The former Kneiphof Town Hall housed the Königsberg City Museum The Königsberg City Museum (german: Stadtgeschichtliches Museum) was a

local museum A local museum or local history museum is a type of museum that shows the historical development of a place/region (local history) using exhibits. These museums usually maintain a collection of historic three-dimensional objects which are exh ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Kneiphof Town Hall Kneiphof Town Hall (german: Kneiphöfisches Rathaus) was the town hall of insular Kneiphof, first an independent town and later a quarter of Königsberg, Germany. It served as Königsberg's city hall from 1724 to 1927, after which it became a mus ...

had served as the city hall for united Königsberg since 1724. In 1927 the municipal administration moved to the newer

Stadthaus Stadthaus is a nine-storey residential building in Hackney, London. At nine stories (30 meters/98 feet), it is thought to be the second tallest timber residential structure in the world, after the Forte apartment complex in Melbourne, Austral ...

, leaving Kneiphof's building vacant. The respected painter Eduard Anderson led the effort to convert the former town hall into a museum, which opened in 1928 with 25 rooms. It contained portraits of

Johann Georg Hamann Johann Georg Hamann (; ; 27 August 1730 – 21 June 1788) was a German Lutheran philosopher from Königsberg known as "the Wizard of the North" who was one of the leader figures of post-Kantian philosophy. His work was used by his student J. G. ...

, the Magus of the North, and Lord Mayor

August Wilhelm Heidemann August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

, as well as a bust of E. T. A. Hoffmann. It included a coin collection and examples of fine Königsberg house ceilings. Its attractions also included a banner of the

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

-era East Prussian National Cavalry Regiment, a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

sword, copper engravings, household goods, amongst other artifacts. Anderson presented lectures in the museum. The museum also contained an exhibit of

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

artifacts (''Kantiana''), previously located in the

Königsberg Public Library Public Library and Archive in Kneiphof Stamp of the library The Königsberg Public Library (german: Stadtbibliothek Königsberg) was a public library in Königsberg, Germany. Background The library developed from the personal collection of Jo ...

. These included Kant's hat, shoe buckles, walking stick, testament, death mask, and numerous pictures and sculptures. The exhibit, which was especially popular with foreign-born Kant followers, expanded into the Kant-Museum in 1938, the same year that

Fritz Gause Fritz Gause (4 August 1893 – 24 December 1973) was a German historian, archivist, and curator described as the last great historian of his native city, Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), East Prussia. Gause's most important work was his three-vol ...

became director of the museum. The

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

did not take an interest in the museum during ''

Gleichschaltung The Nazi term () or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society and societies occupied b ...

''. However, the Königsberg City Museum was destroyed in August 1944 during the

Bombing of Königsberg in World War II The bombing of Königsberg was a series of attacks made on the city of Königsberg in East Prussia during World War II. The Soviet Air Force had made several raids on the city since 1941. Extensive attacks carried out by RAF Bomber Command destro ...

References

* * 1928 establishments in Germany 1944 disestablishments in Germany Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II City museums in Germany Defunct museums in Germany Immanuel Kant

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Museums established in 1928 Museums disestablished in 1944 {{Germany-museum-stub