Victory Square (, ''Ploshchad Pobedy'') is the central

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

, Russia. Prior to 1945, the square was part of

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, Germany. Steindamm Gate, part of the city's northwestern Baroque city walls, was dismantled in 1912 to allow development of the area between Steindamm and the

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, Kaliningrad, Tsentralny District of Kalin ...

suburbs. The road leading from central Königsberg to

Mittelhufen image:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img50 Oberpostdirektion building.jpg, Baltic Fleet headquarters in Kaliningrad, formerly Königsberg's postal headquarters image:PoliceUFSB.jpg, Federal Security Service (Russia), FSB office, formerly Königsberg's police h ...

was known first as Kaiser-Wilhelm-Damm in honor of

Wilhelm II, German Emperor Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

. After the abdication of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

in 1918, the road was renamed to Hansaring and the prominent square nearby to Hansaplatz, honoring the city's participation in the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

from 1339-1579. The square was then renamed Adolf-Hitler-Platz in 1934 to honor the Nazi leader. East of the square were the grounds of the Ostmesse trade fair. Königsberg was transferred to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1945 and then renamed Kaliningrad. While most of central Königsberg was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the northern suburban area around the square survived intact. Post-war Kaliningrad developed around the square, which was renamed Victory Square to honor the Soviet victory. Many banks, shops, malls, and the city government are in the vicinity of the square. The Kaliningrad Severny railway station, formerly the Königsberg Nordbahnhof built in 1930, is a business centre. The Handelshof or Stadthaus, built by

Hanns Hopp Hanns Hopp (9 February 1890 – 21 February 1971) was a German architect. Hopp was born in Lübeck and studied at the University of Karlsruhe and the Technical University of Munich. From 1918 he was employed as an architect for the local autho ...

in 1923, still functions as the seat of the city administration as Kaliningrad City Hall.

Kaliningrad State Technical University Kaliningrad State Technical University (; abbreviated KSTU) is a technical university at Victory Square in Kaliningrad, Russia. It is located in the former combined Amtsgericht and Landgericht building which served as judicial courts during t ...

is located in the former provincial court, while the FSB have offices in the former police headquarters. During the celebration of the 750th anniversary of the founding of the city in 2005 the square was thoroughly renovated. A new fountain with the triumph column was placed in the centre and the new

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (, ) is a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few hundred metres southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of , it is the ...

was consecrated in the same year. The statue of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, previously in front of the cathedral, was removed from the square and placed at another site in Kaliningrad in 2006. File:Nordbahnhof Königsberg.jpg, Hansaplatz in Königsberg with the North railway station, ca. 1942 File:Pobedy square 2002.jpg, Ploshchad Pobedy with the North railway station building in 2002 File:Kaliningradskiy passazh.jpg, Shopping centre "Kaliningrad Passage" in 2006 File:Kaliningrad Panorama (5664122123).jpg, View from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 2011 File:Kaliningrad 05-2017 img53 former North station.jpg, Aeroflot office in 2017

Sources

*Rainer Eisenschmid: Baltikum. Baedeker 2001, page 454
Online preview with Google Books
*

{{Coord, 54, 43, 12, N, 20, 30, 3, E, region:RU_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Kaliningrad Squares in Russia Tourist attractions in Kaliningrad Oblast