Wednesday, November 24, 2010

RU-261028

This week started with 2 official cards. This one is from Russia, more exactly from Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, geographically separated from the rest of Russia. This is my 2nd card from this region. The card shows the Königsberg Cathedral.
RU-261028, sent by Stef.
"Königsberg Cathedral is a Brick Gothic style building in Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) on an island in the Pregel. The island was called Keiphof in German times. The construction of the cathedral on Kneiphof is considered to have begun in 1333.
In late August 1944, British bombers carried out two night raids on Königsberg. The first raid, on 26/27 August, largely missed the city, but the second raid, on 29/30, destroyed most of the old part of Königsberg (including Kneiphof), and the cathedral was hit.
After the war, the cathedral remained a burnt out shell and Kneiphof was made into a park with no other buildings.
Today, the cathedral has two chapels, one Lutheran, the other Russian Orthodox, as well as a museum. The Lutheran chapel is where the people under the spire died during the second air raid of August 1944. The cathedral is also used for concerts." - in: wikipedia

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