Königsberg or Kaliningrad – Russian exclave should get its old name back

Estonia is working on shelving the name Kaliningrad for the Russian exclave. Tallinn is also about another city.

Tallinn – This report should make Vladimir Putin sit up and take notice. Even if his war in Ukraine currently requires the Kremlin leader’s full attention. Like what is happening at the front, the 70-year-old is unlikely to like the developments in Estonia.

Königsberg instead of Kaliningrad: renamed after the Second World War

On the side of the Riigikogu, the parliament in Tallinn, it can be read that its Foreign Affairs Committee has suggested to the Estonian Language Society Committee that the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania should no longer be called Kaliningrad, but rather Königsberg. This was the name of the former German capital of East Prussia before Russia and the Soviet Union claimed it for themselves after the Second World War.

But that’s not enough. The committee led by Marko Mihkelson also advocates that the Russian city of Kingisepp, which is only 25 kilometers from the Estonian border, be called Jamburg or Jaama again in the future. In 1922, the city in Leningrad Oblast was named after the Estonian revolutionary Viktor Kingissepp, who was sentenced to death and shot that same year.

Video: Kremlin reacts indignantly – this is how Poland provokes Russia

Estonia wants to rename Kaliningrad: the city is now called Krolewiec in Poland

Kaliningrad owes its name to the former Soviet head of state Mikhail Kalinin, who, however, only followed the will of dictator Josef Stalin and was therefore part of his regime. In his initiative for a renaming, the Estonian politician Mikhelson emphasized that Latvia, Lithuania and Poland had also decided to use historical names instead of Kaliningrad.

In Poland, Development Minister Waldemar Buda had said regarding the renaming to Krolewiec: “We do not want Russification in Poland, so we have decided to call Kaliningrad and its region in our own language.” He further emphasized that Kalinin was a “ “Criminal who was partly responsible for the decision on the mass execution of Polish officials in Katyn in 1940”.

Königsberg before Kaliningrad: City name was intended to honor King Ottokar II of Bohemia

From 1255 to 1946, Königsberg was the name of the city that is now home to almost 500,000 citizens. This was intended to honor Ottokar II, King of Bohemia. The city was previously called Twangste.

In Estonia, the discussion about renaming to Königsberg will continue in October. Perhaps she will then also be followed with interest from Moscow. However, no one in the Kremlin will have particularly high hopes that Kaliningrad still has a future in Estonian parlance. (mg)