Travel around the smallest city of the Kaliningrad region, Primorsk.

This term has other meanings, see Primorsk.

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K: Settlements founded in 1268
Primorsk

(until 1946
Fischhausen
, German
Fischhausen
, Polish
Rybaki
, lit. Žuvininkai) is a city in the Baltiysky municipal district of the Kaliningrad region of Russia (in 2005-2008 - an urban-type settlement).

Population - 1929[1] people. (2016).

Story

German period (until 1945)

Founded in 1268 as the city of Fischhausen - in German “fish tank” K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified)[ source not specified 2323 days

]. The feeble-minded Duke Albert Friedrich died in Fischhausen Castle in 1618. As a result, Johann Sigismund united Prussia with Brandenburg. Fischhausen has been a district center since 1818[2]. It had a coat of arms: a shield on which the bishop's crozier crossed with the sword of an order knight (Zamland coat of arms), under them there was a fish with its head up.

Soviet period (until 1991)

Since 1945, part of the USSR. In 1947, it was renamed Primorsk, the new name was assigned due to its location on the shore of the Kaliningrad Bay. In 1946-1963 it was part of the Primorsky district (with its center in the city of Zelenogradsk) and the Zelenogradsky district.

In 1963, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, by its decree, transferred the city of Primorsk to the subordination of the Svetlovsk City Council.

In 1953, the city Council of Workers' Deputies was formed in Primorsk. Since 1977, it began to be called the Council of People's Deputies and existed until 1994. Executive power in the city was exercised by the Executive Committee of the City Council. The chairmen of the executive committee were[2]:

• A. P. Zateev (1953-1957),
• I. V. Karpov (1957-1959),
• P. T. Nozdrin (1959-1960),
• F. N. Bykov (1960-1965),
• E. P. Kozhevnikova (1965-1981),
• L. M. Medvedeva (1981-1985) and
• G. N. Grigorenko (1985-1994).

Russian period (since 1992)

With the formation of the district, a city administration appeared in Primorsk, whose leaders were G. N. Grigorenko (1994-2001) and A. N. Mamaev (2001-2005)[2].

In 1994, regional authorities decided to form the Baltic urban district and added the city of Primorsk to it. Until 2005, it had the status of a city, but, due to a decrease in population, it was again transformed into an urban-type settlement as part of the Baltic urban district.

In 2008, a law was adopted in the Kaliningrad region on the transformation of the Baltic urban district into a municipal district and on the creation of three municipalities on its territory, including the Primorsky urban settlement. At the same time, Primorsk was returned to the status of a city[3].

Primorsk, Kaliningrad region

Primorsk-Novy railway station, Kaliningrad region (2012) © Irina Borsuchenko / Photobank Lori

Location. Primorsk is located on the territory of the Baltic urban district of the Kaliningrad region of Russia. The distance to Kaliningrad is about 36 kilometers, to Baltiysk - about 14.

Briefly about the city. It arose no later than the 13th century. In the pre-revolutionary edition of Adolf Böttcher’s book “Monuments of architecture and art of the province of East Prussia. Book 1. Samland” lists its names in chronological order: Schonevik (in 1266-1268 a fortress was built here on the site of a fishing settlement), Bischofeshausen (from 1320; later the short version Bischhausen was used), and from 1360 – Fischhausen. Since 1818, the city has been a regional center. It had its own coat of arms, combining the symbolism of knighthood, clergy (“Bischofeshausen” literally means “bishop’s courtyard”, and, indeed, the city was the residence of the bishop) and fishing (“Fischhausen” can be translated as “fish tank”). It was as Fischhausen that the city was known until the transition from East Prussia to the USSR in 1945. It began to be called Primorsky in 1947. Primorsk is the smallest city in terms of area in the Kaliningrad region. It even lost its city status for a while - from 2005 to 2008 it was considered an urban-type settlement. According to the 2022 census, the population of Primorsk was 1,960 people. The city is connected by railway and highway A123 with Baltiysk and Kaliningrad. The Primorskaya River flows through the city.

Authorities. In modern Russia, Primorsk at various times was part of the Baltic urban district as a village, then, upon returning to city status in 2008, into the Primorskoye urban settlement (Kaliningrad region), in which it was the only populated area. In 2022, the municipal formation “Primorskoye Urban Settlement” was abolished, but the city Council of Deputies of the municipal formation continued to exist, the chairman of this Council was also the head of Primorsk. This position, according to local media publications, was held by Igor Koval, who won the by-elections in 2022. In November 2018, the abolition of the city council began, and on August 9, 2022, the status of the council was officially changed to “liquidated”; the Primorskoye urban settlement again became part of the Baltic urban district. Now Primorsk is managed by the head of the administration of the Baltic urban district, Sergei Melnikov.

Economy. Before the revolution, the city had a sawmill, two brick factories, two mills, and a brewery. By the beginning of the 1940s, there were gas, brick and dairy factories, a power plant, and a fish factory; mills continued to operate, and there were several sawmills, crafts developed, and there was a seed-growing station. However, during the Second World War it was heavily damaged, and when it became Soviet, some of the surviving buildings, including a brick and tile factory and a significant portion of the infrastructure, were transferred to the jurisdiction of the South Baltic Fleet for the needs of its units. Military units of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy are still stationed in Primorsk, in particular a separate naval engineering battalion.

Old cobblestone road built in Germany. Primorsk, Kaliningrad region (2012) © Irina Borsuchenko / Photobank Lori

Attractions. Among the city's attractions are water towers built by the Germans at the very beginning of the twentieth century. Within the city there are also the ruins of the bishop's castle of Fischhausen: since 1701 it began to be dismantled for the construction of the Pillau fortifications, in addition, it was badly damaged during the battles of 1945. The local Tree of Peace is widely known - an oak planted in Fischhausen in 1871 in honor of the end of the Franco-Prussian War (in fact, it is already an oak made from an acorn from that oak). In June 2011, a Memory Square was opened next to the oak tree. Tourists are also attracted by the German military cemetery (soldiers who died in the First World War are buried there) and the burial place of Soviet soldiers, as well as the Villa Porr, built at the beginning of the 20th century (in our time, it belonged to the Ministry of Defense for a long time; now, according to local historians, it is empty, but until is still considered one of the best preserved of the approximately 20 surviving villas in the former territory of East Prussia). The city has a Museum of the History of Primorsk (Fischhausen) with several exhibitions.

Famous people. The German scientist Wilhelm Wien was born in Fischhausen. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of laws related to thermal radiation. Margarita Federman, a famous German artist, comes from there. Nikita Burmistrov, a Russian football player who plays for the Sochi club, was also born in Primorsk.

Feedback from a citizen. A city with a lot of history, but, to be honest, there is not much in it that reminds you of the former Fischhausen - old buildings stand side by side with ordinary five-story buildings. But in general it is low-rise and very green. There are places to go for walks with children... There are few jobs and low wages.

Secrets of Sambia (excerpt) Lyudmila Zybina

The Sambian land <…> is rich in secrets. Bunkers, treasures, castles, forts... The secret of the Amber Room alone is worth something. I have a simpler secret - a tree. The oak tree I want to talk about has an amazing fate. It was planted by the Germans on the town hall square of Fischhausen (now Primorsk) at the end of the 19th century as a symbol of the end of the Franco-Prussian War. That’s why they called it the Oak of Peace. <…> The East Prussian operation completely changed the map of the Kaliningrad region, not just a small town. <…> The settlement took a step in the other direction after the war. The center moved, and on the former town hall square, first a wasteland and then a complete landfill formed. But, fortunately, a caring person became interested in the fate of the oak tree. Studying the surviving historical documents, he learned about the Oak and read that when planting it, the townspeople buried a capsule in the roots - a message to descendants. Enthusiasts decided to find the Peace Oak. And they found it! The oak was severely wounded, split into two large branches, but was alive. <…> Almost a century and a half later, oak again found its fans. I also loved to come to him when I found myself in Primorsk. Looking at the tree, I imagined that distant day in 1871 when people planted it with love and hope. And then they took refuge under its branches from the rain, made dates with him... I loved him, but in 2012 a hurricane broke the tree. <…> This skeleton complemented the composition of military artifacts in the Memory Square. I didn’t come to the oak tree, it became painful for me to look at it... The winter of 2014 fell on the former Sambia with fogs and drizzling rains. <…> For Christmas, for some reason I decided to go to Memory Square. Imagine my amazement when, not far from the remains of an old oak tree, I saw a small, lovingly fenced oak tree with a sign “Oak of Memory. Grown from an acorn from the Peace Oak, planted by the people of Fischhausen in 1871.” Everyone is interested in the capsule with the message, but so far this secret has not yet been revealed.

Elections of the President of the Russian Federation. In the elections on March 18, 2022, 76.34% of the electorate of the Kaliningrad region voted for Vladimir Putin, 10.21% for Pavel Grudinin, candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and 5.99% for Vladimir Zhirinovsky (LDPR). Ksenia Sobchak, from the “Civil Initiative”, has 2.54% of the votes, Grigory Yavlinsky – 1.47%, Sergei Baburin, Maxim Suraikin and Boris Titov – less than 1%. Overall, turnout in the region exceeded 55%. The Baltic Election Commission reported that at its polling stations, including those in Primorsk, the figures differed slightly from these - Putin and Zhirinovsky received slightly more votes, Grudinin, Sobchak and Yavlinsky - less (76.61% and 7.8% against 9 .5%, as well as 2.22% and 0.92%, respectively).

Governor elections. Early elections for the governor of the Kaliningrad region were held on September 10, 2022. Anton Alikhanov won the elections with 81.06% of the votes. He served as acting governor since October 6, 2016, and took office on September 29, 2022. His election rivals Igor Revin (Communist Party of the Russian Federation, 8.89%), Evgeny Mishin (LDPR, 5.47%) and Ekaterina Timofeeva (Greens, 2.53%) lost to him significantly. The turnout was 39.33%. According to the Baltic Election Commission, in the Baltic urban district, which included Primorsk, Alikhanov received 79.87%, Mishin -6.23%, Revin - 6.91% and Timofeeva - 4.21%.

Local elections. Additional elections of deputies of the City Council of Deputies of the municipal formation “Primorskoye Urban Settlement” in single-mandate electoral district No. 9 took place on July 16, 2022. In these elections, Igor Koval received a mandate, for whom 62 out of 64 voting participants voted. Oleg Egorin, his opponent, received 2 votes, Natalya Kozlova did not receive any.

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Primorsk on Yandex maps

Population

Climate

The climate of the city is transitional to maritime. Winters are shorter and milder, and summers are cooler than in mainland areas. There is a fairly large amount of precipitation throughout the year. The weather is relatively windy. The warmest month is July. Spring is long, March and April are usually cool, and May is warm.

• Average annual temperature - +7.6 C°
• Average annual wind speed - 2.6 m/s
• Average annual air humidity - 79%

Attractions

In any case, a vacation in Primorsk will include visiting attractions and memorable historical places. As a rule, all tourists must attend such excursions.

The city is famous for the following attractions:

• The ruins of Fischhausen Castle, located in its vicinity.
• The German military cemetery, where soldiers who died during the First and Second World Wars are buried.
• The observation tower, built by the Germans, is the oldest structure.
• Museum of the History of Primorsk.
• Bishop's castle from the 18th century.

The modern city has a cultural center, a library, and an art school. If you walk along the bay, you can get to the historical center of the city, which will be of interest to tourists due to its architecture.

Vacationers should definitely visit the Temple of the All-Merciful Savior. You cannot ignore the sign erected in memory of the war, or as it is also commonly called - the Tree of War.

Primorsk, Kaliningrad region, is also famous for its Peace Oak, planted in honor of the end of the Franco-Prussian War back in 1871. And five years ago, in the summer of 2011, a memory park was opened nearby.

Social sphere

Educational institutions

MBOUSOSH No. 8. Address: 238510 Baltic city district, Primorsk, Zheleznodorozhnaya street, 2a. Director - Tsigas Elena Aleksandrovna[18].

Cultural institutions

In 1997, the Museum of the History of the City of Primorsk (Fischhausen) was opened, which is located in the House of Culture. Also in the Primorsk Palace of Culture, the City Library is located on the ground floor. Address: 238510, Kaliningrad region, Primorsk, Baltic District, st. Zheleznodorozhnaya, 8. tel. 8-40145-68535.

Children's art school. Address: 238510 Baltic urban district, Primorsk, st. Zheleznodorozhnaya, 10. Year of foundation: 1995. Director: Tymkovan Nikolay Petrovich[19].

History of the city of Primorsk, Kaliningrad region

The history of the city is very rich and interesting. In 1268, a village was founded with the name Fishpond (Fischhausen). It had its own coat of arms and advantages. At the end of the Great Patriotic War, it became part of the USSR. Two years later it received a new name, which it still bears today - Primorsk.

According to the 2010 census, just under two thousand people live in the city.

Such famous people as Wilhelm Wien (famous physicist, Nobel Prize winner), Dietrich von Saucken (German general) lived in this city.

An excerpt characterizing Primorsk (Kaliningrad region)

- For what? I don't know. That's how it should be. Besides, I’m going... - He stopped. “I’m going because this life that I lead here, this life is not for me!” A woman's dress rustled in the next room. As if waking up, Prince Andrei shook himself, and his face took on the same expression that it had in Anna Pavlovna’s living room. Pierre swung his legs off the sofa. The princess entered. She was already in a different, homely, but equally elegant and fresh dress. Prince Andrei stood up, politely moving a chair for her. “Why, I often think,” she spoke, as always, in French, hastily and fussily sitting down in a chair, “why didn’t Annette get married?” How stupid you all are, messurs, for not marrying her. Excuse me, but you don’t understand anything about women. What a debater you are, Monsieur Pierre. “I keep arguing with your husband too; I don’t understand why he wants to go to war,” said Pierre, without any embarrassment (so common in the relationship of a young man to a young woman) addressing the princess. The princess perked up. Apparently, Pierre's words touched her to the quick. - Oh, that’s what I’m saying! - she said. “I don’t understand, I absolutely don’t understand, why men can’t live without war? Why do we women don’t want anything, don’t need anything? Well, you be the judge. I tell him everything: here he is his uncle’s adjutant, the most brilliant position. Everyone knows him so much and appreciates him so much. The other day at the Apraksins’ I heard a lady ask: “C’est ca le fameux prince Andre?” Ma parole d'honneur! [Is this the famous Prince Andrei? Honestly!] – She laughed. - He is so accepted everywhere. He could very easily be an adjutant in the wing. You know, the sovereign spoke to him very graciously. Annette and I talked about how this would be very easy to arrange. How do you think? Pierre looked at Prince Andrei and, noticing that his friend did not like this conversation, did not answer. - When are you leaving? - he asked. - Ah! ne me parlez pas de ce depart, ne m'en parlez pas. Je ne veux pas en entendre parler, [Oh, don’t tell me about this departure! “I don’t want to hear about him,” the princess spoke in the same capriciously playful tone in which she spoke with Hippolyte in the living room, and which obviously did not suit the family circle, where Pierre was, as it were, a member. – Today, when I thought that I needed to break off all these dear relationships... And then, you know, Andre? “She blinked significantly at her husband. – J'ai peur, j'ai peur! [I’m scared, I’m scared!] she whispered, shaking her back. The husband looked at her as if he was surprised to notice that someone else besides him and Pierre was in the room; and with cold politeness he turned inquiringly to his wife: “What are you afraid of, Lisa?” “I can’t understand,” he said. – That’s how all men are selfish; everyone, everyone is selfish! Because of his own whims, God knows why, he abandons me, locks me in the village alone. “With your father and sister, don’t forget,” Prince Andrei said quietly. - Still alone, without my friends... And he wants me not to be afraid. Her tone was already grumbling, her lip lifted, giving her face not a joyful, but a brutal, squirrel-like expression. She fell silent, as if finding it indecent to talk about her pregnancy in front of Pierre, when that was the essence of the matter. “Still, I don’t understand, de quoi vous avez peur, [What are you afraid of," Prince Andrei said slowly, without taking his eyes off his wife. The princess blushed and waved her hands desperately. “Non, Andre, je dis que vous avez tellement, tellement change... [No, Andrei, I say: you have so, so changed...] “Your doctor tells you to go to bed earlier,” said Prince Andrei. - You should go to bed. The princess said nothing, and suddenly her short, whiskered sponge began to tremble; Prince Andrei, standing up and shrugging his shoulders, walked around the room. Pierre looked in surprise and naively through his glasses, first at him, then at the princess, and stirred, as if he, too, wanted to get up, but was again thinking about it. “What does it matter to me that Monsieur Pierre is here,” the little princess suddenly said, and her pretty face suddenly blossomed into a tearful grimace. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time, Andre: why did you change so much towards me?” What I did to you? You're going to the army, you don't feel sorry for me. For what? - Lise! - Prince Andrey just said; but in this word there was a request, a threat, and, most importantly, an assurance that she herself would repent of her words; but she continued hastily: “You treat me like I’m sick or a child.” I see everything. Were you like this six months ago? “Lise, I ask you to stop,” said Prince Andrei even more expressively. Pierre, who became more and more agitated during this conversation, stood up and approached the princess. He seemed unable to bear the sight of tears and was ready to cry himself. - Calm down, princess. It seems so to you, because I assure you, I myself experienced... why... because... No, excuse me, there is no stranger here... No, calm down... Goodbye... Prince Andrei stopped him by the hand. - No, wait, Pierre. The princess is so kind that she will not want to deprive me of the pleasure of spending the evening with you. “No, he only thinks about himself,” said the princess, unable to hold back her angry tears. “Lise,” said Prince Andrei dryly, raising his tone to the degree that shows that patience is exhausted. Suddenly the angry, squirrel-like expression of the princess’s beautiful face was replaced by an attractive and compassion-arousing expression of fear; She glanced from under her beautiful eyes at her husband, and on her face appeared that timid and confessing expression that appears on a dog, quickly but weakly waving its lowered tail. - Mon Dieu, mon Dieu! [My God, my God!] - said the princess and, picking up the fold of her dress with one hand, she walked up to her husband and kissed him on the forehead. “Bonsoir, Lise, [Good night, Liza,” said Prince Andrei, getting up and politely, like a stranger, kissing his hand. The friends were silent. Neither one nor the other began to speak. Pierre glanced at Prince Andrei, Prince Andrei rubbed his forehead with his small hand. “Let’s go have dinner,” he said with a sigh, getting up and heading to the door. They entered the elegantly, newly, richly decorated dining room. Everything, from napkins to silver, earthenware and crystal, bore that special imprint of novelty that happens in the household of young spouses. In the middle of dinner, Prince Andrei leaned on his elbow and, like a man who has long had something on his heart and suddenly decides to speak out, with an expression of nervous irritation in which Pierre had never seen his friend, he began to say: “Never, never get married, my friend; Here's my advice to you: don't get married until you tell yourself that you did everything you could, and until you stop loving the woman you chose, until you see her clearly; otherwise you will make a cruel and irreparable mistake. Marry an old man, good for nothing... Otherwise, everything that is good and lofty in you will be lost. Everything will be spent on little things. Yes Yes Yes! Don't look at me with such surprise. If you expect something ahead from yourself, then at every step you will feel that everything is over for you, everything is closed, except for the living room, where you will stand on the same level as a court lackey and an idiot... What!... He energetically waved his hand . Pierre took off his glasses, causing his face to change, showing even more kindness, and looked at his friend in surprise. “My wife,” continued Prince Andrei, “is a wonderful woman.” This is one of those rare women with whom you can be at peace with your honor; but, my God, what I wouldn’t give now not to be married! I’m telling you this alone and first, because I love you. Prince Andrei, saying this, looked even less like than before that Bolkonsky, who was lounging in Anna Pavlovna’s chair and, squinting through his teeth, spoke French phrases. His dry face was still trembling with the nervous animation of every muscle; the eyes, in which the fire of life had previously seemed extinguished, now shone with a radiant, bright shine. It was clear that the more lifeless he seemed in ordinary times, the more energetic he was in these moments of almost painful irritation. “You don’t understand why I’m saying this,” he continued. – After all, this is a whole life story. You say Bonaparte and his career,” he said, although Pierre did not talk about Bonaparte. – You say Bonaparte; but Bonaparte, when he worked, walked step by step towards his goal, he was free, he had nothing but his goal - and he achieved it. But tie yourself to a woman, and like a shackled convict, you lose all freedom. And all that you have of hope and strength, everything only weighs you down and torments you with remorse. Living rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot escape. I am now going to war, to the greatest war that has ever happened, but I know nothing and am no good for anything. “Je suis tres aimable et tres caustique, [I am very sweet and very eater,” continued Prince Andrei, “and Anna Pavlovna listens to me.” And this stupid society, without which my wife and these women cannot live... If only you could know what it is toutes les femmes distinguees [all these women of good society] and women in general! My father is right. Selfishness, vanity, stupidity, insignificance in everything - these are women when they show everything as they are. If you look at them in the light, it seems that there is something, but nothing, nothing, nothing! Yes, don’t get married, my soul, don’t get married,” Prince Andrei finished.

Travel around the smallest city of the Kaliningrad region, Primorsk.

Last Saturday, August 15, together with a team of volunteers from the Drops of Sounds Conversational Sign Language club and people with hearing impairments, we made an incredible journey towards Primorsk in the Baltic urban district.

Our long-time excursion friends met in sign language on time, got acquainted with the trip plan at the meeting point and, without wasting any time, hit the road.

In the smallest city not only in the Kaliningrad region, but also in Russia, according to a local resident, our guide to the past of the city of Primorsk, Kirill Opalenik, a journey awaited us for the whole day. At the end of the day, the guys, talking among themselves, noticed: “It’s a small town, and we’ve been hanging around here all day…”

Let's share our impressions of this day.

The sunny day promised hot weather and our trip plans included taking a dip in the sea, for which we allocated a little less than an hour.

But first, a walk around the city of Fischhausen. Kirill Opalenik was happy to share his secrets and mysteries of the medieval city, the history of which begins at the castle, or rather at its ruins.

We don’t know what the castle looked like; its remains in the form of large boulders are scattered along the shore of the bay.

But what is called the ruins of the castle is part of the wall of the garrison barracks, under which the basement rooms have been preserved.

Let's add a few more points - the foundation stone of the castle has been preserved, it was moved closer to the historical ruins, and thus there is an opportunity to touch the foundation of the history of Fischhausen. Unfortunately, the second stone, which lay next to the first, was dragged away in the dark night - such stones are valued by connoisseurs of antiquity, but for some reason they believe that they should be taken away from historical sites and quietly possessed alone.

But the concrete slabs near the fragments of the barracks walls are nothing more than covered military shells from the time of the assault on Fischhausen in April 1945 and the buildings of one of the eight most ancient cities in Prussia destroyed during the battles.

The magnificent Amt Bridge. Year of construction: 1894. Never rebuilt. It has a technical trick - folding plates in the middle of the bridge for the passage of boats with masts. The confluence of the Primorskaya River or, as it was called in Fischhausen, the Germauer Mühlenfliess, that is, the Germau Mill Stream, was a wide, deep bay with a long pier. Large ships moored here and along the river, upstream or downstream, they transported cargo in parts on light boats.

Not far from the bridge was the 1st Fisherman's Street, here there were fishermen's houses in a row, now there is a tall and lush grass stand.

Meanwhile, we approached the castle church. At the entrance there are two figures of historical figures - Adalbert of Prague and Georg Polenc.

An Orthodox Church is now being built on the foundation of the unpreserved church.

Opposite are several noteworthy places - the Oak of Peace, planted in 1871 in honor of Prussia's victory at Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War (as a result of the end of this war, Germany united into an empire), lost as a result of a strong storm in 2012;

and the installation “Remember the War”, created from wartime finds: helmets, sapper shovels, weapon parts, shells discovered in the vicinity of Fischhausen.

The strength of the young oak tree, which was planted in 2013 from a shoot of that historical one, is encouraging - a symbol of the beautiful and strong beginning of a new time in the history of Primorsk.

Let's intrigue our readers a little... near the road connecting Kaliningrad - Baltiysk there is a bus stop on the side of the church under construction, and next to it there is a flowerbed in a bright yellow metal design. This is where the secret of the medieval city is hidden. Just a request - DO NOT DIGGING! The valuables have already been taken away... Where? To Moscow! And what? Ask the keeper of the history of the city of Fischhausen, Kirill Opalenik, he has a wonderful VKontakte group “Primorsk - Fischhausen Ostpreußen - the cradle of East Prussia” https://m.vk.com/club59996030?from=profile&menu_opened

And we cross the road and continue our walk around the city. Once upon a time, the main road Pillauer-Langgasse-Strasse was built up with densely packed houses, on the ground floors there were shops, cafes... By the way, in Fischhausen there were 32 cafes, and in Primorsk - they don’t even go there with children.

It was not by chance that they remembered the children. There were two orphanages in Fischhausen; they were maintained at the expense of the city treasury. And so that life would not seem unfair to these children, in the local pastry shop on the main road they were treated to tea and local pastries twice a day, and yes! .. all the children of Fischhausen could enjoy fresh buns for free every day.

To do this, the child had to tell the pastry chef his last name, take a comfortable place at the table, taste the treat and go about his important children’s business, after which he could return to the cafe, identify himself again and get another pastry. These are the things that happened in the Prussian paradise...

Having dived between five-story buildings for families of military personnel and employees of the Primorsk radio plant, we found ourselves on Graf-Kaiserling Strasse. Now there is a schoolyard and an alley planted by the best students of the high school. Let's stay here a little and look at the buildings around... True, there is nothing around the school, however, there is something to tell. The school is located in the treasury building of the financial administration of the amta of Fischhausen. From 1819 to 1939, the Amt of Fischhausen united all coastal territories and had the longest natural border among all similar administrative entities in Prussia. All the main interests of the region were concentrated here and there was a lot of money... therefore, the need arose to build impressive premises for the treasury.

The finance department itself and the bank building stood exactly opposite.

Nearby is a courthouse with a small extension for prison cells. In the entire history of judicial records management from the end of the 18th century until the beginning of World War II, no more than 100 people served time in the Fischhausen prison, and then all for inappropriate behavior while drunk...

Turning down the street with five surviving residential buildings, here once stood a school, on the site in front of which there was a monument made of boulders to the fallen residents of Fischhausen in the First World War (we will meet him later in our journey), we came alongside the building of the school sports hall, which previously housed a stable. The good building has stood the test of time.

But the building of the Fischhausen railway station was dismantled two years ago to its very foundations.

The Primorsk station building, which we see on the platform, was built in the 50s of the twentieth century and has nothing to do with the historical building.

The platform of the second track has been preserved, from where trains ran to the resort towns of the northern coast - Kranz and Rauschen.

Not far from the railway water tower there is a preserved loading platform; if you climb onto it and look a little closer, you can find high-quality paving stones.

The Fischhausen station on the imperial road was served by no more than 25 people, letters were sorted in the post office, and the safety of large parcels was monitored in the baggage room.

and in a separate house (in the area of ​​the Pyatachok beer kiosk) there was brisk work on the delivery of cargo; according to the documentation, the goods were distributed to the appropriate wagons.

A separate third track was exclusively for freight trains. A special feature of this route was its narrow gauge; it ran inside the standard wide gauge railway. The narrow-gauge railway delivered products from numerous factories in Fischhausen to the sorting track and also delivered gas in tanks for refueling street lamps and much more that the city could not do without.

Making a small circle around the pre-war city, we found ourselves on Freiheistraße, the outskirts of Fischhausen. Now there are small houses with impressive vegetable gardens, and on the pre-war street there was an orphanage and a so-called labor camp for youth with 300 places; in the summer, the guys helped with housework in the Fischhausen stables. One of the last to work in the labor camp was a detachment of the Hitler Youth from Königsberg. An interesting copy of the certificate was presented by Kirill Opalenik, in turn, it was shared with him by a former pupil of the Fischhausen orphanage and who worked in the same labor detachment, which states that the camp existed until 1956... (perhaps its construction?).

Speaking of copies and original documents of the residents of Fischhausen, our guide to the history of Fischhausen has very interesting collections on hand, kindly provided by former residents of this town.

The road greeted us with preserved parts of gas lighting - gas supply regulators. It is interesting that residents did not have the right to adjust the brightness of street lighting at their own discretion; for this, with a special key, the responsible master, upon communication from those same residents, could regulate both the brightness and the malfunction of the wick, which could poison, smoke or not burn at all.

We are extremely grateful for a fascinating excursion to Kirill Opalenik, a student of Viktor Ivanovich Boluchevsky, a teacher at a secondary school in Primorsk, a member of the Kaliningrad regional club of local historians, who has been studying the history of Primorsk, the former Fischhausen, since the late 90s, from the very time he arrived in the Kaliningrad region. We strongly recommend that you immerse yourself in the history of the city and walk around Primorsk with experts in this area.

And ahead of us were Villa Porr, Witland with the Adalbert Cross.

A unique monument with the status of a Cultural Heritage Site of local significance is located on the territory of Primorsk - the Primorsky Park of landscape architecture, planted in 1870 on the territory of the old Porr estate, also a Cultural Heritage Site. The basis for recognizing the park as a natural monument back in 1985, in 2007 it was transferred from regional to local significance, is the valuable presence of introduced species and decorative forms of trees and shrubs: white pseudo-hemlock, red oak, silver linden, lapina pterocarpta, Amur velvet and the legendary cork tree. The park is of scientific importance.

Our friendly group walked along the overgrown alleys of this marvelous park and admired the most beautiful 13-room villa on the outskirts of the city of Primorsk, built in the first half of the twentieth century on the territory of a family estate.

The owner of the estate, Anton Wilhelm Porr, carried out significant business activities in Fischhausen. He owned a brick factory that predates World War I, a sawmill on the lagoon, carpentry shops, a masonry business, and a 106-hectare agricultural area.

After World War II, the brick factory was demolished. In 1952-2011, the villa became an object of the Ministry of Defense; a department of a military hospital was located here. Currently, the building is empty, deteriorating and collapsing. The mansion is put up for sale through an advertisement portal for 36 million rubles.

The beautiful Vitlanda beach attracts numerous vacationers on hot days, so we decided to take a short break and plunge into the sea. Literally half an hour later we continued our journey and found ourselves at the Cross.

In 1997, to commemorate the victory of the conciliatory ideas of “perestroika”, with the support of the then mayor of Baltiysk, a memorial cross made of aluminum was erected in Elbląg. He became the third in the history of the Crosses in this place. Local historians, using old site plans and other reliable materials, identified and indicated the place where the iron cross used to stand.

In 1822, on the initiative of Privy Councilor Müller, the government decided to establish St. Adalbert in memory of his tragic death, a wooden cross. The cross was visited by pilgrims from other countries. However, it did not stand for a relatively long time, since it was toppled by a hurricane due to weak sandy soil.

Soon, in memory of her loved ones who died in the Polish uprising of 1831, Countess Elizaveta Wielopolska, who took refuge in Fischhausen during the uprising, initiated the installation of an openwork iron cross 8.78 m high. Made in the neo-Gothic style, it appeared in 1834 and stood in an elegant iron fence until the end of World War II.

In the fall of 1991, through the efforts of the Catholic community of the region, a temporary small wooden cross was erected here, which was consecrated by Catholic Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. In January 1997, the St. Adalbert, on whose behalf a plan of events was developed in honor of the 1000th anniversary of the death of St. Adalberta. On April 23, 1997, instead of a temporary wooden one, a metal cross, a gift from Poland, was installed.

The cross is located 1.5 km from the Kaliningrad-Baltiysk highway, and its location is connected to the highway by a dirt road. The dirt road to the Cross runs along the protective rampart of Gardine, a small fragment of which can be read in modern relief. At the northwestern end of the Gardine rampart, a chapel was erected in 1014–1035 or 1320–1343.

This area is the canonical (recognized by church leadership, documented in 1302 by Bishop Siegfried) place of martyrdom of the first missionary of Prussia - St. Wojciech-Adalbert.

Having departed from Gdansk on a boat guarded by 30 princely warriors, St. Wojciech, having landed on the Sambian coast, releases his guards and, accompanied by his sworn brother Radzim-Gaudencius, chaplain Bogushi-Benedict and several of his faithful disciples, goes deep into the Prussian land in the hope of converting the pagans to the faith of Christ.

The missionary is initially successful in the local community and baptizes several Prussians.

However, the bulk of the local population remains dissatisfied with the desecration of their gods, which they saw in the sermons of the newly minted missionary. The last sermon of St. Wojciech passed under the indignant cries of the Prussians, who stood in front of the missionary in full armor. After spending the night in the forest and reading the last mass by Radzim-Gaudentius on April 23, 997, the Prague bishop is captured by the enraged Prussians, who throw him to the ground with seven blows of their spears. The first blow was struck by the Vaidelot priest Sikko. Another Prussian cuts off the head of the holy missionary. Six of his companions also die, three of the missionary’s students leave unhindered...

Soon after the missionary's death, the Polish prince Boleslav the Brave bought his remains worth their weight in gold. Founded around the year 1000, the cathedral in the princely residence - the city of Gniezno in the first half of the 12th century was decorated with bronze gates with 18 scenes from the life of St. Wojciech-Adalbert. In 1039, the bulk of the missionary’s relics were deposited in the Prague Castle Cathedral. However, some details of the body of St. Wojciech was taken to the cathedral in Frombork and the Gniezno Cathedral.

It is possible that directly at the site of the missionary’s sacrifice (or rather, at the elevated point of the canonical place of death), already in the High Middle Ages, a wooden memorial cross was erected by pilgrims. This is fully consistent with the Catholic tradition of venerating saints. As a rule, such crosses were erected by the first Christians on the sites of former pagan sanctuaries.

The place where the cross of St. Adelbert, in its location, is very convenient for placing a Prussian sanctuary on it. It most likely carried out sacred protection of the taboo microregion of Witlandsort, forbidden for outsiders to visit. To the north-west of it there was a section of the Gardine rampart, which specially protected the site of the supposed Prussian sanctuary. The Prussians visited Witlandsort from time to time as part of trade operations on the nearby strait, in view of the protection of the strait and for the possible performance of religious ceremonies.

The first reports of the emergence of a chapel here appeared in 1014 - 1035 during the Danish conquests in Sambia. This was the very first, most ancient Christian church in Prussia. The most revered of all churches, St. Adalbert there was a church erected near the village of Tenkitten - the modern village of Beregovoe, in the usual name "Witland".

According to another legend, at the beginning of the 12th century, English merchants brought the relics of St. Adalbert from the ancient Danish church located in Samland, across the bay to St. Albrecht near Gdansk. Other chroniclers attributed the construction of the new church to the Samland bishop Johannes I Clara (1319 - 1344). According to Grunau, he built the church with donations from princes who arrived in Prussia to help the Teutonic Order in campaigns against Lithuania and Samogitia.

An examination of the remains of the church walls in the 19th century showed that the bricks used in the construction were similar to those of the Lochstedt castle built after 1275. Traces of a fire were found near the foundations of the church, suggesting that the church was built on the foundations of a burnt old chapel from the distant 11th century... This place is interesting for its ancient history, the location of the very first Christian temple and the ancient sanctuary of the Prussians.

We then returned to Primorsk and visited two burials - a German military cemetery and a mass grave of Soviet soldiers.

In Primorsk itself, the German military cemetery, restored in the 90s of the last century, is especially popular. “Soldiers' graves are the greatest preachers of peace,” - Albert Schweitzer, Nobel laureate.

During World War II, approximately 60,000 German soldiers died in the north of the former East Prussia. The reconstruction of the former German cemetery of the city of Fischhausen became possible after the signing of the intergovernmental Agreement on the care of war graves in 1992. The German People's Union for the Care of War Graves, on behalf of the German government, in 1995–1996 created eight burial grounds with the status of prefabricated cemeteries in the Kaliningrad region.

Their maintenance and care is carried out by the People's Union through donations and contributions. Young people from all over Europe are attracted to participate in youth camps, which provide assistance in the care of cemeteries and promote mutual understanding between peoples. The first burials in Primorsk took place in 1996.

At the cemetery itself there is a memorial boulder to the First World War, three wars before the unification of Germany into an empire, gravestones and a cross from the old city cemetery.

The group of volunteers made a mandatory visit to the memorial complex at the mass grave of Soviet soldiers who died during the assault on the city of Fischhausen and its environs. In total, more than 2,200 soldiers are buried here.

In the vicinity of Primorsk, in the village of Tsvetnoye, there is an archaeological monument of the Bronze Age, but, unfortunately, it was destroyed as a result of a sand quarry developed on the site of the archaeological monument for the large-scale construction of roads and houses. Ancient burial grounds and settlements of the Bronze Age, located on the territory of the quarry complex, have been barbarically destroyed since 2013, and this is happening on absolutely legal grounds.

We managed to make up for the missing acquaintance with the era of the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC in the village of Kruglovo, here by the road there is a Bronze Age mound, where we hurried to complete our journey.

In the final trip of volunteers as part of the implementation of the second season of the project “History. People. Memory” we said goodbye in Kruglovo not far from the city landfill a few hundred meters from the mound, and from this very place we invite you to follow the further work of the creative team - the first in the third season of the project’s activities will be the topic of ecology.

We thank all participants of the trip to the Baltic urban district around Primorsk and special thanks to Kirill Opalenik!

See you again!