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Kafka, Kant and Lost Capitals

Neil MacGregor visits Kaliningrad, now in Russia but formerly the German city Konigsberg, home of the philosopher Kant. He also visits Prague, birthplace of writer Franz Kafka.

Continuing the week's theme of Germany's floating frontiers, Neil MacGregor visits two cities now beyond Germany's present borders, but which played important roles in Germany's intellectual and literary history.

Kaliningrad, on the Baltic, became part of the Soviet Union in 1945, and is now part of Russia. But for centuries it was Königsberg, a major Prussian city, and birthplace of the philosopher Immanuel Kant - and so central to the intellectual history of Germany.

Neil also visits the Czech city of Prague, once home to a large German-speaking community, which included Franz Kafka, one of the most acclaimed writers in the German language.

Today neither Russian-speaking Kaliningrad nor Czech-speaking Prague are in any sense German - but what is their place within the memories of Germany?

Producer Paul Kobrak.

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15 minutes

Last on

Thu 2 Oct 2014 00:30
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4

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Amber tankard

Amber tankard
This splendid amber tankard in the British Museum was made around 1650 in Königsberg - once the eastern-most outpost of the German-speaking world but now known as Kaliningrad and part of Russia.

Königsberg grew rich thanks to trade in one commodity above all: amber. For centuries the local rulers exploited their near-monopoly of the material to give sumptuous diplomatic gifts that nobody could match and nobody would refuse.

Amber tankard lid

Amber tankard lid
This tankard was not principally designed for drinking, but for show. To have this on your table places you very high. The white amber (rarer even than the golden) used for the disc in the centre of the lid bears the arms of the Swedish crown.

This tankard almost certainly belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden, a gift from the Elector of Brandenburg, who was Duke of Prussia, ruler of Königsberg and in search of powerful allies.

Amber tankard base

Amber tankard base
'At the base, in pale golden amber, shines a beautiful smiling sun.'

Tankard photographs © Trustees of the British Museum.

Königsberg manhole cover in Kaliningrad

Königsberg manhole cover in Kaliningrad
This is all that remains of the long German presence in the city once known as Königsberg.

All around, you see Soviet buildings and statues and the name of Kaliningrad in Cyrillic. But on the city's manhole covers you can still read the name KÖNIGSBERG.

Broadcasts

  • Wed 1 Oct 2014 09:45
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 FM
  • Wed 1 Oct 2014 19:45
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
  • Thu 2 Oct 2014 00:30
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4

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