Symbols of Boulder Masonry in the Architecture of East Prussia (Kaliningrad Region) XIII – First Half of XX Century

Abstract

The territory on the Baltic sea (partly related to the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation), conquered by ^[1] the Teutonic Knights from pagan tribes of Prussians, initially perceived symbolically as a replacement for alost Holyland with its center in Jerusalem. Konigsberg (modern Kaliningrad) in the view of Jerusalem is presented in the epitaph H. Nimptsch (hood. G. Koenigswieser, after 1556. Museum of Warmia and Mazury. Olsztyn, Poland). Near the capital once stood the castle of Jerusalem, where knights from all over Europe made a pilgrimage to fulfill a vow and make a crusade to the lost earthly Jerusalem. In the Middle Ages in the Northern part of East Prussia, the first temples and fortifications of the Teutonic order were built of fieldstones (usually in combination with brick). The use of boulders in temple and fortress construction was associated with the idea of a Heavenly ideal city, composed of "living stones". Among the early structures of fieldstone are the temple in the former Judytten (modern Mendeleevo near Kaliningrad) and other religious buildings. Buildings in the "boulder style" reappeared in this area in the mid-XIX - first half of the XX century, which is associated with the movement of national romanticism and appeal to the ancient traditions of European architecture. The little-studied objects of the late XIX - first half of the XX century include the temple in Palmnicken (modern Jantarnyj, 1887-1892), the temple in Augustagirren (modern Sosnovka, arch. F. Lahrs, 1923), the towers of Bismarck (early XX century), the so-called "partayburg" in Ragnit (modern Neman, until 1933) and other structures. The symbolism of the figurative solution of structures made of fieldstone remains unclear.

^[1]     Исследование выполнено за счёт средств Государственной программы Российской Федерации «Развитие науки и технологий» на 2013-2020 годы» в рамках Плана фундаментальных научных исследований Минстроя России и РААСН, тема 1.2.23