What would you do if you don’t have your own castle? It seems that we know the answer. If you don’t have a castle – you should surely visit the Kaliningrad region and think about buying one. The place, a good half of the region, needs to be registered in a list of Unesco World Heritage as the most deserted place in the world. Some of the German tourists have already weighed the place and came to a conclusion that nothing could be renovated here.
The desolated land. Abandoned churches, castles, mansions, villas, villages and communal farms. As well as many deserted airports and launching areas.
Greetings, Demyanskoe village, Kaliningrad region.
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Where all those people that prominent Russian authors wrote about? Where that grandeur that many of them were getting at in their masterpieces? To tell you the truth, the gloomy German mastermind has never been as sour as in Eastern Prussia, the place you’re reading about at the moment.
There are at least five deserted airport situated within the radius of 25 kilometers (17 miles) from the village.
Abandoned roads and bridges that have been long petrified by the harsh stream of time.
Sometimes there are whole cities deserted. How can you really understand that you live in warmth and coziness if you hadn’t ever been in there?
What is it so magnificent about Ireland with its top of the most romantic ruins?
All the hellish romance of this place gives a head start to Ireland and Scotland all rolled into one.
That is a real scene for a playground. A tower is for children to play and a grocery store is for adults.
And time when a building was erected didn’t really matter. Either 18-th century or 19-th one. Doesn’t matter at all.
But it is true that there are less and less people in the majority of the villages. And sometimes it seems that some of them are really abandoned.
Indeed, who needs to renovate them? And why for?
That is impossible. Fortunately, there are only the few buildings in the region that ruin this unique and inimitable landscape.
Luring and luring this leaden sky of dreary Prussia…
Only storks can fully appraise and feel the beauty of landscape.
We do also have our own Brandenburg that is located here, in Russia. And it doesn’t come short of the real one, which is situated in the neck of woods, a short way off 14-th century’s Berlin. There is just one difference, we call it Ushakovo.
Photo credits – 1
That’s truly awesome!
Second!!
“Deserted” is a euphemism for “forcibly relocated by Stalin’s order”.
The picture of the two men give a good feel for why many Russian men are alcoholics, its not all fun like in SPB and Moscow!
only 4% of Russian ppl are alchogolics. FAIL.
I’d be a alcoholic to if I didn’t have internet way out there.
Life after people.
The pictures are beautiful, but the text makes my brain hurt. That is all.
The pictures are beautiful, AND the text is superb! Nice article, thanks
OMG this is so cool! I want to go explore the ruins! It will be an adventure for sure.
This looks like a wonderful place to settle and farm. Why are these places abandoned? Certainly they can support human life.
Would that I was a farmer and knew Russian.
I think it used to be part of Germany until after WWII, so that is probably why parts are abandoned now, the people who used to live there were moved.
Beautiful pictures..but looking at the pictures makes me sad
I remember a featured article about East Prussia in National Geographic (say, 15 yrs ago?). The places did not look THIS desolate. It was hoped that Koenigsberg free trade port would bring prosperity to the area…
Beautiful..and melancholic. Seeing all these pictures of abandoned villages, factories, military sites etc makes me wonder if there isnt something Russia could use these places and things for? Instead of just letting them fall apart at times hands.
Its sad because there has been someone building that house, someone constructing those military equipment etc. and then just let that rot away..
russians should leave Kaliningrad!!!its never been part of russia
Sure it has, for the last few decades. The previous owners lost all rights to it, and rightly so.
Right! Soviet imperialism conquered these territories rightfully and removed all the millions of inhabitants of these provinces peacefully and lovingly. The previous owners lost all their reights to their home country by order of the Soviet working class.
How was such a wasteland created? Poland and the Baltic states don’t look like this.
It must have been quite beautiful in its time. Really sad to see such ruins now.
Firstly and mostly, I pity for the Old Prussia, Baltic tribes, conquered by the Teutons knights
(( But I also pitty the sad fate of German Prussia too.
What Soviets had done here, was so horrible. They not only destroyed its European architecture, but commited genocide to civil population. There were palces, where Soviet soldiers raped all women from little girls to old ladies. They killed babies and childs, crushing their skulls. They nailed bodies of dead naked raped woman to wooden jambs of houses.
So horrible
((((
Soviet army were cruel animals.
Everyone who celebrates Soviet victory also celebrates crimes against humanity no way worse than those of Nazis.
The Germans left, the Russians took over. Judge for yourself. Heute froh und rot, morgens kalt und tot.
The Germans just “left,” eh?
Wow, that is truly amazing. Very good stuff indeed. I like it.
Jess
http://www.big-brother-watching.net.tc
Well, those pictures look really beautifull ! The surroundings, the nature – awesome !
Well, I’m from Germany and I don’t know anything like that in Germany. Okay, we don’t have that much free space over here.
If I could buy, renovate and live in any of those buildings I would do !
WOW what beautiful pictures.. would love to go there some day
Well, my comment, which includes words “Koenigsberg” and “East Prussia”, is “awaiting moderation”. Obviously, these words are taboo in Russia (or the admin is drunk, again).
Just for the hell of it:
East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Koenigsberg
Truly beautiful, I’m surprised they haven’t collapsed yet. It is still lovely even after the life is gone, imagine when it was thriving then how beautiful it was.
I’d offer everything to own a good plot over there, well could be worse- them tear it down and build something modern [doubt they have the money for that]
The only way this area will have life again – return it to its rightful owners.
While Russian barbarian alcoholic parasites keep drinking themselves to death in Koenigsberg, it will keep being a wasteland.
#24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the original reason I began reading englishrussia.com. These photos about deserted buildings are just awesome!
“Some of the German tourists have already weighed the place and came to a conclusion that nothing could be renovated here.”
How so? Surely it is only a matter of funds and labour. Are there any laws to prevent renovation? Such splendid structures deserve better than to crumble and fall!
I believe I’ve now found a place to settle, once I’ve made my fortune!
Very good photos. Mind boggling to think about what life was like when this area was alive. Sad that it is deserted now.
it hurts my feelings to see what would have happened if we baltic people would have given away our land and our old towns and cities to russians. our capitals heart old riga is still beeing renovated after these alchoholic scums.
This is the work of toothless alcoholics with syphilis who stink of rancid cabbage.
You know, Russians.
This is pretty bad. Those ruins should have been razed to the ground decades ago. No reminder of german presence should be preserved there.
why?
are beautiful russians style block buldings better?
What he wanted to say was that anything resembling the original dwellers should have been dynamited/flattened/buried long time ago to make enough room for plaster Lenins/Stalins/Brezhnevs/Putlers etc.
cant disagree with that.
yeah dissing russians is fun i doo it all the time but you western europeans/americans should better look at whats happening in your own territory and where its all going with this massive third world immigration. btw it resembles the system that was in soviet union very closely – free housing, free jobs, no racism, low or no religion.
Always admired how Ruzzians mastered the art of last, delicate touch to everything. But in this very particular case I feel obliged to rebuke the sauerkrauteaters for not using enough steel in their buidlings. I am kinda missing the otherwise omnipresent Soviet rust…
Simply beautiful! I’m an American and have wanted to visit Russia since I was a kid. Your site is giving me so many more reasons to go! If only I had money
what you describe as 19th century ruins pretty sure comes from middle ages. these are typical teutonic knights churches, built in stout gothic style in 14th to 16th century period. still you can see them in south of kaliningrad territory in north-eastern poland, though most of them in much better place. greets.
i meant much better state
My great-grandfather came from there. A shame that the Russians let it fall into such demise, if they couldn’t do anything productive with the land they shouldn’t have ethnically cleansed all the innocent civilians.
They were not innocent. They voted vor Hitler.
To be able to go back in time and see what it was like then would be so amazing.
I don’t agree with everything in this summary, but you do make some very good points. I’m very interested in this topic and I myself do alot of research as well. Either way it was a well thoughtout and nice read so I figured I would leave you a comment. Feel free to check out my website sometime and let me know what you think.
25 Coole Sache ! da habt ihr doch echt mal was einfallen lassen !!!
The second to last photo.
Are those locomotive watering towers or Flak towers?
these arelocomotive watering towers