12.02.2023 / Donskoye–Primorye

Brüsterort Lighthouse (Cape Taran) and the Zipfelberg Iron Dune

The village of Yantarny has the best-equipped beach in the Kaliningrad Region, but the most beautiful one lies 10 km to the north, where the western and northern coasts of Sambia meet to form Cape Taran. This cape is where we will head first, taking a long walk along the Gross Dirschkeim cliffs. After visiting the cape and seeing the old lighthouse, we will set off for the village of Primorye, where the second item on our programme awaits us.

Duration: 8 hours.
Group size: up to 4 people.
Good to know: in summer you need to bring personal protection against too much sun, starting with basic headwear.
Guide: Mikhail.
Car: Škoda Roomster.
Phone: 8(906)217-39-69.

Donskoye
The high shores of Gross Dirschkeim (now Donskoye) offer breathtaking views of the sea. Here the highest coast and the most beautiful beach in the region await us. To reach Cape Taran, formerly called Brüsterort, we will have to cover about five kilometres along the beach (>4.5 km one way — before setting out on this walk, you should soberly assess your strength).

The beach in Donskoye.

If the trip takes place soon after even a small storm, you may be able to gather a handful or two of amber on the beach.

Brüsterort Lighthouse on military grounds at Cape Taran The lighthouse at Cape Taran. At present it is not possible to get any closer.

Having reached the cape, we hop a hundred metres from stone to stone (here they take the place of the beach!), and then climb a steep staircase cut into the almost sheer cliff all the way to the top to see the old lighthouse, which now stands on the grounds of a military unit. Sporty travellers are guaranteed to love it!

Primorye
The unique Zipfelberg dune in Primorye looks as if it had been thrown down to us from another planet. This huge hill, with a high content of iron ore, is of tectonic origin and is striking in appearance.

Zipfelberg iron dune View of the Zipfelberg dune from the beach: rust!

It is literally rusty! We will look at it from the beach and then climb to the top.

View of the Zipfelberg dune from above.

Otradnoye
If the travellers are not too tired, which is unlikely, there may be time to see the sights of the village of Otradnoye. Many beautiful houses built before the Second World War have survived here, as well as a towering water tower and a German railway station. But the main attraction of Georgenswalde is the Hermann Brachert Museum. It is a small but very cosy house in which the outstanding local artist was forced to live after being driven out of Königsberg when the Nazis came to power in East Prussia.