RUSSIA'S LITTLE-KNOWN WINDOW ON THE BALTIC SEA When travelers think of Russia's window on the Baltic, they naturally think of St. Petersburg with its magnificent palaces, canals, ballet and opera, and the unimaginable riches of the Hermitage Museum. Actually, St. Petersburg is indirectly connected to the Baltic through the Gulf of Finland and in winter is largely cut off from the Baltic. A much more direct connection to the Baltic, even in winter, is a territory and its capital city little known to North American travelers, the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, named for one of Stalin's favorite associates. This exclave is now entirely detached from the rest of Russia and is surrounded by Lithuania to the north and east, and Poland to the south. While the artistic riches of Kaliningrad can in no way be compared to those of St. Petersburg, its history is much older and its present situation is fully as interesting. Indeed, the city has been part of Russia only since the end of World War II, when it was taken by Soviet troops from the retreating Germans. Prior to that it had long been the capital of old East Prussia and called Königsberg, after a thirteen-century Bohemian king who founded it. Since that time it has been, among other things, the sometimes headquarters of the Teutonic Knights, a member of the Hanseatic League, the home of the renowned Albertina University where the great German philosopher Emmanuel Kant worked, the center of the world's Baltic amber production, and the last known resting place of the famous Amber Room looted by the Nazi's from Pushkin outside St. Petersburg. Before World War II, Königsberg was an impressive city with a series of ancient brick walls and gates, an evocative medieval center, handsome medieval churches with great organs, one of Europe's finest zoos, and a distinguished university. Much of this was suddenly destroyed by a savage and unnecessary bombing of the city’s centre by the British in 1944. Soon thereafter the Russians captured the city in what has been called the second fiercest battle after Stalingrad, and what remained of the German population was sent to Germany. Russians from all over the motherland came to replace them, and with its strategic location on the Baltic Kaliningrad came to be a major centre for the Russian navy and thus out-of-bounds to visitors beyond the Iron Curtain. During this closed period, the city was rebuilt, largely along old Soviet-style architectural lines, but since funds were channeled mainly to the military, the reconstruction of the city and its historic monuments was painfully slow; something one can still see today over a decade after the city has been opened to foreign visitors. The medieval centre of the city is largely gone, although plans for its restoration are in hand and are being gradually undertaken. Nevertheless, some of the glories of old Königsberg have now been restored -- the magnificent red-brick cathedral with its fine organ, historical museum, and the tomb of Emmanuel Kant, all surrounded by lovely treed parks and two branches of the Pregol River; the nearby magnificent old German Borse, now with an elegant restaurant with a beautiful casino, throbbing disco cave, and a classy strip-tease bar; some of the reconstructed University buildings; the Amber Museum; the old East Prussian Museum with its recently discovered artifacts hidden away for almost a half century in forts on the outskirts of the city and long believed lost; the Theatre with all manner of productions imported from the rest of Russia and the west; many of the magnificent old treed German neighborhoods that escaped the fury of the bombardment; and graceful parks with their lakes and flowering chestnut trees. Not far from the city centre is the charming and restful old German town of Rauschen, now called Svetlogorsk, perched on the highest dunes in Europe above a magnificent stretch of sandy beach on the Baltic. A short distance away on the Baltic coast is Zelenogradsk with its famous nineteenth-century Queen Louisa Hotel. Just beyond this one can visit the renowned National and UNESCO Kurshskaya Spit a narrow strip of land leading through the salty Baltic and freshwater Kurschskaya bay and home to dozens of rare species of flora and fauna. To the west of Kaliningrad there is the huge open amber mine in the town of Yntarny that produces 90% of the world's finest amber. Best of all are the people of Kaliningrad. They are somewhat used to Germans, who visit the city either out of nostalgia or to do business in its favored Special Economic Zone of Russia. But visitors from North America are warmly welcomed by Kaliningraders, who are eager for contacts with them and treat them with an openness, friendliness, and generosity unknown in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Russian women are famous for their beauty, and nowhere in Russia is this more true than in Kaliningrad, where women, many of stunning beauty and outnumbering men by two or three to one, are seen everywhere. Accommodation for tourists now ranges from excellent to adequate, and there are several hotels, such as the Komandor in Kaliningrad or the Rus in Svetlogorsk, that are in the four-star category, and two new hotels in the five-star category, including the magnificent Grand Hotel directly on the beach in Svetlogorsk and dedicated by three presidents at once, Putin, Schroeder, and Chirac. There is all manner of dining in Kaliningrad, and one should not miss the wonderful modern Russian cuisine in the elegant restaurants of the Old German Borse (Monetny Dvor) and the Universal Casino or the more traditional Russian cuisine and folklore entertainment in the Rasgulai. Evening entertainment is not difficult to find, ranging from various productions in the Theatre to shows in the hotels to wild discos like the Planeta where one can dine and dance the night away or watch others doing so. Travel around the city can be an adventure, ranging from good taxis to the sometimes-antiquated-sometimes-modern tramway and bus systems where rides cost about five cents paid to babushkas or young children distributing tickets. The streets themselves are a mixture of the beautiful but bumpy cobblestone pre-war streets of Königsberg and the potholed asphalt streets of modern Kaliningrad. Accommodation, meals, and travel in Kaliningrad are unbelievably inexpensive by Moscow, St. Petersburg, and European standards, thus making Kaliningrad a wonderful bargain for the economy-minded tourist. Tourists who know the dangers of the streets in Moscow and St. Petersburg will be pleasantly surprised by Kaliningrad, where muggings and attacks on foreigners are very uncommon. (I was mugged in broad daylight in St. Petersburg next to the Hermitage by seventeen youths fifteen minutes after arriving in the city for the first time.) It is perhaps best to have a Russian tour guide, who can be engaged at very little cost and is eager to show off the city, its people, and monuments. Travel to and from Kaliningrad for the North American traveler is somewhat tricky, but there are several inexpensive flights daily from Moscow by Aeroflot and several daily flights from various German cities. Travel by train through one of the countries surrounding Kaliningrad is possible but not recommended since double or multiple-entry visas may be necessary depending on one's route. A trip to Kaliningrad is not for everyone. But for a traveler looking for a fascinating and enlightening new adventure, this rapidly developing city and region with its mixture of Russian and German culture and history and its gorgeous Baltic beaches and sunsets should not be missed. [Roger Reynolds is an emeritus professor and senior fellow in the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and the Centre for Medieval Studies in the University of Toronto His wife, Lube Tarasova from Kaliningrad, is a preeminent designer and dealer of fine Baltic amber jewelry, which she sells in Canada on the national The Shopping Channel and in major gem and jewelry shows in the United States. Professor Reynolds and his wife have homes in Kaliningrad, Svetlogorsk, and Toronto.]