Regional Historical and Art Museum of Kaliningrad: description, history and reviews

The Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad) has a large collection of historical artifacts, where Prussian history is intertwined with Soviet and modern. A huge number of archival documents, several branches allow the tourist to get acquainted with the collisions, achievements and facts that are saturated with the historical life of the city and the region.

History

The Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad) was founded as a local history museum in the same year as the whole Kaliningrad region. For the next two years, it existed only on paper, in the form of a decree on its organization, the exhibits were stored in different premises of the city - there was not a suitable building for the exposition. Since 1949, the room on the street. Bogdan Khmelnitsky became a museum house for 22 years. The organization had 16 employees who, by the fifth anniversary of the museum, opened the first permanent exposition, which included materials on the history and nature of the Kaliningrad region.

The most extensive funds were materials from the period of the Great Patriotic War, which allowed in 1968 to open a thematic branch "Blindage." The exposition recreates the situation in which the surrender of the German units that settled in the fortress of Koenigsberg was signed. The next branch - "Command post of the 43rd Army" - was opened in 1969 in the village of Kholmogorovka.

New house for museum

In a new place, the Museum of Local History (Kaliningrad) moved in the autumn of 1972. A year later, an extensive (800 sq. M.) Exposition was opened, which constantly received visitors for 18 years. During this period, the staff created an art department and the Amber Museum, which opened in 1979. Also, two new branches were opened - the Kristiyonas Donelaitis Museum and the Fort # 5 memorial, today it is a separate exposition of fortification and war technology.

A large number of open branches, active work on filling expositions and opening new departments allowed the museum of local lore to change its status. Since 1977, the institution has received a new name - the Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad). In 1984, the "Sculpture Park" was opened by the efforts of the staff, covering an area of 12 hectares on the island of Kneiphof.

An association

The Kaliningrad Museum of History and Art in 1988 was enlarged with a branch of the natural science direction called "The Nature Museum of the Curonian Spit", now the branch is a part of the National Nature Park "Curonian Spit". In 1993, the museum staff initiated the opening of the next branch - the Museum of the History of Sovetsk, which is currently municipal.

Since 1990 the museum has become an association with a common name - "Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Art and its branches". The main building of the museum is located in the former concert hall "Stadthalle", the construction of which dates back to 1912. The association includes:

• Head museum.
• Museum of K. Donelaitis.
• Memorial "Blindage".
• Memorial "Command post of the 43 Army".
• Sculpture park.

To replenish the funds, the employees continue to search the archives and cooperate with archaeological expeditions. Director of the Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad) - TA Alexandrova puts a lot of effort for the further prosperity of the institution.

Collections

The regional historical and art museum collected a collection of museum exhibits for seventy years. The first exhibits that appeared in the funds were samples of products from industrial enterprises in the Kaliningrad region, findings from excavations of archaeological expeditions, and a collection of products from the Kaliningrad Amber Plant. Some material values brought the inhabitants of the city, most of them belonged to the pre-war period.

Today, the museum's funds hold more than 140 thousand items. The most extensive collection is the archive of documents and photographs, the total number of which is 78 thousand items. The collected materials reflect the events of the assault on Koenigsberg, the development of the Kaliningrad region, the events of the First World War and the Great Patriotic War.

In the archaeological section of the museum are stored more than 22 thousand exhibits. This collection is known at the world level and is updated every year with new items provided by the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the framework of field expeditions.
The Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad) is proud of its collection of historical and domestic items. It contains more than 12 thousand exhibits reflecting the post-war life, fashion of that time, products of enterprises, as well as personal belongings of the first settlers and famous people of the region.

Also in the museum there is a numismatic collection (about 12 thousand exhibits), works of fine art (6,000 copies), part of which is the thematic collection "Hoffmannian", articles of amber, a collection of works in different techniques of Kaliningrad authors. The natural scientific part of the collection is represented by a large collection of taxidermy exhibits, various herbaria, a collection of minerals.

Thematic collections are supplemented with systematic ones, which have great scientific and research value. The objects were inherited from the Koenigsberg Museum of Paleontology, from the museum "Prussia" preserved archaeological collection. For the historian, the fate and origin of each individual exhibit and the museums are of interest.

Excursions

The Museum of History and Art invites visitors to five halls, where a permanent exposition is located:

• Hall of nature. In the hall are several dioramas, recreating the characteristic landscape of the region. The stands present useful minerals, stuffed animals in the field of animals, flora samples.
• Hall of Archeology. There are exhibits covering the history from ancient times - Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Bronze Age to the Teutonic Order in Prussia. Also in this room are exhibited items of the once vast Museum of Prussia, which were considered lost. Found them in the nineties.
• Hall of regional history. The exposition is made up of objects of everyday life, furniture, weapons and covers the period from the Teutonic invasion of Prussia until 1945.
• The war room. Here are collected evidence of military operations during the occupation and liberation of the region from the fascist invaders.
• Hall "Memory Horizons". On the stands exhibited items related to the development of the Kaliningrad region by the first settlers, products made of amber, manufactured goods of the first enterprises of the region, dismantled monuments to Lenin.

The halls of the permanent exposition in support of the school program hold thematic excursions for children of different ages. In total, the plan contains 14 excursions and lectures. For children, the club "Young Local History" was organized, where each student who attended at least four lectures is given a diploma.

Excursions in the branches of COICM

The staff of the Historical and Art Museum invite you to familiarize yourself with the expositions of the branches:

• The Museum "Bunker". The exposition is located in two halls. The main part is devoted to the assault of the fortress Koenigsberg from the sixth to the ninth of April, 1945. In addition to the stands with materials, the attention of the tourists is offered to five dioramas, recreating the active phase of the battles and capitulation of the German command. The main excursion program is complemented by four themes.
• Museum "Fort №5". The historical and memorial complex was built in 1878 and has the second name - "King Friedrich Wilhelm III". The defensive structure was part of the defense complex of Koenigsberg. The fort was used in the period of military operations both during the war with Napoleon, and in the Great Patriotic War. The excursion allows you to get to the internal premises, get acquainted with military equipment and several military-historical exhibitions.
• "Sculpture Park". Located on the Central Island, where all the space collected sculptures, united by a common theme "Man and the World." In total there are about thirty works. In addition to sculptural compositions, a dendrological collection of 1030 flora specimens, including trees, bushes, grasses, is collected in the park. Here you can get acquainted with the natives of the plant world from Europe, Mexico, Japan and other countries.
• "The Royal Castle". Currently, excursions are only carried out during the warm season by prior request. The whole complex is a castle built in 1255 of great historical value. It was destroyed during the raids of British aviation in 1944. Today excavations are carried out on the territory, as a result of which a large number of rarities with high historical and artistic value appear.
• Museum "Command post of the 43rd Army." It is located on the territory of the former Fuchsberg estate. At the moment the museum is temporarily closed.
• Museum of Kristionas Donelaitis. The museum and exposition are dedicated to the Lithuanian poet of the 18th century, who left a rich literary and musical heritage, and did much for the people. On the territory of the complex visitors get acquainted with the restored Lutheran church, pastoral house. The exposition contains more than 200 exhibits, documents and material evidence of everyday life of the time, poetic works of the poet.
• "House of Kant", or, the official name, "House of the pastor of the parish Yudtshen, XVIII - XIX centuries." The object is connected with the life of Immanuel Kant. At the moment, the concept of the new complex is being realized, an ethnographic exposition and other components are being created that reflect the environment in which one of the greatest thinkers of mankind grew up, formed and created.

Visiting time

Six operating branches and one in the formative stage are organized by employees, whose main love is the historical and art museum (Kaliningrad). The schedule of excursions in the main exhibition center and in the branches is as follows: from 10:00 to 18:00, the ticket office stops working at 17:00, the day off - every Monday. The museum introduced one day (Wednesday) of an accessible visit, when entrance fees for certain groups of the population (disabled, orphans living in boarding schools, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, etc.) are not charged.

Exhibitions

Not only the creation of new branches, the collection of historical rarities and educational work is conducted within the walls of the museum. A large number of cultural events cover the whole of Kaliningrad. The historical and art museum of the exhibition and event holds constantly. For the winter holidays for children, children's morning performances, interesting fairy-tale excursions, palaeontological exposition are planned.

For adults, COHM also prepared a lot of interesting things, for example, the exhibition Posters of War. On the way to the Great Victory ", canvases from a private collection within the framework of the exhibition" Winter sleep sleeps nature ... ", a concert" Christmas Fantasy ". For all visitors will be interesting cognitive and spectacular exposition "Animals of the Elderly Epochs" in 3D-format.

Reviews

The museum is popular in Kaliningrad, exhibits are famous in many countries. Positive feedback tells about the rich collection collected by employees, and about interesting excursions, held in the main building and in the branches. Many visitors indicate that it is necessary to use the services of a guide to get a full picture of each exhibit, to understand the connection of events and objects.

Negative comments are made about the scarcity and rare renewal of the main exposition. Historical and Art Museum (Kaliningrad), address: Klinicheskaya street, building 21 - waiting for new visitors.