Königstraße Neue Sorge, also known as Königstraße or Königstrasse after its main

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

, was a quarter of eastern

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Its territory is now part of the

Leningradsky District Leningradsky District (Russian language, Russian: Ленинградский район) is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia. Districts of the federal subjects *Leningradsky District, Krasnodar Krai, an adminis ...

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Etymology

The original name ''Neue Sorge'' was derived from the

Old Prussian Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to av ...

''zarge'', meaning enclosed fields, or ''sarge'', meaning sentinel or watchman. In folk etymology, the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

name derived from the response of Bogusław Radziwiłł, 17th century governor of Königsberg, when asked what the developing district should be called: "Wieder eine neue Sorge!" ("Again a new worry!"). The later name ''Königstraße'' means "King Street" in German.

History

Königstraße At the start of the ducal era, the pathway led to pastures for cattle and horses known as the ''Kalthöfischer Acker''. Settlement began ca. 1610,Mühlpfordt, p. 37 and in 1612 fields were granted to numerous high-ranking ducal officials. In 1662 Duke Frederick William, the Great Elector, established Neue Sorge as a '' Freiheit'' of

Königsberg Castle Königsberg Castle (, ) was the seat of the grand masters of the Teutonic Order and of the dukes and kings of Prussia in the city of Königsberg (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia). The original fortress on the site was built by the Teutonic Knights ...

and bestowed it with a ''Gerichtssiegel'', or court seal. This depicted a hand descending from clouds holding a heraldic right angle, flanked by two open eyes, as well as the 1662 year of its granting. Neue Sorge was bordered by Löbenicht to the west, Rossgarten to the north, the 17th century Baroque city walls to the east, and Sackheim to the south. The residents of Neue Sorge attended Altrossgarten Church.Gause I, p. 412 In 1729 Neue Sorge was documented as Königstraße, a street which ran from Roßgarten's market to a cul-de-sac at King's Gate.

Altstadt ''Altstadt'' () is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. '' Neustadt'' (new town), the logical opposite of ...

, Löbenicht, Kneiphof, and their respective suburbs were merged to form the united city of Königsberg in 1724. However, Königsberg Castle and its suburbs, including Neue Sorge, were included within the new city limits but remained under royal, not municipal, control. Neue Sorge was merged into the city during the '' Städteordnung'' of Stein on 19 November 1808 during the era of Prussian reforms. The boulevard Königstraße was renamed Straße der SA by the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

during the era of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. The quarter was heavily damaged during the 1944 Bombing of Königsberg and 1945

Battle of Königsberg The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet Union, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Locations

Construction of the beautiful

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

houses of Neue Sorge intensified when the Great Elector granted the land to his court officials for residence. East Prussian noble families who lived in the quarter included the Flanß, Götzen, Goltz, Halle, Kanitz, Kittlitz, Königseck, Lesgewang, Nettelhorst, Öltzen, Ostau, Polenz, Rappe, Röder, Schack von Wittenau, Schlieben, Truchseß, and Wallenrodt. The commander of the 1st Division resided in the Dönhoffsche Haus (Nr. 26), while Chancellor Karl Gustav von Goßler lived in Nr. 79. The Dasselsche Haus (Nr. 55), once owned by the counts of Eulenburg, was converted into a savings bank in 1936. Sometime between 1730 and 1732 King Frederick William I purchased the house at Nr. 65-67 for personal use from the widow of Chancellor Ludwig von Ostau; this became known as the Königshaus. King Frederick II established a military college (''École militaire'') in the Königshaus in 1741, which remained until its transfer to Haberberg in 1799. The royal and university libraries were located in the building from 1810 until 1901, when they moved to

Tragheim Tragheim was a Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of northern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of Kaliningrad, Russia. History Tragheim was first documented in 1299, but probably already existed as an Old Prussians, Old Prussian f ...

. It subsequently hosted the university's collection of plaster antiques and the historical society Altertumsgesellschaft Prussia. From 1810 to 1875 it also housed the

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

. The Kunstakademie Königsberg was located along Königstraße from 1841 to 1916, while the French Reformed Church was located on the opposite side of the street. This church, built from 1733 to 1736 according to plans by Joachim Ludwig Schultheiß von Unfried, was used by the city's

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

community. Near the Kunstakadamie was an obelisk honoring Theodor von Schön. Also located along Königstraße was the Friedenskirche. The Landeshaus, the administrative seat of government for the province of East Prussia, was located at Königstraße 28–31 on lands once owned by the Dönhoff family. The three-story building was built in 1878 according to plans by the government architect CWG Krah and subsequently expanded thrice.Mühlpfordt, p. 87 It contained frescoes by Otto Brausewetter and Ludwig Noster. The Königin-Luise-Schule was located on Landhofmeisterstraße near Sackheim, while the Bessel-Oberrealschule was found on Glaserstraße near Löbenicht and Roßgärter Markt. The Goethe-Oberlyzeum was found on Friedrichstraße.

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{coord, 54.7148, N, 20.5403, E, source:wikidata, display=title Former subdivisions of Königsberg Populated places established in 1662 1662 establishments in Europe