• Icebreaker "Krassin" - moored in St. Petersburg.

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img09 Kant Island.jpg on Kneiphof island]]

The branches of the museum are the King's Gate and the preserved gate of Fort Friedrichsburg.

A museum of ancient archaeological finds has been created. It is located at the Friedland Gate, which itself is a monument of antiquity.

In 2009, the Museum of E. T. A. Hoffmann, a famous writer born in this city, was created. The museum is located in the building of the former Leningrad Cinema; now this building houses a regional music school named after Hoffman.

On 5 June 2016 the Einstein Museum of Entertaining Sciences was opened on the first floor of the Mega-Market shopping centre, which offers interactive exhibits that illustrate various fields of science and demonstrate the manifestation of their laws.{{cite web|url=http://kdgid.ru/muzej-zanimatelnyh-nauk-einsteina/|title=Музей занимательных наук Эйнштейна|publisher=KDGid.ru|date=June 11, 2016|access-date=August 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119121602/http://kdgid.ru/muzej-zanimatelnyh-nauk-einsteina/|archive-date=January 19, 2019}}

Kaliningrad's museums were visited by roughly 920,000 people in 2013.{{cite web|url=https://kgd.ru/news/society/item/44146-mashiny-vrachi-i-prestupnost-polskaya-sluzhba-statistiki-sravnila-kaliningrad-i-gdansk|title="Машины, врачи и преступность": польская служба статистики сравнила Калининград и Гданьск|work=KGD.ru|author=Екатерина Апанова|date=May 29, 2015|access-date=August 23, 2020}} In terms of museum attendance, the region of Kaliningrad ranks seventh among the regions of Russia.{{cite web|url=http://www.csr-nw.ru/files/csr/file_category_1205.pdf|title=Концепция создания музея перемещённых ценностей на территории Калининградской области}}

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img75 Drama Theatre.jpg]]

There are several theaters in the city:

• Kaliningrad Regional Drama Theater
• Kaliningrad Regional Musical Theater
• Kaliningrad Regional Puppet Theater
• The organ hall of the Kaliningrad Regional Philharmonic is located in the historic building of the former Catholic Church of the Holy Family.
• A large concert hall with two organs located in the Königsberg Cathedral.
• The Variety Theater, located in the House of Arts.

The musical life of the city is rich and diverse. Annual music festivals of various styles and trends are held throughout the year. Under the patronage of the Kaliningrad Regional Philharmonic Society, international festivals and competitions of classical, jazz, organ music (dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach and Mikael Tariverdiev) are held. Since 2006, the Don Cento Jazz International Jazz Festival has been held in the summer. The city also hosts two major rock festivals: the Night Wolves bike show (July) and Kaliningrad In Rock (August). The Baltic Seasons art festival is held annually.

In 2013, Kaliningrad's theaters were visited by almost 345,000 people.

File:Kaliningrad Regional Scientific Library.jpg

• Kaliningrad Regional Scientific Library
• Central City Library. A.P. Chekhov
• Kaliningrad Regional Youth Library. V. Mayakovsky
• Kaliningrad Regional Children's Library. A.P. Gaidar
• Kaliningrad Regional Specialized Library for the Blind

Also, there are 20 municipal city libraries in the city. As of 2015, more than 100 thousand residents of Kaliningrad regularly visit the city's libraries.{{cite web|url=https://kgd.ru/news/society/item/41957-apollonova-kazhdyj-chetvjortyj-zhitel-kaliningrada-poseshhaet-gorodskie-biblioteki|title=Апполонова: Каждый четвёртый житель Калининграда посещает городские библиотеки|work=KGD.ru|author=Денис Костоглодов|date=March 3, 2015|access-date=August 23, 2020}}

The modern city of Kaliningrad is home to the Kaliningrad Regional Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestra, the Lik male chamber choir and the Garmonika Russian music ensemble,{{cite web |url=http://www.kommersant.com/tree.asp?rubric=5&node=386&doc_id=-43 |title=Russia's Daily Online |publisher=Kommersant |access-date=2009-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831131022/http://www.kommersant.com/tree.asp?rubric=5&node=386&doc_id=-43 |archive-date=August 31, 2009 |df=mdy-all}} as well as the Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra.{{cite web |url=https://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=1983 |title=Shostakovich & Schnittke Concertos |publisher=Classicstoday.com |access-date=2014-01-31 |archive-date=February 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217131447/http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=1983 }}

File:Koenigsberger.jpg are a Prussian specialty of meatballs in a white sauce with capers that can be found in many restaurants in Kaliningrad.]]

Kaliningrad has its own vodka and beer brands, Stari Königsberg and Ostmark respectively. Since the early 1990s many new restaurants have opened in the city. These restaurants offer culinary specialities of former East Prussia, like Königsberger Klopse, and also fish and salad dishes, pizza and sushi. Königsberger Fleck, a bovine tripe soup and yet another culinary specialty from former Königsberg, no longer belongs to the culinary culture of Kaliningrad.Kaliningrad-Königsberg (S. 67), Trescher-Verlag, Berlin, 2022

The people of Kaliningrad generally imported their respective culinary traditions to the region when they settled in the area after 1945. Okroshka may be served as in the rest of Russia. Many Italian and Asian restaurants (or fusions of both traditions) are in operation all over the city. Pizza and sushi are among the most popular dishes today. Fast food is widely available from various chains, including those of foreign origin. Shawarma is also gaining considerable prominence.

File:Kaliningrad stadium - 2018-04-07.jpg hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup games]]

The Russian football club FC Baltika Kaliningrad is based in Kaliningrad and plays in the Russian Football National League. The home stadium is the Kaliningrad Stadium, built for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

During 2006 to 2013, the Dynamo-Yantar men's volleyball club played in the Russian men's volleyball Championship. They played their home games at the Yantarny Sports Palace, which can accommodate over 7,000 spectators. From 2010, Yantarny had regularly hosted matches of the Russian men's national volleyball team in the FIVB Volleyball World League and the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix.

In the past, the city was also represented by the football clubs of West, Baltika-2 and FC Baltika-Tarko Kaliningrad, as well as the rugby club West Zvezda (winner of the 1994 Russian Cup, prize winner of the 1994 and 1995 Russian championships). The football club Volna Kaliningrad took part in the third tier of the 2000 Lithuanian championship, LF II Lyga, and won in the western zone (22 games: 20 wins, 2 draws, goal difference 101–9).{{cite web|url=http://blog.isport.ua/andrew/football/71751.html|title=Свой среди чужих. Футбольные клубы, играющие в чемпионате другой страны|work=iSport.uа|date=October 18, 2013|access-date=September 1, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/crossborder.html|title=Where's My Country?|website=RSSSF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044629/http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/crossborder.html#4rusl|archive-date=March 6, 2019}}

Since November 2013, the city has had an American football team called Amber Hawks. In 2015, the Amber Hawks reached the semifinals of the Polish League 8x8.{{cite web|url=http://plfa.pl/news/2050/|title=Ósemkowa kulminacja |work=PLFA.pl|author=Radosław Gołąb|date=15 October 2015|access-date=September 1, 2020}} In 2016, Amber Hawks took the silver medal of the prestigious Eastern League of American Football (VLAF).{{cite web|url=http://firstandgoal.ru/2016/09/vlaf-lynxes-won-league/|title=ВЛАФ. "Рыси" обыграли "Янтарных Ястребов" и взяли титул|work=first & goal.ru|author=Евгений Шуваев|date=September 11, 2016|access-date=September 1, 2020}}

In June 2014 the Kaliningrad Regional Hockey League (KRHL) was created. League competition is the official championship of the Kaliningrad region of hockey.

In 2018 Kaliningrad hosted some games of the World Cup.

On 9 April 2018 the creation of a women's volleyball team, the "Lokomotiv Kaliningrad Region" was announced. At the end of the 2018–2019 season the club took the second place in the Russian Championship, losing one point to the leader team, the WVC Dynamo Moscow.

Kaliningrad is the administrative centre of the oblast.Law #463 Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the city of oblast significance of Kaliningrad — an administrative unit with status equal to that of the districts.Resolution #640 As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Kaliningrad is incorporated as Kaliningrad Urban Okrug.Law #397

{{As of|2014}}, the city was divided into three administrative districts:

Two administrative districts were abolished in June 2009:

File:Kaliningrad Potschad Pobedy Rathaus.jpg in the Victory Square]]

File:Герб на здании городской ратуши (Калининград).jpg

Local self-government in the city is carried out on the basis of the Charter, which was adopted by the City Council of Deputies of Kaliningrad on July 12, 2007.

Bodies and officials of local self-government in the city (formally – in the city district) Kaliningrad are:

• Council of Deputies (representative body of a municipal formation)
• Head (chief executive)
• Administration (executive and administrative body of the municipality)
• Chamber of Control and Accounts

The City Council of Deputies consists of 28 deputies elected by city residents in municipal elections according to a mixed mandate distribution system for a period of 5 years. The chairman of the Council is elected by deputies from among its members. The current 6th convocation was elected on September 18, 2016. The Chairman of the Council is Andrey Kropotkin from United Russia.

The head of the city heads the administration of the city district. Elected by the City Council of Deputies from among the candidates presented by the Competition Commission based on the results of the competition, for the term of office of the City Council of Deputies. Since April 2018, the head of the city is Alexey Silanov.{{cite web|url=https://ria.ru/politics/20180418/1518888369.html|title=Алексей Силанов стал новым мэром Калининграда|publisher=RIA Novosti|date=April 18, 2018|access-date=September 1, 2020}}

The Kaliningrad administration and the Council of Deputies are located in the building of the mayor's office at the Victory Square.{{cite web|url=https://www.klgd.ru/administration/mayor/reception/|title=Раздел личного приёма граждан на официальном сайте Администрации Калининграда|work=KLGD.ru|access-date=September 1, 2020}}

From 1996 to 2007, the Charter of the City of Kaliningrad dated September 25, 1996 was in force in Kaliningrad, according to which the local self-government bodies were:

• The head of the city (mayor) – the highest official of the city;
• City hall (executive and administrative body);
• City Council of Deputies (representative body).

In 2007, due to the reform of local self-government, the functions of local self-government bodies were changed, and a new position was introduced – the head of the administration.

In 2008–2012, the local government body, carrying out executive and administrative functions, was the city district administration, headed by the head of the administration (city manager). The head of the administration was appointed to the post by the decision of the District Council of Deputies following a competition. On May 14, 2008, Felix Lapin was appointed to this position for a period of 2 years. On June 15, 2011, deputies of the Kaliningrad District Council approved Svetlana Mukhomor as head of the city administration (she is the first deputy head of the city administration).{{cite web|url=https://www.klgd.ru/press/news/detail.php?ID=99368|title=Светлана Мухомор стала главой администрации Калининграда|work=KLGD.ru|date=June 15, 2011|access-date=September 1, 2020}}

In November 2016, the Kaliningrad Regional Duma adopted a law abolishing direct elections for the mayor of Kaliningrad.{{cite web|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3151767|title=В Калининграде отменили прямые выборы мэра|work=Kommersant|date=November 24, 2016|access-date=September 1, 2020}} The elections were replaced by the selection procedure of candidates by a competition commission from which the city Council of Deputies selects one by secret ballot. In 2018, out of ten people who submitted documents for participation in the competition, only three were admitted to the competition.{{cite news |url=https://www.interfax.ru/russia/608717|title=К конкурсу на должность главы Калининграда были допущены три кандидата|work=Interfax|date=April 16, 2018|access-date=September 1, 2020}}

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img33 Finanzverwaltung building.jpg]]

All legislative, executive and judicial authorities of Kaliningrad Oblast are located in Kaliningrad. The Government of Kaliningrad Oblast and the Governor's Administration are located in the same building on Dmitry Donskoy Street, the Kaliningrad Regional Duma on Kirov Street, the Kaliningrad Regional Court on Sergeeva Street, and the Arbitration Court of Kaliningrad Oblast on Rokossovsky Street.

In Kaliningrad, there are representative offices of federal authorities in the region:

• Prosecutor's Office of Kaliningrad Oblast
• Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia
• Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kaliningrad Oblast
• Ministry of Emergency Situations
• Military Commissariat
• Kaliningrad Regional Customs of the North-West Customs Department of the Federal Customs Service of Russia
• Branch of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation
• Management of the federal postal service - branch of FSUE "Russian Post"
• Branch of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation

In 1996, Kaliningrad was designated a Special Economic Zone, referred to as FEZ Yantar. Manufacturers based there get tax and customs duty breaks on the goods they send to other parts of Russia. Although corruption was an early deterrent, that policy means the region is now a manufacturing hub. One in three televisions in Russia are made in Kaliningrad (including Ericsson brand by Telebalt Ltd. and Polar by an eponymous firm located in the city of Chernyakhovsk) and it is home to Cadillac and BMW related car plants (produced by Avtotor). Kaliningrad is also the location of the ITAR Distillery. Kaliningrad's major industries are manufacturing, shipping, fishing and amber products. In 2006, Moscow declared it would turn the region into "the Russian Hong Kong".{{cite news |last=Sheeter |first=Laura |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6048708.stm |title='Kaliningrad erases stains of past' 16 October 2006 |work=BBC News |date=2006-10-16 |access-date=2013-12-21}}

File:IKSUR1.JPG]]

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img51 Technical University.jpg]]

File:Балтийский военно-морской институт.jpg

Today, there are 21 higher educational institutions in Kaliningrad (together with branches of universities in other cities), of which state-owned are:

• The Kaliningrad branch of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, previously the Kaliningrad Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (KYUI), even earlier – the Kaliningrad Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, which was formed on the basis of the Kaliningrad Special Secondary School of Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
• Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University. Until 2011 – Russian State University. I. Kant. The name of Kant was given on the eve of the city's 750th anniversary in 2005. Previously – Kaliningrad State University (KSU). Occupies the building of the former German University of Königsberg.
• Baltic State Academy of Fishing Fleet (BFFSA). Until 1991 – Kaliningrad Higher Marine Engineering School (KVIMU).
• Kaliningrad State Technical University (KSTU). Previously – Kaliningrad Technical Institute of the Fishing Industry and Economy (KTIRPiH).
• Kaliningrad Border Institute of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. Previously – Kaliningrad Higher Engineering School of Engineering Troops named after A.A.Zhdanov (KVIUIV).
• The FF Ushakov Baltic Naval Institute, now a branch of the military educational and scientific center of the Russian Navy "Naval Academy named after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union N. G. Kuznetsov." Previously – Kaliningrad Higher Naval School (KVVMU).

Also in Kaliningrad there is a branch of the North-West Academy of Public Administration and National Economy, from secondary educational institutions – three gymnasiums, six lyceums and forty-seven secondary schools. There are educational institutions of secondary vocational education: Kaliningrad Regional College of Music. S. V. Rachmaninova, Kaliningrad State College of Urban Development, Kaliningrad Marine Fisheries College and others; to the IKBFU I. Kant included the Kaliningrad Technical College, the Communal Construction College. In addition, there is one cadet corps – KSH "Andrew the First-Called Cadet Naval Corps" (APKMK).

In August 2019, construction began on a branch of the Nakhimov Naval School. The opening is scheduled for September 1, 2020, the number of students will be over 560 people.{{cite web|url=https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12247188@egNews|title=Министр обороны РФ принял участие в церемонии закладки камня под строительство филиала Нахимовского военно-морского училища в Калининграде|publisher=Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation|date=August 13, 2019|access-date=August 7, 2020}}

Kaliningrad is a major transport hub. The most important roads of the city are:

• 45px Kaliningrad – Chernyakhovsk–Nesterov to the Lithuania–Russia border (on to Vilnius, Minsk, route M1 "Belarus") It is a part of the branches of the trans-European transport corridors No. 1-A "Riga–Kaliningrad–Gdansk" and No. 9-D "Kiev–Minsk–Vilnius–Kaliningrad", File:Tabliczka E28.svg and File:Tabliczka E77.svg
• 45px Kaliningrad – Gvardeisk – Neman to the Lithuania–Russia border (on to Šiauliai, Jelgava, Riga). The route from the village – Talpaki, through Bolshakovo to Sovetsk. It is a part of the branch of the trans-European transport corridor No. 1-A "Riga–Kaliningrad–Gdansk". File:Tabliczka E28.svg
• Kaliningrad – Mamonovo. Through Ladushkin to the Poland-Russia border (to Elbląg, Gdańsk). File:Tabliczka E28.svg and File:Tabliczka E77.svg
• Kaliningrad – Polessk. It follows through the village. Bolshakovo (further to Sovetsk)
• Kaliningrad – Zelenogradsk. (further along the Curonian Spit to Nida and Klaipėda)
• Kaliningrad – Baltiysk. The road runs through Primorsk.
• Kaliningrad – Bagrationovsk. Leads to the Polish border (further to Olsztyn).

In December 2007, construction began on the Primorskoye Koltso highway, which connects Kaliningrad with Svetlogorsk, Pionersky, Zelenogradsk and Khrabrovo Airport. It is planned to continue construction at Baltiysk, Svetly.

Around the city (from the village of A. Kosmodemyansky to the traffic intersection with Moskovsky Prospekt) passes the route of the northern and southern bypasses of Kaliningrad. Until now, on the western side of the city of Kaliningrad, the "ring" of the road has not been closed due to the absence of a {{convert|7|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} crossing through the Vistula Lagoon.

Kaliningrad is home to the westernmost and the only non-freezing port of Russia and the Baltic states on the Baltic Sea. Freight and passenger ferry crossings connect the Port of Kaliningrad, and its outport, the Port of Baltiysk with Saint Petersburg, and the ports of Germany and Sweden.

As of April 2019, only a freight ferry operates on the Baltiysk–Ust-Luga route, and the passenger ferry has been cancelled.{{cite web|url=https://www.transbc.ru/ferry-line/|title=Паром Калининград – Санкт-Петербург. Паромная линия Балтийск – Усть-Луга - ТБК - Калининград|publisher=transbc.ru|access-date=August 4, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://transexim.ru/ferry-line/|title=Паром Санкт-Петербург - Калининград. Паромная линия Усть-Луга - Балтийск|publisher=Trans-Exim|access-date=August 4, 2020}}

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img76 Khrabrovo Airport.jpg]]

The Kaliningrad Devau Airport, which opened in 1919, was one of the first civilian airports in the world, and the first in Germany. In 1922, the first planes of the Moscow-Riga-Königsberg, the first international airline of the Soviet Union, arrived in here for the first time. After World War II, the airport was used for local flights until the 1970s.

In the fifties, a new airport, the Khrabrovo Airport, was built on the base of a military airfield {{convert|24|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}} from the city. Now it has international status. The Kaliningrad airline KD Aviation was based on Khrabrovo, which ceased operations in September 2009. The reconstruction of the airport has been completed in 2018.{{Cite web |title=Khrabrovo airport opened a completely renovated check-in area |url=https://eng.kgdavia.ru/mediacenter/news/4202726/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=eng.kgdavia.ru}} On 1 October 2022 the airport began allowing more flights from international destinations, including through operation by foreign airlines.{{cite news |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2022/11/02/fearing-new-hybrid-war-front-poland-to-build-wall-on-kaliningrad-border/ |title=Fearing New Hybrid War Front, Poland to Build Wall on Kaliningrad Border |author=Claudia Ciobanu |work=Balkan Insight |date=2 November 2022 |access-date=21 November 2022}}

{{Main|Kaliningrad Railway}}

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img36 South railway station.jpg]]

File:Kaliningrad RZD 2019.png

Kaliningrad is the most important hub of the railway network of the Kaliningrad Oblast. It is the site of the Kaliningrad Railway.

The main passenger railway station of the city is the Kaliningrad South railway station, which includes the main railway station of the city and the Oblast–Yuzhny station, it serves both commuter and long-distance trains following from Kaliningrad:

• No. 30 Moscow "Yantar"
• No. 80 St. Petersburg
• No. 148 Moscow (summer)
• No. 360 Adler
• No. 426 Chelyabinsk (summer)

The Berlin-Kaliningrad direct train (via Poland) operated from 1993 to 2000, then was replaced by a through carriage, which was part of the Kaliningrad-Gdynia train from December 2003 to December 2009 and in 2010–2013 (in the summer), with a re-railer in the Polish city of Tczew. A platform with a European Standard Gauge track was specially equipped to receive these trains, allowing trains to run on this route without the interruption of a bogie exchange at some point on the journey.

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img55 North station.jpg]]

Kaliningrad North railway station serves trains connecting Kaliningrad with the seaside resorts of the city, Svetlogorsk and Pionersky, as well as the city of Sovetsk. It is a major transport hub in the public transport system of Kaliningrad.

Other railway stations located in the city:

• Kutuzovo-Novoye (Alexander Nevsky Street District)
• Chkalovsk-Western (Mck. Chkalovsk)
• West New (Wagon Street District)
• Forest-Novoya (Mcn. named after Alexander Kosmodemyansky)
• Dzerzhinskaya-Novaya (Dzerzhinsky Street district, there is a European (standard gauge) track)
• Aivazovsky stop (in the area of Aivazovsky and Yamskaya streets)
• Kiev stop (Kievskaya Street district, near the Baltic market)
• Selma stop (General Chelnokov Street and Selma Market)
• Stop point 4 kilometer (Muromskaya Street District, Southern)
• Brusnichny Stop (Brusny street district)

Regular bus routes connect Kaliningrad with Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.

There are two bus stations in the city. The "old" bus station is located on Kalinin Square, next to the Kaliningrad-Passazhirskiy railway station and is used primarily for intra-regional transportation.

Due to the conflict with the station directorate, the Königavto road carrier stopped using this bus station and set up its own international bus station at the end of Moskovsky Prospekt. More than 90% of regular international bus services depart from it.

Public transport in Kaliningrad is represented by a bus, a trolleybus, a tram, a taxi, and the city's railway lines. On 21 March 2010 a new public transport scheme came into effect.{{cite web|url=https://kgd.ru/news/analytics/item/3142-transportnyj-tupik|title=Транспортный тупик: новая маршрутная сеть Калининграда|publisher=KGB.ru|author=Константин Киврин|date=March 15, 2010|access-date=August 4, 2020}}

The tram network in Kaliningrad has been in existence since 1895 and is the oldest tram system in Russia. It has a track width of {{convert|1000|mm|ftin|abbr=on}}. Until 2000, at least ten city tram routes operated in Kaliningrad, however, over the past twenty years, the route network has been significantly reduced.{{cite web|url=https://www.newkaliningrad.ru/news/community/k1007880.html|title=В Калининграде отменяют два маршрута трамвая и троллейбуса|publisher=newkaliningrad.ru|date=January 10, 2010|access-date=August 4, 2020}} By the beginning of 2013, only two routes were operating in the city. In 2015, after changing the traffic pattern at the Kaliningrad South railway station, the last tram route No. 5 remained. In accordance with the newly adopted General Plan of Kaliningrad until 2035, the construction of a tram line with a separate traffic section in the Moskovsky District is envisaged.

The first trolleybuses appeared in Königsberg in 1943, but after the war they decided not to restore the trolleybus system. The modern trolleybus system of the city has been operating since 5 November 1975.{{cite web|url=http://data9.gallery.ru/albums/gallery/199215-f2327-22085722-.jpg|title=Из истории "рогатых": "Советский троллейбус в Кёнигсберге"|publisher=data9.gallery.ru|author=Юрий Грозмани|date=December 9, 2004|access-date=August 4, 2020}} During this time, the route network in Kaliningrad has repeatedly changed. After the repair of the overpass on Pobedy Avenue, carried out in the summer of 2018, route No. 6 was discontinued. As a result, three operating trolleybus lines remained in the city, although the new route scheme for public transport, adopted on 1 August 2016, provided for six routes.{{cite web|url=https://tr.ru/news/1496-novaya-marshrutnaya-set-v-kaliningrade-nachnyot-deystvovat-s-avgusta|title=Новая маршрутная сеть в Калининграде начнёт действовать с августа|publisher=TR.ru|author=Юлия Лунская|date=July 14, 2016|access-date=August 4, 2020}} The general plan of the city until 2035 also provides for the development of the trolleybus network in Kaliningrad.

File:Kaliningrad Brandenburg Gate.JPG Tram passing through the Brandenburg Gate]]

On 26 March 2014 the first line of the city rail bus was launched in Kaliningrad, serving the route from the Kievskaya platform in the Moskovsky district to the Kaliningrad North railway station. At the same time, a bus line was organised connecting Oleg Koshevoy Street with the Kievskaya platform. The opening of several more lines of the city railway has been announced, which should connect the center of Kaliningrad with the peripheral districts of the city.{{cite web|url=http://klops.ru/news/avto/88362-v-kaliningrade-otkrylas-pervaya-vetka-nazemnogo-metro|title=В Калининграде открылась первая ветка наземного метро|publisher=Klops.ru|date=March 26, 2014|access-date=August 4, 2020}}{{cite web|url=http://kgd.ru/news/item/34233-s-26-marta-v-kaliningrade-nachnjot-hodit-relsobus-s-ul-kievskoj-do-severnogo-vokzala|title=С 26 марта в Калининграде начнёт ходить рельсобус с ул. Киевской до Северного вокзала|publisher=KGD.ru|date=March 24, 2014|access-date=August 4, 2020}}

In December 2016, the mayor of Kaliningrad, Alexander Yaroshuk, announced that from 1 January 2017 the city rail bus would be canceled due to its unprofitability.{{cite web|url=http://kgd.ru/news/society/item/59712-vlasti-kaliningrada-reshili-otmenit-relsobus-s-severnogo-vokzala-na-ulicu-kievskuyu|title=Власти Калининграда решили отменить рельсобус с Северного вокзала на улицу Киевскую|publisher=KGD.ru|author=Денис Костоглодов|date=December 20, 2016|access-date=August 4, 2020}} After that, Governor Anton Alikhanov made an operational decision to subsidize the rail bus from the regional budget.{{cite web|url=http://kgd.ru/news/transport/item/59821-oblastnoe-pravitelstvo-reshilo-zabrat-u-kaliningrada-marshrut-relsobusa|title=Областное правительство решило забрать у Калининграда маршрут рельсобуса|publisher=KGD.ru|author=Елена Калугина|date=December 23, 2016|access-date=August 4, 2020}}

In early January 2017, the press service of the Kaliningrad Railway announced that it was planned to extend the rail bus line to Chkalovsk.{{cite web|url= http://kgd.ru/news/transport/item/60132-marshrut-relsobusa-ot-ulicy-kievskoj-prodlyat-do-chkalovska|title=Маршрут рельсобуса от улицы Киевской продлят до посёлка Чкаловск|publisher=KGD.ru|date=January 8, 2017|access-date=August 4, 2020}}

On 9 January 2017 city trains were launched on the Kaliningrad-Guryevsk route, and on the Kaliningrad-Lesnoye Novoe route from 3 September 2018.

As of the end of 2018, rail buses serve four intra-city lines connecting peripheral sleeping areas and the satellite city of Guryevsk with the center of Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad North railway station is a major transport and interchange hub, where many public transport routes converge. Passengers are transported by rail buses of the RA1 and RA2 models, manufactured by Metrovagonmash. City trains run on weekdays during the morning and evening rush hours.

File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img41 Reichsbahn Bridge.jpg

File:2011-03-24 at 13-56-43.jpg

File:Vtoraya estakada Kaliningrad.jpg

The branches of the Pregolya River divide the city into four parts. Majority of the city (Tsentralny Administrative District and Leningradsky Administrative District) is located north of the river, Moskovsky Administrative District is south of the river. Kant Island (Kneiphof) and Oktyabrsky Administrative District (Lomse) are located between the branches of the river.

There are eight active bridges across the Pregolya and one dismantled in Kaliningrad.

• The Two-tiered bridge is a drawbridge that connects General Butkov (northern bank) and Zheleznodorozhnaya (southern bank) streets. Divorced by raising the middle span. The upper tier of the bridge is occupied by a railway, the lower - by the carriageway and pedestrian sidewalks. The double-deck bridge is the only existing railway bridge across the Pregolya in Kaliningrad.
• Trestle bridge - thrown over both branches of the Pregolya and passes over Kneiphof, is part of the Leninsky Prospekt, built in 1972,Исторический календарь Калининграда // Журнал «Запад России», № 1 (18) 1997 год, стр 40. to replace two of the seven Königsberg bridges - Lavochny and Zeleny. There is a pedestrian descent from the bridge to the island, an automobile exit to Moskovsky Prospekt. There is no road exit to the island. The bridge is crossed by routes of all types of public transport.
• The Wooden Bridge is a drawbridge, one of the seven bridges in Königsberg. Connects Moskovsky Prospekt with Oktyabrsky Island (Oktyabrskaya st.). There are two tram routes across the bridge
• The Honey Bridge is a drawbridge, one of the seven bridges of Königsberg. Connects Oktyabrsky Island and Kneiphof. Since the Kneiphof is a pedestrian zone, the de facto bridge is also exclusively pedestrian. From time to time, the bridge is used by official vehicles (delivery of materials for the restoration of the Königsberg Cathedral, as well as for the passage of wedding cortèges).
• Jubilee Bridge - drawbridge, pedestrian, connects Oktyabrsky Island (Rybnaya village area) with St. Epronovskaya. Built in 2005 on the pillars of the old Imperial Bridge, destroyed during World War II.
• The High Bridge is one of the seven bridges in Königsberg. Connects st. Oktyabrskaya (Oktyabrsky Island) from st. Dzerzhinsky. A tram line runs across the bridge.
• Berlin (Palmburg) Bridge is part of the Kaliningrad ring road, it is thrown across both channels of the Pregolya. Farthest from the city center. After the war, it was only partially restored (one strip). A three-lane bridge was built in its place, reconstructed in 2014.
• The old railway bridge is a drawbridge, located in the area of the Museum of the World Ocean. Divorced by raising the middle span. The middle span is dismantled, the bridge is not used in any way. An abandoned railway line crosses the bridge.
• The Second Overpass Bridge was commissioned in December 2011. The bridge crosses both channels of the Pregolya and passes over Oktyabrsky Island, connecting April 9 Street in the right-bank part of the city with Dzerzhinsky Street in the left-bank part. The total length is {{convert|1883|m|yd|abbr=off}}. The bridge has three lanes in each direction. The design speed of vehicles is not less than {{convert|80|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}.

Seven bridges existed in Königsberg in the 16th-20th centuries. The relative position of the bridges led to the mathematical problem of Seven Bridges of Königsberg, and prompted the mathematician Leonhard Euler to speculate, which led to the emergence of graph theory.

{{see also|Media of Russia}}

{{see also|Television in Russia}}

The Kaliningrad television studio has existed since 1958 with its own frequency channel and daily 6–7-hour broadcasting, then it was called the Yantar TV and Radio Company. It has lost its channel and most of its airtime; it is a branch of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.

{{columns-list|

• Channel One
• Russia 24
• 5TV
• Russia 1
• Zvezda
• TNT
• Russia-K
• Yu
• STS
• NTV
• TV Center
• Match TV
• Public Television of Russia
• Carousel
• Mir
• REN TV
• Domashny
• TV-3
• Friday!
• Muz-TV
• Spas

}}

{{columns-list|

• "Europa Plus"
• "Radio Chanson"
• "Radio 7 On Seven Hills"
• "Humor FM"
• "Vesti FM"
• "RMF FM" (Poland)
• "Retro FM"
• "Russkoye Radio"
• "Silver Rain Radio"
• "NRJ Russia"
• "Radio Zvezda"
• "AvtoRadio"
• "Radio Edge"
• "Radio Monte Carlo"
• "Nashe Radio"
• "Business FM"
• "Radio Mayak"
• "Studio 21"
• "Radio Rossii"
• "Road Radio"
• "Radio Maximum"
• "Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda"

}}

{{See also|List of people from Königsberg}}

• Sergey Snegov (1910–1994), science fiction writer
• Viktor Patsayev (1933–1971)
• Alexei Leonov (1934–2019), first person to walk in space
• Yury Romanenko (born 1944)
• Alexander Viktorenko (born 1947)
• Oleg Gazmanov (born 1951), singer
• Sergei Beloglazov (born 1956), Olympic wrestler
• Lyudmila Putina (born 1958), ex-wife of Vladimir Putin, ex-First Lady of Russia
• Alexander Volkov (1967–2019), tennis player
• Andrei Voronkov (born 1967), volleyball player and coach
• Dmitry Lapikov (born 1982), Olympic weightlifter
• Tvangeste, symphonic black metal band
• Maksim Zuyev, journalist and activist
• Anastasia Nazarenko (born 1993), rhythmic gymnast
• Costa Ronin (born 1979), actor
• Irina Zahharenkova (born 1976), concert pianist
• Vitali Kalenkovich (born 1993), football player

In 2004 Germany opened a consulate general in Kaliningrad."[https://www.embassypages.com/missions/embassy1090/ Consulate General of Germany in Kaliningrad, Russia]." Embassypages.com. Retrieved on Feb 5, 2019. This consulate allows Kaliningrad residents to get Schengen visas without having to travel to Moscow. An agreement between Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany, and President of Russia Vladimir Putin established the consulate in light of Lithuania and Poland, which surround Kaliningrad, joining the EU. Russian concerns with Germany wanting the former Königsberg back had stifled earlier plans for a German consulate."[http://www.dw.com/en/fischer-establishes-german-outpost-in-kaliningrad/a-1112879 Fischer Establishes German Outpost in Kaliningrad]." Deutsche Welle. 12 February 2004. Retrieved on 16 May 2016.Kovalev, Vladimir. "[http://old.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/tmt/228704.html No Building for German Consulate]." The Moscow Times. August 30, 2004. Retrieved on Feb 5, 2019.DW Staff (dsl). "[https://www.dw.com/en/fischer-establishes-german-outpost-in-kaliningrad/a-1112879 Fischer Establishes German Outpost in Kaliningrad]." Deutsche Welle. February 12, 2004. Retrieved on Feb 5, 2019.

Poland and the Russian Federation have an agreement whereby residents of Kaliningrad and the Polish cities of Olsztyn, Elbląg and Gdańsk may obtain "small border traffic" cards permitting repeated travel between the two countries, crossing the Polish–Russian border. As of July 2013, Poland had issued 100,000 of the cards.{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/10/poland-and-kaliningrad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008133053/https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/10/poland-and-kaliningrad |archive-date=2013-10-08 |title=Poland and Kaliningrad: Small Border Traffic |work=Economist blog |date=2013-10-08 |access-date=2014-12-29 |author=A.C.}}

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia}}

Kaliningrad is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Города-партнеры|url=https://www.klgd.ru/city/twins/|website=klgd.ru|publisher=Kaliningrad|language=ru|access-date=2020-02-01}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• {{flagicon|BLR}} Baranavichy, Belarus
• {{flagicon|GER}} Bremerhaven, Germany
• {{flagicon|BLR}} Brest, Belarus
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Cagliari, Italy
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Catania, Italy
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Forlì, Italy
• {{flagicon|BLR}} Gomel, Belarus
• {{flagicon|NED}} Groningen, Netherlands
• {{flagicon|SWE}} Kalmar, Sweden
• {{flagicon|GER}} Kiel, Germany
• {{flagicon|GER}} Zeitz, Germany

{{div col end}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• {{flagicon|POL}} Białystok, Poland
• {{flagicon|POL}} Elbląg, Poland
• {{flagicon|POL}} Gdańsk, Poland
• {{flagicon|POL}} Gdynia, Poland
• {{flagicon|POL}} Łódź, Poland
• {{flagicon|POL}} Olsztyn, Poland
• {{flagicon|USA}} Norfolk, United States
• {{flagicon|LTU}} Panevėžys, Lithuania
• {{flagicon|LTU}} Klaipėda, Lithuania
• {{flagicon|LTU}} Šiauliai, Lithuania
• {{flagicon|POL}} Racibórz, Poland
• {{flagicon|POL}} Toruń, Poland
• {{flagicon|LTU}} Kaunas, Lithuania
• {{flagicon|POL}} Kętrzyn County, Poland
• {{flagicon|NED}} Zwolle, The Netherlands

{{div col end}}

In February and March 2022 many cities terminated their cooperation with Kaliningrad as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web |url=https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/norfolk/norfolk-city-council-votes-to-suspend-ties-with-russian-sister-city/ |title=Norfolk City Council votes to suspend ties with Russian sister city |date=March 9, 2022 |access-date=10 March 2022 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409131301/https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/norfolk/norfolk-city-council-votes-to-suspend-ties-with-russian-sister-city/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web| url = https://www.panevezys.lt/lt/naujienos/panevezys-nutrauke-bendradarbiavima-ec5x.html |title=Panevėžys nutraukė bendradarbiavimą su Rusijos ir Baltarusijos miestais partneriais | access-date = 3 March 2022}}{{cite web| url = https://www.trojmiasto.pl/wiadomosci/Koniec-wspolpracy-Trojmiasta-z-Rosja-n164797.html |title=Trójmiasto zrywa współpracę z rosyjskimi miastami |date=March 3, 2022 | access-date = 3 March 2022}}{{cite web| url = http://elblag24.pl/miasto-elblag-zrywa-wspolprace-z-rosyjskimi-miastami-partnerskimi/ |language=pl |title=Miasto Elbląg zrywa współpracę z rosyjskimi miastami partnerskimi |date=February 28, 2022 |access-date = 5 March 2022}}{{cite web| url = https://www.portalsamorzadowy.pl/polityka-i-spoleczenstwo/bialystok-zrywa-wspolprace-z-miastami-partnerskimi-w-rosji,356165.html |language=pl |title=Białystok zrywa współpracę z miastami partnerskimi w Rosji |date=February 27, 2022 | access-date = 6 March 2022}}{{cite web| url = https://dziennikbaltycki.pl/gdynia-do-przegladu-umowy-partnerskie-do-kasacji-raz-dwa-felieton-zygmunta-zmudy-trzebiatowskiego/ar/c1-16078685 |language=pl |title=Gdynia Do Przeglądu: Umowy partnerskie do kasacji - raz, dwa...? Felieton Zygmunta Zmudy Trzebiatowskiego |date=March 6, 2022 | access-date = 6 March 2022}}{{cite web| url = https://www.rmf24.pl/regiony/lodz/news-precz-z-bandyta-putinem-lodz-zrywa-umowy-partnerskie-z-rosyj,nId,5860690#crp_state=1 |language=pl |title="Precz z bandytą Putinem!". Łódź zrywa umowy partnerskie z rosyjskimi miastami | access-date = 6 March 2022}}{{cite web| url = https://www.se.pl/olsztyn/olsztyn-zrywa-wspolprace-z-kaliningradem-radni-przemowili-jednym-glosem-aa-jkJ5-JZwA-ziLT.html |language=pl |title=Olsztyn zrywa współpracę z Kaliningradem. Radni przemówili jednym głosem | access-date = 6 March 2022}}{{cite web| url = https://www.portalsamorzadowy.pl/polityka-i-spoleczenstwo/radni-torunia-zerwali-wspolprace-z-rosyjskim-miastem-choc-prezydent-byl-przeciwny,357795.html |language=pl |title=Radni Torunia zerwali współpracę z rosyjskim miastem, choć prezydent był przeciwny |date=March 3, 2022 | access-date = 6 March 2022}}{{cite web| url = https://dziennikzachodni.pl/raciborz-zrywa-umowe-o-wspolpracy-z-kaliningradem-radni-przeglosowali-uchwale-choc-prezydent-twierdzil-ze-wspolpracy-nie-ma/ar/c1-16082639 |language=pl |title=Racibórz zrywa umowę o współpracy z Kaliningradem. Radni przegłosowali uchwałę, choć prezydent twierdził, że współpracy nie ma|date=March 6, 2022 | access-date = 6 March 2022}}

Kaliningrad is also partnered with:

• {{Flagicon|ARM}} Yerevan, Armenia (2009){{cite web |url=http://www.yerevan.am/3-233-233.html |title=Yerevan - Partner Cities |access-date=November 4, 2013 |work=Yerevan Municipality Official Website |publisher=©2005–2013 www.yerevan.am |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105220142/http://www.yerevan.am/3-233-233.html |archive-date=November 5, 2013 }}

• Battle of Königsberg
• Heart of the City (Kaliningrad)
• Kaliningrad question
• Königsberger Klopse
• Königsberg marzipan
• Královec Region
• Radio Königsberg
• Seven Bridges of Königsberg
• Suwałki Gap

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{RussiaBasicLawRef|kgd|kaliningrad}}
• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|kgd|adm|law}}
• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|kgd|adm|list}}
• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|kgd|mun|list|kaliningrad}}
• Vesilind, Priit J. "Kaliningrad: Coping with a German Past and a Russian Future", National Geographic, March 1997.
• Berger, Stefan "A City and Its Past. Popular Histories in Kaliningrad between Regionalization and Nationalization", in: Popularizing National Past. 1800 to Present, Edited by Stefan Berger, Chris Lorenz, and Billie Melman, Routledge 2012, pp. 288–307.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090831131022/http://www.kommersant.com/tree.asp?rubric=5&node=386&doc_id=-43 Kaliningrad Region, General Information] Kommersant, Russia's daily On-line
• {{Cite Soviet law |ru_entity=Президиум Верховного Совета СССР |ru_type=Указ |ru_date=4 июля 1946 г. |ru_title=О переименовании города Кёнигсберга в город Калининград и Кёнигсбергской области в Калининградскую область |ru_url= |en_entity=Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR |en_type=Decree |en_date=July 4, 1946 |en_title=On Changing the Name of the City of Kyonigsberg to the City of Kaliningrad and the Name of Kyonigsberg Oblast to Kaliningrad Oblast |en_url=}}

{{See also|Timeline of Kaliningrad#Bibliography|l1=Bibliography of the history of Kaliningrad}}

• Barros, George. "Belarus Warning Update: Moscow and Minsk Hold Simultaneous Combat Readiness Exercises in Kaliningrad, Mainland Russia, and Belarus." Institute for the Study of War (2021) [https://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Belarus%20Warning%20Update%201-28-21.pdf online].
• Diener, Alexander, and Joshua Hagen. "Geopolitics of the Kaliningrad exclave and enclave: Russian and EU perspectives." Eurasian Geography and Economics 52.4 (2011): 567–592. [https://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=geography_faculty online]

• Eaton, Nicole. German Blood, Slavic Soil: How Nazi Königsberg Became Soviet Kaliningrad (Cornell University Press, 2023) [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=60859 online review of this book]

• Krickus, Richard J. The Kaliningrad Question (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002).
• Lachowski, Zdzislaw. "Kaliningrad as a security issue: an expert view from Poland." in Kaliningrad: the European amber region (Routledge, 2018) pp. 130–148.

• Liuhto, Kari (editor). "[https://www.utu.fi/fi/yksikot/tse/yksikot/PEI/raportit-ja-tietopaketit/Documents/Liuhto_72005.pdf Its future competitiveness and role in the Baltic Sea economic region] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023014510/https://www.utu.fi/fi/yksikot/tse/yksikot/PEI/raportit-ja-tietopaketit/Documents/Liuhto_72005.pdf |date=October 23, 2016 }}." University of Turku.

• Mordovets, Vitaly, et al. "Socio-economic development of the Kaliningrad region." E3S Web of Conferences. Vol. 291. EDP Sciences, 2021. [https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2021/67/e3sconf_sdgg2021_01006.pdf online]
• Oldberg, Ingmar. "The Kaliningrad Region: an Exclave with Internal and External Problems." in The Kaliningrad Region (Brill Schöningh, 2021) pp. 241–261.
• Oldberg, Ingmar. "The emergence of a regional identity in the Kaliningrad oblast." Cooperation and Conflict 35.3 (2000): 269–288.
• Sebentsov, Alexander B., and Maria V. Zotova. "The Kaliningrad Region: Challenges of the Exclave Position and the Ways to Offset Them." Baltic Region 10.1 (2018): 89–106. [https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/57136/ssoar-balticreg-2018-1-sebentsov_et_al-The_Kaliningrad_Region_Challenges_of.pdf?sequence=1 online]

• Rogoża, Jadwiga, Agata Wierzbowska-Miazga, and Iwona Wiśniewska. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20141025174538/http://www.osw.waw.pl/sites/default/files/prace_41_en.pdf A captive island. Kaliningrad between Moscow and the EU]." OSW Studies, No. 41, July 2012.

{{Sister project links|auto=yes|d=yes}}

• [https://www.klgd.ru/ Official website of Kaliningrad] {{in lang|ru}}
• [https://kaliningrad.jsprav.ru/ Kaliningrad Business Directory] {{in lang|ru}}
• [http://www.konigsberg.ru/eng Kaliningrad travel guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820210320/http://konigsberg.ru/eng/ |date=August 20, 2017 }}
• [https://castlesandfamilies.com/russia/ruin-keepers-kaliningrad-heritage-preservation Ruin Keepers - saving Prussian heritage in the Kaliningrad region P.1]
• [https://castlesandfamilies.com/russia/ruin-keepers-kaliningrad-historical-heritage Ruin Keepers - saving Prussian heritage in the Kaliningrad region P.2]
• [https://www.kallipolis.co.uk/all-roads-lead-to-kaliningrad All roads lead to Kaliningrad]{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Kaliningrad Oblast}}

{{Baltic fleet}}

{{Portal bar|Geography|Russia|Europe}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places established in the 1250s

Category:Russian and Soviet Navy bases

Category:Port cities and towns in Russia

Category:Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea

Category:Populated coastal places in Russia

Category:Members of the Hanseatic League

Category:1255 establishments in Europe

Category:Cities and towns in Kaliningrad Oblast