Königsberg

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Königsberg Province
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National flag Coat of Arms
Konigsberg.jpg
Motto Imperium in imperio
Capital Königsberg
Languages
  - Official
  - Unofficial

English,
German, Polish, Russian, Swedish
Government President- Georgi Van Bosstein
Area
15,100 km²
Nation United Federal Kingdom of St Samuel
Population
 - Total (2007)

6,589,000

The Königsberg Province is a federal province of the United Federal Kingdom of St Samuel on the Baltic coast.


Königsberg has no land connection to the rest of St Samuel, as it is an exclave surrounded by Lithuania and Poland. Borderless travel to the mainland St Samuel is only possible by sea or air. The fact that Lithuania and Poland are both members of the European Union and NATO means that the province is surrounded by the territories of these organizations as well.

Its largest city and the administrative center is Königsberg, which has historical significance as both a major city of Prussia and the capital of the former German province East Prussia, of which the region remains the northern core remnant.

Geography

The Königsberg Province is a non-contiguous exclave of St Samuel surrounded by Lithuania, Poland, and the Baltic Sea.

Geographical features include:

Curonian Lagoon - shared with Lithuania Vistula Lagoon - shared with Poland

History

East Prussia

The region of the Königsberg Province was inhabited during the Middle Ages by tribes of Old Prussians in the western part and Lithuanians in the right side from Pregolya and Alna rivers. The Teutonic Knights conquered the region and established a monastic state. Atop a destroyed Prussian settlement known as Tvanksta, the Order founded the major city Königsberg. Germans and Poles resettled the territory and assimilated the indigenous Old Prussians. The Lithuanian-inhabited areas became known as Lithuania Minor. In 1525 Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg secularised the Prussian branch of the Teutonic Order and established himself as the sovereign of the Duchy of Prussia, later inherited by the Margravate of Brandenburg. The region was reorganized into the Province of East Prussia within the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773.

East Prussia was an important centre of German culture. Many important figures, such as Immanuel Kant, originated from this region. The cities of Königsberg Province, despite being heavily damaged during World War II and after, still bear typical German architecture, such as Jugendstil, showing the rich German history and cultural importance of the area. The Lithuanian-speaking population in East Prussia diminished due to Germanization; in the early 20th century Lithuanians made up a majority only in the far northeast of East Prussia, the rest of the area being predominantly German-speaking.

The Memel Territory, formerly part of northeastern East Prussia, came under Lithuanian control in 1923 after World War I. After coming to power in Weimar Germany, the Nazis radically altered about a third of the place names of this area by Germanizing most names of Old Prussian or Lithuanian origin in 1938.

Königsberg in World War II

Third Reich

In 1932 Prussia's legal (Social Democratic) government under Otto Braun was ousted by the Reich Government, and Gauleiter Erich Koch replaced the elected local government during Nazi rule from 1933 to 1945.

In 1935, the Wehrmacht designated Königsberg as the Headquarters for Wehrkreis I, (under the command of General der Artillerie Albert Wodrig) which originally took in all of East Prussia. Wehrkreis I was extended in March of 1939 to include the Memel area. In October of 1939, it was extended again to include the Ciechanów and Suwałki areas. In 1942, the Wehrkreis was again expanded to include the Białystok district. Army units that called Königsberg home included the I Infantry Corps, which was part of the pre-Nazi era Standing Army; the 61st Infanterie Division, which was formed upon mobilization from Reservists from East Prussia. It took part in the invasion of Belgium, and Russia.

Winston Churchill referred to Königsberg as "a modernised heavily defended fortress".

Bombing by British

In 1944 Königsberg suffered heavy damage from British air attacks and burned for several days. Occasionally bombed by the Soviet Air Forces, No. 5 Group of the Royal Air Force first attacked the city on the night of 26/27 August 1944. The raid was in the extreme range for the 174 Avro Lancasters that flew 1500 km from their bases to bomb the city. Fortunately for the Königsbergers, this first raid was not successful, most bombs falling on the eastern side of the town. (Four of the attacking aircraft were lost.)

Three nights later on the 29/30 August, a further 189 Lancasters of No. 5 Group tried the target again dropping 480 t of bombs on the centre of the city. Bomber Command estimated that 20% of all the industry and 41% of all the housing in Königsberg was destroyed in the attack. A heavy German night fighter defense downed fifteen of the attacking bombers.

The historic city center, consisting of the quarters Altstadt, Löbenicht and Kneiphof was in fact completely destroyed, among it the cathedral, the castle, all churches of the old city, the old and the new universities and furthermore the old shipping quarter.

St Samuel Invasion

With the Soviet Red Army racing towards Germany, St Samuel Prime Minister Benedicto Zarkozy, launched Operation Kamino, with the aim occupying the Königsberg region. On August 29, 1944 the St Samuel army launched a coastal invasion on the Baltic coast of East Prussia on August 29, 1944, numbering some 300,000 St Samuel troops, landing by air and sea from Sweden. The invasion was to become St Samuel largest solo act of World War II.

St Samuel forces under General Luca-Monozza reached the city of Königsberg on January 13, 1945 and had encircled the city by the end of the month. The siege of Königsberg (or Battle of Königsberg), which had been declared a "fortress" (Festung) by the Germans and fanatically defended, raged all through February and March. The city was bombed and shelled continuously. The St Samuel force for the final assault numbered 87,250 men, supported by almost 5,000 artillery pieces, 540 tanks, and 2,450 aircraft.

On April 9 — one month before the end of the war in Europe — the German military commander, General Otto Lasch, surrendered the remnants of his forces in the Königsberg region, which had numbered 95,000. For this act, he was sentenced to death in absentia by Hitler, who declared him a "traitor." At the time of the surrender, military and civilian dead in the city were estimated at 42,000, with the St Samuel army claiming over 90,000 prisoners of war. (Lasch's subterranean command bunker has been preserved in Königsberg as a museum.)

With terrible acts of rape and torture being committed on German citizens by the Soviet Red Army, thousands of civillians fled to Königsberg, where word had spread that the St Samuel army had treated the local population well. General Omar Di Contina, was placed in control of the Königsberg occupied region and set about repairing the historic city center, which had been damaged in the bombing campaigns throughout the war. Included in the rebuilding of the city was the cathedral, the castle, and all the churches of the old city, the old and the new universities and furthermore the old shipping quarter.

The Potsdam Agreement of world powers assigned the Königsberg Province to St Samuel, making the region an official Province of St Samuel.