48 hours in Kaliningrad, Russia

With its beguiling mix of German and Soviet architecture, the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is unlike anywhere else in Russia. The Calvert Journal heads to the city to discover wild nightlife, cool cafes and golden beaches brimming with rough amber.
Find out more at: calvertjournal.com/beyondthegame
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Host | Nadia Beard
Guides | Igor Kachurin & Anastasia Mikheeva
Camera & edit | Gaétan Nivon
Production | Maria Borodacheva
Sound | Misha Politkovsky
Colour | Ludmila Kuropyatnikova
Music | Igor Kachurin
In partnership with Coca Cola Russia

[@elvirainsiliconvalley9818]

Hi! My name is Elvira and I was born in Kaliningrad. I travel there twice a year to visit my relatives. Now I live in California. I know a lot of information about city, cool places in Kaliningrad and countryside. If you have any questions about how to visit Kaliningrad or what to see text me. I will answer all your questions with pleasure. I am big fan of Kaliningrad city and I want to share my love with others.

[@TheRedAirOn]

That's great, what a cool place!

[@tylerbozinovski4624]

@@TheRedAirOn It was even cooler before Russia stole it.

[@danielwanner281]

@@tylerbozinovski4624 Stole it? Germany lost two world wars. Taking spoils is what victors do, they didnt steal it. Not any more than when prussia stole the region from poland and lithuania before.

[@tylerbozinovski4624]

@@danielwanner281 Prussia didn't steal it. Also, that logic is flawed regardless. A gradual takeover is far better than a sudden takeover. And the French didn't lose a large amount of their land in 1815.

[@danielwanner281]

@@tylerbozinovski4624 Thats what i said. If you consider the USSR beating Germany in a war which they started stealing, then the wars by which prussia conquered former east prussia were stealing as well. Also, what does this have to do with the french?

[@samueldallen]

oh wow this is a pre-war building then

[@Randy_Butternubs]

I know right! 😂 no, it was actually build in 2009! 😑

[@beratceylan4668]

I guezz

[@andystelzmann7042]

Wow! Great information! So much history within so much stark contrast!

[@klaudiagrendel]

thank you- I'm going to Kaliningrad for 2 days and for sure I will go to abadoned airport

[@newworldorder6764]

Konigsberg*

[@adolfhiller3146]

@@newworldorder6764 Königsberg*

[@Ghosted676]

Lowkey I wanna travel there with my friends this year, or even alone maybe I can sort something out. Thanks for the video!

[@Ghosted676]

Gabriel666 sparda I will come back to you on that offer I‘d love some help with that

[@okok72277]

This aged well

[@Benyikoko]

Have fun

[@eskanderx1027]

Great stuff! Beautiful presentation!

[@manuelantonioserodio5932]

Yes, very interesting video with a lot of information, very well explained. Thank you very much for share it.

[@andrewhay2241]

Hipsters are the same everywhere.

[@mynameismyname8608]

Amazing city, legacy of two different architectural style still preserved and intact.. beautiful

[@margin606]

I rather think that that was the whole point of the video.

[@margin606]

Very interesting. Thank you for that.

[@kasshiori]

Preußens Herz...

[@Belphegor83]

I loved when I was in Kali, Privet iz Hispanii !

[@michallucki9376]

I wanted to visit Kaliningrad this summer but in current situation it will probably be a problem. Do you still welcome tourists from Poland?

[@Gigi-gj4mq]

I live in Kaliningrad

[@tylerbozinovski4624]

It's Königsberg!

[@folkestender2025]

You should rename your city again in Königsberg, because Kalinin was a war criminal who was responsible for the Katyn massacre, in which 25,000 Polish professional or reserve officers, police officers and intellectuals were murdered by the НКВД. A city with the name of a war criminal is not a good image...

[@aleksandrfilonov6695]

@@folkestender2025 Twangste!

[@danielnikolaev2083]

Folke Stender cry me a river

[@adolfhiller3146]

@@folkestender2025 Well regarding to what happened to the Germans living there the name of a murderer is fitting!

[@superluminal89]

Who did the background music? It sounds great.

[@ilutheproducer5278]

4:20 songname?? And whats that for a songgenre ??

[@FinyApple]

Darude - sandstorm

[@leeroden7900]

Super interesting. Must be an odd place to live

[@gordonnorris4202]

Why would it be odd?

[@Rblock777]

@@gordonnorris4202 First you should check the map before asking this question. Kaliningrad is kept in poverty by Russia but they can see over the fence the beautiful developed Europe. These people are more European than Russian but they still are Russian technically Also the mix of Russian/German architecture which is not odd to me, because Im from the Baltic states where its similar in terms of architecture

[@jensheider6904]

Schade das es nur wenige Beiträge über Kaliningrad in deutscher Sprache gibt. Das deutsch russische Verhältnis ist immer noch etwas unterkühlt...

[@jonnymill5520]

Good vid

[@BrigitteCoffman]

0:20 What is this building going to be in KALININGRAD Town Square?

[@ganjafi59]

Tetris HQ

[@newworldorder6764]

It's a Soviet building that was built on a ruins of Prussian castle that was destroyed on a demand by Nikita Kruschev in 1968

[@BrigitteCoffman]

New World Order ,, Thank you😃.

[@egors.8752]

It's called: House of Soviets. It's not used now. In future, government want to place there.

[@newworldorder6764]

@@egors.8752 soon it will belong back to the germans

[@johannesspinola1613]

My great grandpa comes from there

[@Airbiscuitmaker]

48 hours in Königsberg, East-Prussia (or Germany).

[@mihaiteodor8501]

Go to Transylvania and u will see german arhitecture together with urss buildings.

[@juliamaurice9825]

Coffeeshops are definitely better than those in Germany 👍Service too, but it's easy since customer service doesn't exist in German countries:)

[@ahmedmohameddahir2444]

Now i am in moscow how can i visit kaliningrad city?

[@juliamaurice9825]

Take a flight with destination Kaliningrad:)

[@ahmedmohameddahir2444]

Ok

[@dabtican4953]

bruh

[@tylerbozinovski4624]

Get a visa and a passport.

[@pokemon-Go22]

@@juliamaurice9825 No flights available.

[@dschaydschee]

Erster Deutscher Kommentar!!!!

[@LocalYoutubeGuide]

Eerste Hollandse commentaar

[@user-wc3zi7lh4g]

Első magyar kommentár

[@felixstahlkalen4580]

Första svenska kommentar

[@gr0vy447]

Pierwszy polski komentarz

[@adolfhiller3146]

@@felixstahlkalen4580 Andra svenska kommentaren

[@coastalcapybara]

It is Russia. By the way, why do you put those dark gray filters on everything, it makes it look ugly.

[@rudolfkraffzick642]

Politically and partial culturally this is Russia. Though its a shame that the city and area is named after a Stalinist. But nobody can wipe out the true history of PRUSIA which goes back tousands of years without Russians.

[@coastalcapybara]

@@rudolfkraffzick642 Yes.

[@potatoedispenser5709]

@@rudolfkraffzick642 Not thousands, hundreds, but yeah, Prussian influence is huge, but you have to admit that Kaliningrad is a nice mix of German, Prussian, Russian cultures, a unique place in Russia. i love it.

[@danielwanner281]

@@potatoedispenser5709 Prussians are Germans. In fact i would say the two cultures overlap 99% of the time, with prussians being a dominant culture in Germany

[@potatoedispenser5709]

@@danielwanner281 Prussian is not German, it used to be a Baltic peoples that got exterminated and massacred by German teutonic knights. What I meant when refering to Prussian cultuar is the culture of Prussian kingdom rather than the modern Germany. And there 5-6 major german cultures in germany with 'Prussian' not being one.

[@edityebesbernabe5612]

I like more Köningsberg

[@aleksandrfilonov6695]

I like more Twangste

[@Diablito8042]

And I like more the roman empire

[@vonbarenstein9152]

🖤❤️💛

[@johnjohn9356]

Maybe i'm wrong but i feel that this is not a Russian city,but a Russian colony. Casablanca wasn't a french city...My comment it is not political.

[@anton3320]

I hope one day Kaliningrad becomes an independent, democratic country 🙏

[@jimmybuko2065]

It is an independent democratic country, called Russia.

[@emiliolombardo]

@@jimmybuko2065 stop with vodka, please...

[@Rblock777]

@@jimmybuko2065 good joke, you dont even have freedom of speech or choice of your leader

[@jimmybuko2065]

@@Rblock777 Sounds like US projection

[@Rblock777]

@@jimmybuko2065 That is reality, Im from Latvia and I know that for a fact ;) all the poisonings, and imprisonments of political opposition and independent media, jailing people who are holding invisible signs. and the vote fraud has been proven and majority of russians know that, you must have below average IQ if you dont know this

[@threeletteragent]

Not a single mention of the Prussian Goblin. This is Dogmatism.

[@Calaman228]

Serbia is second kaliningrad russians are always welcome here :D

[@newworldorder6764]

It's Konigsberg not Kaliningrad and Russians are not welcome in europe

[@maximmm5462]

@@newworldorder6764 oh wow. i want to know why

[@vladgeorge7467]

@@maximmm5462 Because everywhere they go they forcefully occupy land that isn't theirs.

[@andystelzmann7042]

There is German investment here. There is a BMW plant within the Kaliningrad oblast.

[@potatoedispenser5709]

@@newworldorder6764 Russians are Europeans wether you like that or not, it's not 'prestige' top be European, it's just a classification, you don't get to chose your neighbors. And learn to divide people and politicians. For example I love poles and polish culture, but their goverment is a bunch of idiots imo.

[@ivanovsamuraj3095]

The guide is so cute 😍🤰

[@farseverosapirico6248]

This video has forgot to mention that this little town had been creating famous people of great Importance , as : Regiomontanus : mathematician Cathleen Brandenburg ,Princess of Transsylvania Chr. Goldbach: mathematician Leonard Euler: mathematician Immanuel Kant : philosopher E.T.A. Hoffmann : writer , author G.H.L. Hagen : physicist G. R. Kirchoff: physicist K.R.König: physicist Otto Wallach chemist D. Hilbert : mathematician Erich von Drygalski : discoverer A. Sommerfeld: physicist Agnes Miegel: physicist Fanny Lewald: physicist H.A.Winkler : historian And no any russians , because russians are only russians . Many russians live on importing western made cars here, and selling them in Russia . It's their main point .

[@johnsnowkumar359]

Centuries ago, Russia owned Kaliningrad and east Prussia for six years from say, about 1690 to about 1696. Or say from 1776 to 1792, I forgot the years. It's all over google searches, which years Russian Kingdom of the Romanov Dynasty owned East Prussia. Battle of Eylau is one such battle. Germany owned Kaliningrad for a few centuries while Poland also owned east Prussia for a few centuries. In 1940, Nazi Germany declared that it will conquer all Slavic countries and re-settle these countries with Soviet citizens with German word anywhere in their names. eg. Boris Fritz Yeltsin, Boris Vindman Volkov, Ivan alexei Vindman. At the end of world war 2, the winning allies in Potsdam decided to give a larger area of East Prussia to Poland, as Poland had also owned East Prussia for a few earlier centuries many centuries back. Meanwhile, any ethnic Russian or Ukrainian with a German word in their names were allowed to re-settle into Kaliningrad, a smaller part of East Prussia. So, the ww2 allies decided to implement Hitler's plans at Potsdam meetings and Yalta meetings, to give a little percentage of land of East Prussia , the seaport part, to Russia, in order to re-settle Soviet citizens with a German word somewhere in their names in the smaller north part of East Prussia, which they called Kaliningrad. Russia got , say about 25 percent of East Prussia while Poland got 75 percent of landmass of East Prussia at the end of ww2. Both areas of former East Prussia are full or Poles or ethnic Russians, over 90 percent, as of today.

[@MrKILLINOOBZ]

Russia never owned East Prussia during those years, they were too busy with the Great Turkish War/Great Northern wars. The closest they came previously to almost annexing East Prussia was during the seven years war and that flopped due to an incompetent Germaphobe taking the throne.

[@compatriot852]

Russia never owned east Prussia. Lithuania did though both under the Grand Duchy and the Prussian Lithuanians beforehand

[@kasshiori]

And this is not Kaliningrad. This is Königsberg.

[@adolfhiller3146]

Genau!

[@schgabika]

It was... Konigsberg is not exist anymore.....

[@kasshiori]

@@schgabika Ah... Yes... When you consider soul, not just buildings as buildings... It is correct. Königsberg exists only in our hearts and minds.

[@adolfhiller3146]

Königsberg... Heim in Reich!

[@p.ivught4105]

It would have been better for the Sovjets when Germany had won the war Grüße aus Holland

[@OlafDuijverman-Mol]

Return to Germany

[@virtual30]

Königsberg 4 ever GERMAN!!! :0)

[@Irina-sr2ch]

Rusin , хамство -национальное достояние.

[@potatoedispenser5709]

Well it's not for like 75 years now. Oops.

[@adolfhiller3146]

@@potatoedispenser5709 God's mills grinds slowly...

[@gilbertotorres3485]

@@adolfhiller3146 Botin de guerra ruso.

[@IvanSam1]

German Slavic border was on Elbe river so be careful what you wish for.

[@Schulze35]

Cool videobut wtf is that trash music???

[@rupakgbikas4477]

The decision to give seaside areas of East Prussia to Russia and Poland is likely right, gift by winning allies of ww2 was likely right: that way the militarily over-ambitious clans of East Prussia will no longer have a homeland close to Warsaw to wage invasion wars on Slavic lands. East Prussia was about 55 miles from Warsaw, making it easier for Germans living in East Prussia to mount raids on the Polish capital city 55 miles away. .. Russian kingdom also owned East Prussia for all of five years, to six years from a out 1775 to about 1780. Teutonic knights owned East Prussia for about a thousand (1000) years. Germany conquered East Prussia for another 1000 years. Russia owned East Prussia for the shortest time, from about 1776 to about 1791 or so. In about 1777, locals of East Prussia (likely ethnic Germans of East Prussia) had an audience with the czar in Saint Petersburg (capital city of Imperial Russia of the Romanov Dynasty) , and ethnic Germans convinced the the Russian Czar to vacate East Prussia in about 1777, as ".. we would like to inform your majesty that Imperial Russia had enough land." The Czar agreed with them, and in about that time in about 1776 he decided to give East Prussia from Russia to a local German kingdom of the area, and ordered that Imperial Imperial armies vacate East Prussia. In 1945, the situation was different:: Nazi Germany had just tried to conquer all of Russia in ww2 and conquer all of the Slavic lands east of Germany in ww2, while massacring Slavic peoples both Christians and Jews during ww2. So, Soviet Union convinced the winning allies to let Russia keep the smaller north sea-side section of East Prussia known as Kaliningrad today, while Poland gets more land from Germany, including the bulk of East Prussia nearer to Warsaw, and parts of East Prussia south of the Russian sea-side area of Kaliningrad. The military clans of East Prussia were disbanded after ww2, and given more docile last names. Why were Soviet troops cruel and East prussia and very nice at the moment of entry into every town and village in aminland Germany? As per terms of Crimea accord, Russia was to keep the sea side areas of East Prussia (formerly of Nazi Germany) while Poland gets the larger area of the rest of East Prussia inland which were close to Warsaw.This way the allies reasoned there will never be a ww3.

[@crunchmcm8780]

blockade

[@jameslynch7826]

Hopefully soon to be Prussian again Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦

[@bongbong12345]

Cringe

[@bordersonbudgets]

That German heritage remains though let it be said, Kaliningrad is now Russian. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIGUoKqQgMhnkLM

[@shagoesfar]

So boring , it sounds like a documentary

[@sirburst1728]

Japan used to me a Japanese country, America took over! Potatoes and oranges

[@ricardopontes7177]

It shall be Königsberg once more 🇪🇺

[@OrnumCR]

Ricardo Pontes , yes, you’re probably right as the people that currently live there apparently have discussed a name change. It happened with Leningrad, and it could happen again. We’ll have to wait for the people of the city to decide for themselves...

[@tylerbozinovski4624]

@@OrnumCR Unfortunately, Leningrad Oblast still exists.