Not long ago, Polish investors who offered Kaliningrad a project to reconstruct one of the abandoned German forts called the city by its Polish name, Królewiec, in their presentation, which drew the displeasure of the region's former governor, Nikolay Tsukanov. The investors then explained their use of the name "Królewiec" instead of "Kaliningrad" by saying that "it means the same thing anyway".
Nikolay Tsukanov, for his part, asked the Polish side not to forget in future that the city has only one name: Kaliningrad.
"Our Lithuanian colleagues also wrote 'Karaliaučius' (the Lithuanian name of the city of Königsberg — ed.) on the sign at the border on the way into Kaliningrad. And when our services responded by writing 'Vilno' on the road sign towards Vilnius, this caused great irritation on the Lithuanian side. I think we would provoke the same reaction from the Polish side if we put up signs with, for example, the original name of Gdańsk (Danzig — ed.). So I think it would be fair to write not 'Królewiec' (in the presentation) but Kaliningrad after all," N. Tsukanov explained to the Poles. It should be stressed straight away, however, that in Poland everything is in order with the signs: all the roads near the border lead to "Kaliningrad".
This situation naturally raises two questions: "What is Królewiec?" and "Why do the Poles openly use this name instead of the official one?"
As for the first question, the answer is short and simple. Królewiec is the Polish name for the city of Königsberg, which, in the time of King Casimir IV, in 1454, belonged to Poland for about a year. The name Königsberg is deliberately not used in Poland, most likely for reasons of "linguistic patriotism".
The answer to the question of why the Poles call not only Königsberg but also Kaliningrad "Królewiec", even at fully official events, requires us to turn not to the era of Casimir IV but to the present day.
On the reasons for using the name "Królewiec" in official speeches by Polish politicians
The controversy in Poland over using the name "Królewiec" instead of "Kaliningrad" came to the fore most vividly when Radosław Sikorski became the Republic's Minister of Foreign Affairs and strongly recommended avoiding the Soviet name of the city. Radosław Sikorski was the first Polish foreign minister to use the name "Królewiec" in official speeches.
In 2011 he used the names "Królewiec" and "Królewiec Oblast" when presenting his exposé (a brief statement of policy priorities) in the lower house of the Republic's parliament. Incidentally, Radosław Sikorski would later, also from the parliamentary rostrum, compare the Local Border Traffic regime between Poland and the "Królewiec Oblast" with the "East Prussia" project.
Sikorski used the name "Królewiec" freely even at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, calling the Kaliningrad Region the Królewiec District and the trilateral talks, poetically, the "Królewiec Triangle".
Minister Sikorski justified his consistent boycott of the official name "Kaliningrad" as follows: "I would remind you that Comrade Kalinin was a Stalinist criminal who signed the order to murder Polish officers in Katyn, Kharkiv and Mednoye. We do not think it would be right to help perpetuate the memory of this man."
On this basis, Radosław Sikorski recommended that all representatives of Polish diplomacy avoid the Soviet name of the city. And at every opportunity he emphasised the meaning carried by the use of the name "Królewiec".
Interestingly, the question of whether it is appropriate to use the name "Królewiec" at the official level, in particular in speeches by Polish politicians, was examined twice (in 2005 and 2008) by a special body, the Commission on Standardisation of Geographical Names outside the Republic of Poland. On both occasions the Commission reached an ambivalent conclusion. On the one hand, at the official level Poland should use exclusively the name "Kaliningrad", since it is the primary name of the city, and who Mikhail Kalinin was is of no relevance. At the same time, the Commission deemed the use of the historical name "Królewiec" as an exonym1 admissible, though not recommended.
Thus, in Poland the choice of what to call our city depends on the views of the individual politician, diplomat, official and so on.
And the use of the name "Królewiec" instead of the official "Kaliningrad" is not a fringe phenomenon. It should be noted, however, that the name "Królewiec" is not used in any official document; this is, of course, because such a document would otherwise have no legal force.
Apart from the former Polish foreign minister, other prominent representatives of Polish diplomacy have also openly used, and continue to use, the name "Królewiec". For example, Jerzy Bahr, the former Polish ambassador to Russia, remarked even in an interview with Kaliningrad media that he does not accept the Soviet name of the city.
"When speaking of Kaliningrad, I try to use the word Królewiec; this name is closer to Poles than Kaliningrad. I remember the Russian ambassador in Warsaw being asked whether the name Królewiec could be restored. He replied: 'It sounds beautiful, but it is hard to pronounce.'
Kalinin had nothing to do with this city; he never even came here once. <…> Meanwhile, his signature is on the order to shoot Polish officers in Katyn. A rather pitiful patron for the city.
So I try not to use the name Kaliningrad unless circumstances require it," the ambassador noted.
In other words, the argument for using precisely the Polish name "Królewiec" in Poland is a standard one: the negative Soviet connotations of the name "Kaliningrad".
On the possible renaming of "Rondo Kaliningrad" in Elbląg
Interestingly, the dilemma "Kaliningrad or Królewiec?" also arises at the local level within Poland. In 2013, an action group of residents of Elbląg, Kaliningrad's Polish twin town, began collecting signatures for a petition demanding the renaming of the "Kaliningrad" roundabout (Rondo Kaliningrad), familiar to many Kaliningraders who visit Poland. The authors of the petition proposed renaming the Rondo in honour of the Polish anti-communist partisans of the Second World War period, the "Cursed Soldiers" (Żołnierze wyklęci), or, failing that, reverting to the historical name "Królewiec". The reason for the petition was, once again, the Soviet ring of the city's name. However, the idea met with little enthusiasm from the Elbląg authorities. The city's president at the time, Jerzy Wilk, noted that the issue was not a priority, and that if the Rondo were to be renamed at all, this should first be agreed with the Russian side, and it might be better to use a name that appears in the "vocabulary" of international relations between Russia, Poland and Germany: the Królewiec Triangle.
Many more examples of such "Kaliningrad-or-Królewiec" dilemmas in Poland could be cited. Some will find this amusing and smile, some will find it ambiguous and ponder, and some, perhaps, will see it as interference in our purely internal affairs and become wary. It must be admitted, however, that the reason for such discussions lies in the very history of our region.
Kaliningrad — its past, present and future — will most likely remain a subject of discussion for a long time, not only within the region but also internationally. And if in Poland the debate on "Kaliningrad or Królewiec?" is not perceived as marginal or unacceptable, then we Kaliningraders should also reflect on its causes and meaning.
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1. The term exonym denotes a place name that is not used by the local population or people, but is used for them by outside communities.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
