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In 1945, the Soviet Union annexed the East Prussian city of Königsberg, later renaming it Kaliningrad. Left in ruins by the war, the home of Immanuel Kant became a Russian city. This book looks at Kaliningrad´s relationship to the memory of Königsberg through cultural, literary and visual representations.

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In 1945, the Soviet Union annexed the East Prussian city of Königsberg, later renaming it Kaliningrad. Left in ruins by the war, the home of Immanuel Kant became a Russian city, a source of historical and cultural fascination for settlers, former inhabitants, visitors and observers alike. New settlers replaced the German population in the years that followed. This book looks at three aspects of Kaliningrad´s relationship to the memory of Königsberg through cultural and literary sources and visual representations. First, it addresses the symbolism of Königsberg as a memory site in German culture and nostalgia for the city after 1945. Second, it discusses imagined and satirical literary-cultural adaptations and deconstructions of the idea of "Kant and Königsberg" during the Cold War and afterwards. Third, it explores and reflects on discourses of memory, history and nostalgia in representations of the city by poets, photographers and filmmakers visiting Kaliningrad from the 1960s onwards. The book provides an introduction to the memory debates relating to Königsberg-Kaliningrad, as well as new critical readings of literary texts, films and photographic works.

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CONTENTS: Introduction: Memory, Nostalgia and Place-Writing in Eastern Europe - Königsberg as a Lapsed and Unfulfilled Site of Germany´s Collective-Autobiographical Memory - Renaming Debates and Local Strategies of Collective-Autobiographical Memory in Kaliningrad - Lost "Cultural Intimacy" and Individual Forms of Nostalgic Memory for Königsberg - Toppling a Monument: Adapting Biomyths in Satires on "Kant and Königsberg" - "Kant and Königsberg" and Failed Revolutions in Bertolt Brecht´s Adaptation of Der Hofmeister - Countering Loss through Literature: Johannes Bobrowski´s Imagined Königsberg - Joseph Brodsky in Kaliningrad: Postcards, Photographs and Reflections at the "Earth´s Border" - Ecocritical Post-Communism? Visits to Kaliningrad after Perestroika - Ruin Ethics and Aesthetics: "Kant and Kaliningrad" in the Photography of Joachim Koester and Norbert Wiesneth - Conclusion: Writing Place and Bearing Witness.

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Edward Saunders teaches literature as a member of adjunct faculty at the Center for Liberal Arts, Webster Vienna Private University. He completed his PhD in German Studies at the University of Cambridge in 2013. He has published in the areas of comparative literature, cultural memory and life-writing, with a Central and East European focus.

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