Altstadt's marketplace
Coat of arms of Altstadt
Altstadt was a
quarter of central
Königsberg,
Prussia. During the
Middle Ages it was the most powerful of the three
towns that composed the city of Königsberg, the others being
Löbenicht and
Kneiphof. Its territory is now part of
Kaliningrad,
Russia.
History
Foundation
Construction of
Königsberg Castle began in 1255 during the conquest of
Samland by the
Teutonic Knights, part of the
Prussian Crusade. An initial settlement was founded north of the castle (later known as
Steindamm) the following year, but this was destroyed by
Sambians during the 1262
Siege of Königsberg.
[Albinus, p. 20] A new fortified settlement developed south of the castle between it and the
Pregel River in 1264. Landmeister
Konrad von Thierberg granted the settlement
Kulm rights Kulm law, Culm law or Chełmno Law (german: Kulmer Recht; lat, Jus Culmense vetus; pl, Prawo chełmińskie) was a legal constitution for a municipal form of government used in several Central European cities during the Middle Ages.
It was initi ...
on 12 February or 26 February
1286. Although originally named simply ''Königsberg'', the town became known as ''Altstadt'' (
German for "
old town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
") to differentiate it from the neighboring ''Neustädte'' (new towns) of Löbenicht (1300) and Kneiphof (1327).
[Gause I, p. 27] Each town had its own charter, market rights, church, and fortifications.
While some of the original settlers from 1256 remained to participate in the foundation of Altstadt, a greater number of burghers were brought to the region by the locator Gerko von Dobrin. Most of the newcomers were from
Lübeck,
Lower Saxony, and
Westphalia, with others arriving from
Pomerania,
Mecklenburg, the
Elbe basin,
Silesia, and western
Prussia.
The majority of burghers spoke
Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle L ...
(later
Low Prussian), but the languages of administration were those used by the Teutonic Knights,
Latin and
Central German
Central German or Middle German (german: mitteldeutsche Dialekte, mitteldeutsche Mundarten, Mitteldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spoken from the Rhineland in the west to the former eastern territories of Germany.
Central German di ...
.
The oldest remaining seal of Altstadt depicted King
Ottokar II of Bohemia, who had led the initial conquest of Sambia and was honored for his participation by having Königsberg named after him. Altstadt's coat of arms depicted a red crown in a white field above a white cross in a red field, with the crown honoring the Bohemian crown and the cross representing honoring the Teutonic Knights. Aside from being the
colors of Bohemia, red and white also represented urban freedom. It is unknown when the coat of arms were first adopted. Two lions were added to the arms as supporters in the 17th century.
Medieval Altstadt
Altstadt, the center of medieval Königsberg, came to be bordered by Kneiphof to the south,
Lomse
Lomse was a quarter of eastern Königsberg in Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia). Lomse was located on the western end of Lomse Island in the Pregel River; the large island is now known as October Island (russian: Октябрьский остро ...
to the southeast, Löbenicht to the east, Königsberg Castle to the north,
Steindamm and
Neurossgarten to the northwest,
Laak to the west, and
Lastadie to the southwest. Suburbs under the jurisdiction of Altstadt (''
Freiheiten'') included
Hufen Hufen was a broad region along northwestern Königsberg, Germany, which developed into the quarters of Ratshof, Amalienau, Mittelhufen, and Vorderhufen. The territory is now part of the Tsentralny District of Kaliningrad, Russia.
History
Hufen's ...
, Laak, Lastadie, Lomse, Neurossgarten, and Steindamm. Altstadt's warehouses were located in Lastadie and Lomse. Outlying villages and estates controlled by Altstadt included
Kosse,
Puschdorf,
Stablauken,
Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
,
Kraußen,
Ottenhagen,
Ratshubenhof, and
Adlig Neuendorf.
A wall was constructed around Altstadt from 1359 to 1370. Because of the narrowness of the town's streets, after 1700 each newly constructed building had to be shortened by two feet to expand street width.
The Holzbrücke bridge, constructed by Altstadt in 1404, connected the town to Lomse. Altstadt was connected to Kneiphof by the Krämerbrücke (built 1286), the Dombrücke (built ca. 1330, destroyed 1379), and the Schmiedebrücke (built 1379). A member of the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
by 1339, Altstadt took part in the
Confederation of Cologne against King
Valdemar IV of Denmark in 1367.
Thirteen Years' War
Altstadt and Kneiphof sent representatives to the
Prussian Confederation in 1440, although Löbenicht did not. As members of the Confederation, the Königsberg towns rebelled against the
Teutonic Knights on 4 February 1454 at the beginning of the
Thirteen Years' War and allied with King
Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland. The rebellion in Königsberg was supported by the merchant class and led by Altstadt's
Bürgermeister,
Andreas Brunau
Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. The name ...
of Pomerania. Based upon the example of Danzig (
Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
), Brunau hoped to turn Königsberg into an autonomous city with control over all Samland. On 19 June Brunau paid fealty to the Polish chancellor,
Jan Taszka Koniecpolski
Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to:
Acronyms
* Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN
* Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code
* Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group
* Japanese Article Numb ...
.
However, Brunau and his mercantile allies lost the support of Altstadt and Löbenicht on 24 March 1455 due to spontaneous opposition from craftsmen and workers, with the rebels retreating to Kneiphof.
[Armstedt, p. 97] Upon the approach of the forces of Komtur
Heinrich Reuß von Plauen, Brunau fled to Danzig. Plauen received homage from Altstadt on 17 April, after which he reaffirmed the town's rights. Besieged from Altstadt and
Haberberg, Kneiphof surrendered to Plauen on 14 July. Decorative faces mocking Kneiphof were subsequently added to Altstadt's
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
.
Modern era
Altstadt became part of the
Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. In the same year the three towns resisted the efforts of
Burgfreiheit Münzstraße
Burgfreiheit or Schlossfreiheit was a quarter of Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of Kaliningrad, Russia.
History
Burgfreiheit extended north of Königsberg Castle on both sides of the Schlossteich, and was outside o ...
to form a proposed fourth town, Friedrichsstadt. By the ''Rathäusliche Reglement'' of 13 June 1724, King
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the "Soldier King" (german: Soldatenkönig), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuch ...
merged Altstadt, Löbenicht, Kneiphof, and their respective suburbs into the united city of Königsberg. Königsberg Castle and its suburbs remained separate until the ''
Städteordnung'' of
Stein on 19 November 1808 during the era of
Prussian reforms.
[Gause II, p. 334]
Altstadt was devastated by the 1944
Bombing of Königsberg and 1945
Battle of Königsberg. Buildings which survived
World War II were subsequently demolished by the
Soviet Union.
Sights
The
Altstadt Town Hall
The Altstadt Town Hall (german: Altstädtisches Rathaus) was the town hall of Altstadt, first an independent town and later a quarter of Königsberg, Germany.
History
The town hall was located along the Altstädtischer Markt, a market near the ...
was located at the town's marketplace. The medieval
Altstadt Church was located south of the castle, while the 19th century
New Altstadt Church was built further to the north.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Altstadt (Konigsberg)
1260s establishments in Europe
1945 disestablishments in Germany
Former subdivisions of Königsberg
Members of the Hanseatic League
Populated places established in the 1260s