@@77mako77ful I will give you a civil answer to your snide question. He was a Latvian civilian and was evacuated with other Latvian civilians. He then spent eight months in transit before joining Polish II Corps in Austria in August 1945 as his mother was Polish. He used to say that the only positive thing he could relate to the years 1939-1945 was that he did not have to point a gun at anyone. Are you happy with that answer? My father's photo is in the book Czetery Z Tysiaca by C Chlebowski as he associated with the Polish Resistance.
Not only the quality of your videos but the content is of excellent quality. The content has culture, economy aspects and social political impact. It is a complete source of information. I really wish more people would do videos as yours. Very good quality!!!
He includes much more history than any other travel RU-vidr I’ve ever seen. Combine that with his train hopping skills and he’s easily my favorite. Shiey and Bald and Bankrupt have nothing on Vagabond!
@@Sniperboy5551 His history "facts" are mostly bullsh*t. Vagabond is following Putin's history "facts" and is forgetting the real history of Königsberg. Same was with his Karelia video, full of russian propaganda.
your comment and this video leave out that russia is a state of fascism which includes racism - an integral aprt of any empire. Is that cool for you? to advertise this?
@@mountainmoments Not really. That aspect is not at all pleasant even to acknowledge. I rather talk about the person that made the video and his story telling endowment. He is good and he is really good organizing his videos. That was the aspect that I was concentrating about. Keep in mind that all of us here are NOT pro Putin.
It's actually devastating and very sad what happened all over Europe from the sides of the Germans and the Russians. If one didn't destroy something the other side did.
Thanks a lot Dude. Nice Documentary As a German I am evertytime proud of our Infrastructure which obviously can stand nearly everything. Hope that there will be Peace, so that i am able to visit our old Land of prussia.
You can visit Russia, Kaliningrad as well, no problem, even these days. Russia hasn't imposed restrictions on ordinary German citizens unlike vice versa.
@@daddydallas4789 if you are american or european going to russia right now that is a death sentence for you. Even if they let you stay a little longer and see some russia, you will end up as a hostage with 10-years-sentence in colony fuckin far away from anything. I also think that russia is beautiful and tourism in this country would be amazing, but don't forget about what kind of terrorist state we are talking about.
@@pije_whiskey Where did you get all that information from? Because thats such BS man, you can visit Russia no problem, my sister and her family frequently visits Russia as German citizens, and they always just chill there and have a good time
@@daddydallas4789 yeah right, as a German from Stuttgart B-W I know many "german citizens" born in russia, so maybe they visit their homeland. Unfortunetely they barely speak german
its such a nice change of pace to watch youtube content thats not centered around the channel creator. it really does seem like narcissism is an epidemic these days and like its the only thing that ever gets rewarded. stuff like this helps me keep some kind of faith in our species.
I really enjoy your presenting style - perfect combination of past and present. No boring, extended introductions or transitions, just straightforward to the point footage and information of cool, neglected, and historically rich places.
Very interesting film. We have been to Kaliningrad twice, both times driving by car from home in Sweden (2016 and 2019). We live straight across the sea from Baltysk. We have visited most of the places you visited and it's interesting to see what has changed in recent years. Sadly I don't think we will be able to go back, given the crazy world we live in today.
Most of it is gone and went to rubbish. Stalin and others happened. Now it's just another Soviet shadow 40-50 years behind the rest of the continent due to amazing leadership.
Чел, я как калининградец могу сказать, что ты нашел самые перди области, настоящий архитектурный проктолог. Браво, это талант. )))) По подаче одно не понравилось - не Сталин аннексировал, а Сталин с Черчилем и Рузвельтом подписали договор о репарациях. 1/3 Востойной Пруссии - СССР, 2/3 - Польше (тоже получается аннексировали? sic!), а литовцам Мемель / Клайпеда + часть куршской косы.
Great comment! It's sad that people are misinformed into oversimplified or false historical narratives of a supposedly omnipotent Stalin. It's shocking how pervasive it is.
@@ikariameriks The Naz!s and their collaborators shouldn't have invaded the USSR and tried genociding its people then. See Generalplan Ost. Fuck around and find out -- simple as... The Baltics are not real countries anyway. They have been Polish, Swedish, German and now American colonies. Glorified military outposts against the East.
@@ikariameriks this land is small payment for millions killed Russians . Germans who lived here and in polish part of Prussia were thrown away from here but at least not killed.
It is crazy to see the difference between Gdansk and Kaliningrad. So close. Similar history, but Gdansk is a thriving 21st century city while Kaliningrad seems stuck to late 90s.
So? That happens all over the world. San Diego, USA and Tijuana, Mexico are basically one urban area divided by a border and the difference between both is enormous.
Ostpreußen,but Gumbinnen in particular,poses a very bitter memory for older Germans,but I won't eleborate any further on that. Immediately after the Iron Curtain collapsed I visited the old German provinces and we wanted to cross over to the Kaliningrad region too but at that time it was highly discouraged to do so by Polish security troops as Polish civilians alike . Therefore I'm very pleased with this video.Thank you.
@@user-mj4yx8fc7w I was born in the 50ies and therefore I only know what happened before and during WW II from first hand ; but I very much value and appreciate your reaction - it shows you are genuinely interested in both the topic of this video as well as my adhered comment. I thank you deeply for that and wish you all the best .
Gumbinnen - a name which transitioned from Old Prussian (Nadruvian) name Gabe to Lithuanian Gumbinė and later slightly modified to sound more German. Unfortunately 60% of original Lithuanian place names of Lithuania Minor by the decree of June 3 of 1938 was renamed to fully German ones. Such are Stallupönen - renametd to Ebenrode, Jurgaitschen - to Jürgenfelde, Augsgiren - to Saßenhöhe, Kraupischken - to Breitenstein, Lasdehnen - to Haselberg, Papelken - to Markomitethausen, Paskallwen - to Schalau, etc. The same year the list of name changes was printed as a brochure - "Das Verzeichnis der neuen Ortsnamen der ganzen Provinz Ostpreußen ".
@@fidenemini111 Danke - aber diese Tatsachen waren mir schon bestens bekannt . Und übrigens gab es Umbenennungen nicht nur in Ostpreußen - z.B. Gdingen(heute Gdynia)wurde ab 1938 Gotenhafen genannt .
I had a school teacher named Mrs Köstlin when I started Primary school. I'll never forget her, a tall slim lady wearing her greying hair in a classic bun at back of her head. Her kindly large grey eyes always projected a kindness when she smiled. My mother always remarked about her regal posture. Together with her family she escaped Königsberg in a horse drawn wagon via the Frozen Baltic sea to Hamburg. I often wondered about this place and thank the VAGA VAGABOND for bringing the reality of this city's once existence as Königsberg to me.
The bridge in Tilsit was indeed German. It was called the Queen Louise Bridge. She was and still is a legendary figure in Germany, generally described as "angelic". Consort of the King of Prussia, she went to Tilsit to meet Napoleon to plead on behalf of Prussia, begging him to agree a merciful settlement respecting her country's needs and dignity. He wasn't very interested.
Danke Eine sehr gute Erklärung Die Steine sprechen immer noch Deutsch in der ganzen ehemalig deutschen Provinz ! Thank you ! An exellent explanation ! The bricks are still speaking German all around this former german province! Danke .
@@Anthony-db7cs Well, technically, “should still speak Prussian” (linguistically close to Lithuanian) or Polish. The German speaking Teutonic Knights (for-hire mercenaries hired by the Polish Duke Conrad of Mazovia) exterminated all original Prussians (who were N O T Germans), adopted their name and became known as “Prussians” in order to claim the land. The German speaking pope backed their claim and thugs the centuries long saga of the “German Prussia” had began.. Kaliningrad needs to go back to Poland/Lithuania and become Królewiec/Karaliaučius. I know, I know… history is sooo boooring.. 🙄 The rest of your post “anything russia touches” I agree with..
Vistula is also the name of one of the biggest rivers in Poland, it flows out into the Baltic Sea near Gdańsk, so not far from where you were. This river flows through both Warsaw and Kraków and originates from the mountains in the south of Poland
I rarely watch a full 90 minute video, but this is great. Hearing the history along with all the sites is fantastic. Plus the journey itself is cool. Plus no garbage and no homeless people, seems very nice.
The area he called "favellas" is a former Soviet boathouses "cooperative", they are called "(h)ellings", as I recall, the owners were smart enough to transform them into habitable houses during the administrative chaos of the 90s.
Thank you for doing this. I remember in February 2022 seeing this little think on the map of Russia when everyone was talking about the war and google mapping it to see what the heck Kaliningrad was. This is even better as it makes me feel like, I have seen this strange place.
Vagabond, your channel is unique. OK Bald and Bankrupt comes close, but he doesn't explore remote abandoned places on his own or ride iron ore trains across the whole of the Russian Federation eating nothing but noodles and wearing just a light rain jacket! 😂 Keep up the great work, Kaliningrad is such a strange and interesting place that we haven't seen on TV or RU-vid in the UK. So much history although sadly mostly just related to invasion and conflict. Including today...
I’m glad we can agree that Vagabond beats Bald. I love both channels, but there’s just something beautiful about a native Russian exploring his own country. I’ve already seen all of Bald’s Russia videos and he has been banned, so it’s nice to see some new stuff from Vagabond’s perspective!
But the thing is, unlike Bald, who is a British sex tourist, Vagabond is a real Russian (like me btw) traveling around his own country completely off the grid.
@@yumallah True! Haven't watched bald since that space shuttle finally and the Russian authorities doesn't want him back (yet) so don't expect to see any stuff from him in a while. Vagabond can do it without any questionable shenanigans.
I've only been to Kaliningrad once and only for a day but after seeing this video I want to go back and see more. Svetlogorsk reminded me of Sopot in Poland. The Kalingrad oblast has so much history and beautiful landscape to take in. Thank you Ivan and please keep this quality content coming.
@@tevarinvagabond1192What you said made me laugh. Russia is the country that preserves the best historical monuments in Europe. Go to other countries and do they preserve historical sites like Russia?
@@admin6884 Your statement is such a joke, you must never have traveled many places in Europe or the rest of the world... Communist countries, on the other hand, destroyed a great deal of the past, as much as they could in order to supplant "the old order". Please read history books a bit more before making whacky outburts
Man, I've already watched and enjoyed quite a few of your videos but this one is absolutely brilliant for so many reasons. As a German I might be a little biased because it offers a unique glimpse into a past world that few of us will be able to explore like you did, so in a sense you lent us your eyes. But what your video excels at is just showing humanity: The two old guys on the bench in Angerapp and their daily struggles - none of which have been of their own making. All the ruins and soldiers' graves and your statement that war just bluntly sucks. The cats and cat food vending machines in Cranz. It's all been very heart-warming and should remind us all of the fact that at the end of the day we're all humans. The current political situation is surely f***ed up almost beyond repair for the time being but we all shouldn't forget that the man on the street hasn't got such a lot of influence on that kind of stuff, yet will take the biggest hit to their standard of life. Think of the Germans who had to leave the East after 1945 - very often in quite a hurry. What was started in 1939 hit back on them with a vengeance, and many of those weren't such rabid Nazis that we might think of their fate as being well deserved. I don't want to overdo this aspect here though, so once again: great video, well done and keep up the good work.
Wow! Very impressive and thorough field report from Kaliningrad! I really enjoyed your descriptions and the places you showed. As you mention several times, there is such potential that, for the foreseeable future, will unfortunately be ignored. All I can say is that I hope that things change and peace will prevail.
Kaliningrad is currently a major destination of Russian domestic tourism (which has grown as international tourish has shrunk) so it is not exactly ignored. Some places fall into disrepair, but overall it's nice-ish.
As a German student in the early 1980s we were never told about Kaliningrad/Konigsberg. As far as we were told Germany consisted of West and East Germany. We were never told about Prussia or the German regions now in Poland. There is a very interesting museum nowadays in Gdańsk which I was lucky to visit which also showed something of German populations in the region. Very interesting to see all this. Thanks.
It is interesting to watch these kinds of videos to know the history of why the cities are so important now. Well done. This channel deserves a million subscribers. ;)
at the end of World War II, the British knew that Konigsberg would go to the Russians and made many raids in order to bomb the city center, but not military forts. therefore, the central part was erased by bombing, and the forts were practically untouched. The Russians had to take the city on their own, or rather the ruins from it. even the Germans wondered why the British were destroying the historical part of the city, but did not touch military facilities.
Hello from Canada 🇨🇦 Big fan of your channel. I love how you show everyday life for the Russian people; as well as, the historical and natural environment.
Found this channel a couple of days ago, now I'm addicted. Great work! I lived in Moscow for some time, but never went outside the oblast, so this is very very interesting
i dont know why, but your accent is much easier to understand than some american english speakers, for me at least. i'm brazilian btw nice video and trip, as always
I like the content, but noticed lots of your videos have false info in them and in the titles as well. I noticed the word "Russia's outpost in Europe" , given the fact that 1/4 of Russia is in Europe all the way to the Ural mountains and that part of Russia is still the biggest European country by size. How it could be the outpost when big part of Russia especially the most developed one and it's historical core and in Europe.
You were born for this journey! They way you approach subjects pulls me in as almost if I am there. The places you visit are priceless gifts to me. The most endearing aspect of all are the people you meet, drive with, stay with, and more. Sometimes I wish you could spend more time with them, it is so good for the soul to know that these folks are just like me/us. Please stay safe and keep up this most beautiful life journey!
John Kay, the lead singer of Steppenwolf ("Born to be Wild"), was born in Tilsit, as was Edgar Froese, founder of Tangerine Dream. So it has some considerable musical pedigree!
A bastion, by the way, usually tends to be a separate, further forward position that was indeed the first place to be assaulted. The point was to deplete enemy forces from a position, that you could abandon eventually to fall back to the main fortress with minimal risk for your own life or the entire fortress being captured upon retreat.
Thanks for sharing! A neighbor couple who already passed away was born in Königsberg and had to leave everything behind in the 1945. They told me that their family had a restaurant with a beautiful Biergarten owned over generations. After fall of Soviet Union they went their to visit. They told me that this was a sad experience because the former restaurant was unmaintained and chickens running around it. They cried when telling me this story. I always loved their funny East Prussian accent 😃
@@user-mj4yx8fc7w This story is part of the history of the place. Do you believe that individual people should be responsible for the actions of their country? If you want to take pride in the good, you must also answer to the bad.
@@user-mj4yx8fc7w Maybe I made a false presumption that you are Russian? Perhaps you didn't notice the countless Russian tirades of "America did it first!" whataboutisms.
Very touching story. What a loss! The Russians lost 27 million in that war. Of these, 17 million are civilians. This is real genocide. This is the Russian Holocaust, which is not remembered. But there is a very sentimental story about the restaurant.
@@kotbarsik777 Belittling and misusing the word "genocide" and "Holocaust" is a Nazi thing, you know that right? The nazi's used to say that a "white genocide" was happening to motivate their actions.
Bits of remembrance of a glorious architectural past, ending up in a homogenous soviet concrete block city without any Identity. My Grandmother was from Königsberg and always wanted to go back. Her visit after 1991 probably was the biggest disappointment of her late life. No revanchism or hate against Russians, but personally Russia feels like a big grey wasteland to me.
This is only in the Khrushchev era and after. In the pre-revolutionary and Stalinist periods, everything was built in the neoclassical style, which is fine
Great content! Thanks to people like you, us westerners can experience all those Russian places that are rarely talked about. You're bringing a new light and knowledge to all of us keep strong my friend
There is a reason why many cities throughout the German Reich had tram tracks with a 1000 mm gauge. In order to keep municipal competetors away, especially for the transport of goods with standard freight wagons the German railway authorities (Deutsche Reichsbahn) had the monopoly to build tracks with the European standard gauge of 1435 mm. Nevertheless some cities wanted to link their local tram network to the Reichsbahn network to bring goods right into the center on standard gauge. Therefore they had to pay a fee to the Reichsbahn. So in the end some cities like Frankfurt on Main, Munich, Cologne or Berlin used standard gauge. Other cities like Stuttgart, Mannheim or Erfurt used the 1000 mm system.
@@lucasrem That was the gloomy part I wanted to avoid, but yes it was a sore eye for several years. Not much has changed in Yakutia since the ice age, ))).
43:36. Incredible. Put that in perspective. That bell was made when the Kingdom of Prussia existed. Not Germany, not the german empire, not the north german confederation. The HRE still existed. New France still existed in north america. The Qing Empire was a truly great power. Russia had gained Saint Petersburg from the Swedish Empire 26 years earlier. Poland-Lithuania Still existed. I could go on and on. That bell has survived so many different eras in european history. It’s probably one of the last authentic actually “Prussian” things anywhere in the Kaliningrad Oblast besides a few bombed out or otherwise abandoned buildings and private houses. I hope Koenigsberg becomes German once again but it will never happen. Germany tore itself apart and signed away its history to a country that cared nothing about it.
Been there in July on my way with my wife to her hometown in Ufa. Pretty nice place, clean and lots of nice things to see. Even tho its small. Also lived in hotel Skiperskaya in this fishin village :) cozy area. Bagrationovsk has border crossing with polan. I mean just few kms away. Thats where i have been crossing border to and from Russia. However its not for pedestrians. U need to be at least on bicycle to cross it.
This is by far one of your most interesting and informative videos. Sadly, it is so riddled with spam ads (some just a few minutes apart), that is is difficult and very time consuming to watch. I've heard from other RU-vidrs that it is possible for you to reduce ads. Please consider doing so.
Woah, great video! I am the local one living in the Kaliningrad (technically not really local, but here because of University). I really liked this place (im from other russian region), but also hated some stuff, like some crosswalkes are not so greatly placed. Also so funny stuff. For example students from KSTU (Kalinigrad State Technical University) are doing a lot of excesersizes on the Kant's Island. There are also Shipyard Yantar near Kaliningrad but it's not acceable for folks like you. But I managed to visit in several times as part of my student program. It's kinda sad that I managed to find this video only now!
What you call 'catholic' crosses are not necessarily catholic. German east Prussia was largely protestant, you show a number of Lutheran churches yourself. Lutherans use the same cross as catholics.
Yeah, in the entire East Prussian area, only Warmia (now entirely in Poland) - the westernmost part of East Prussia was catholic. The rest of it, even Polish speaking south was entirely Lutheran.
@@Vitalis94--- Even in Poland itself the higher on the SES scale a person was, the more likely he was to be Lutheran. IIRC, Poland was one of the few successes of the counterreformation, and that was just barely.
@@ak5659 SES scale? That doesn’t compute, the nobility was the richest strata of the society, and most of the nobles were catholic after the counterreformation, before it most of the Protestants weren’t Lutheran but Reformed protestants, though.
I have walked train tracks for a long time. I have been around trains a long time. I never noticed dates on train track components until I watched your content.
A very interesting journey ! Thanks so much for sharing. Also nice that you interviewed people. What a shame most of the beautiful German villages have been destroyed, either during the World Wars or by communism/neglect. And as if 2 wars weren't enough, they started a 3rd. So sad.
I have a Residence Permit in Hungary, having already visited Moscow, St. Petersberg and 3 other major cities in Mainland Russia, I will be visiting Kaliningrad soon.
My grandmother's family also returned for a brief visit when the iron curtain fell. Seeing the state of everything they regretted their visit and stuck to remembering the place it once was. That said they did not really blame the Russians though they feared them during the war. They mostly blamed the Austrian painter and his "Festungsbefehl" making Königsberg a military fortress.
One has to be truly delusional to blame the Austrian painter with moustache for the desolation of Königsberg. The man and his followers tried to prevent all this. Now you reap what you sow.
@@kubizdalis101 That's... really dumb take. Prevent what, exactly? It's all a consequence of the painter and his goons. Had there been no war, sure, you may argue the Soviet would try something funny, but the war (if it happened at all, that is) would target totally different targets. There was nothing crutial about East Prussia, even very far into the war, the Germans sent their kinds and families there during the war, that's how safe it was. Until it was made a Fortress city and the British aircraft, then Soviet offensive ruined it.
Thank you very much for your broadcast. It has special significance for me as mother, aunts and grandmother were born in Königsberg, they evacuated in the war except my grandmother who had to work for the Russians for 3 years before the Red Cross became her path out. Luckily she wrote a recollection of this time which we the family has. My mother had a deep fondness for Königsberg and we have a photobook of what it was like before the war. 😌
Before the germans that was Baltic tribes of Prussians living in peace before germans came, and name of city and suburbs was TVAKSTA. That was baltic speaking land.
Yes , my friend : Before the europeans came to America , it was indian land , land of red skins nobody spoke English in Australia it was aborigines land nobody spoke English all history facts ! Ehe die Europäer nach Amerika kamen war das Indianer Gebiet , keiner sprach Englisch Australien war Aborigines Land niemand sprach Englisch alles historische Fakten !
