Lutheran Church of Pillau
Destroyed during the assault of 1945; its ruins were cleared away in the post-war years
Anatoly Bakhtin
Lutheran Church in the Pillau Citadel
Damaged during the fighting within the Pillau fortress in 1945. The ruins were cleared away
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Reformed Church of Pillau
The gable was slightly damaged during the fighting in 1945. After the war the church was used as a warehouse
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Catholic Church of Pillau
Badly damaged during the Second World War, which later led to its demolition
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Reformed Church of Tilsit
Badly damaged during the Second World War; all that remains of it is the tower, without its spire
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Catholic Church of Tilsit
Partly destroyed after WWII. In the 1960s–70s it was dismantled for bricks. Its railings went to make a school fence
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Kreuzkirche of Tilsit (New Church)
It survived the Second World War intact; in the 1970s it housed one of the workshops of the Raduga factory
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Lithuanian Church of Tilsit
It came through the Second World War undamaged, but in the winter of 1950–51 it was set on fire by teenagers
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German Church of Tilsit (Lutheran)
It was intact after 1945. In the post-war years it was stripped for firewood and bricks, and what remained was demolished in the 1960s
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Popelken Church
Popelken church came through the Second World War unscathed and in the post-war years was used as a warehouse and grain dryer
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Schakuhnen Church
After the Second World War Schakuhnen church was intact; the collective farmers used it to store hay
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Schillgallen Church
It came through the Second World War unscathed, but was later blown up and dismantled by the military for building material
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Skören Church
It came through the Second World War unscathed and was used as a grain store until 1978–79
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Lauknen Church
The war passed it by, but afterwards it was no longer needed and was dismantled for bricks. Only the tower survived
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Catholic Chapel in Ragnit
Built in the late 1930s. After the war it was a military depot. Today the building houses an Orthodox church
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Gowarten Church
Built in the first quarter of the 20th century. After the war it was put to other uses
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Groß Lenkeningken Church
Of the handsome church built at the beginning of the 20th century, not one stone was left standing on another
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Alt Lappienen Church
Architecturally striking and famous for its burial monuments. A ruin, yet still standing and waiting
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Rautenberg Church
It was built in the last quarter of the 19th century. At the end of the 20th it was used as a storehouse
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Schillehnen Church
The Second World War passed Schillehnen by. Until the 1970s the church served as a club, then as a storehouse. It was demolished in 1975
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Jurgaitschen Church
An imposing building of the 1840s. In the first half of the 20th century the village was even renamed after it
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Wedereitischken Church
Having survived the Second World War and served as a storehouse after it, the church is once again used for its original purpose
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Willuhnen Church
Neither the church nor the village of Willuhnen has been on the map for a long time
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Kraupischken Church
A church has been known on this site since the 16th century. Rebuilt several times. In ruins since the Second World War
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Kussen Church
The church, which celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1886, was used as a storehouse after the Second World War
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Lengwethen Church
It was built for settlers from Salzburg; after the Second World War it was used as a House of Culture
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Schirgupönen Church
In the 20th century it sank into oblivion together with the village
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Groß Schorellen Church
Little remains of the large and beautiful church built at the beginning of the 20th century
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Groß Warningken Church
In the 20th century the village and its church vanished from the maps
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Soginten Church
All the buildings of the village, the church included, were taken apart for bricks in the 1970s
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Eydtkuhnen Church
Until 1889 the place of worship in Eydtkuhnen was the town's famous railway station. And that is no joke
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Göritten Church
This church had the misfortune of finding itself in the line of fire during both world wars that swept across Prussia
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Bilderweitschen Churches
The village had a Protestant church and a Catholic church. The first was demolished after the war; the second still stands
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Kattenau Church
The history remains, but the church is long gone. Its ruins were demolished in the early 1990s
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Enzuhnen Church
Enzuhnen – Rodebach – Chkalovo: the 20th century and the village's radical renamings wore the local church down
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Kassuben Church
Of one of the most beautiful churches of East Prussia only a fragment of wall and the pastor's house remain
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Mehlkehmen Church
The parish was founded in 1692 by the future first Prussian king, at that time still Elector Friedrich III
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Pillupönen Church
The church was destroyed in the First World War but then rebuilt. The Second World War passed it by.
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Schillen Church
The first church built on the orders of Friedrich I, who ascended the Prussian throne in 1701.
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Groß Rominten Church
In the 2010s the local community nurtured the idea of setting up a First World War museum in it
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Joneykischken Church
Having come through the Second World War unscathed, it was used as a storehouse in the post-war years until it burned down in 1995
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Budwethen Church
After the Second World War it housed a House of Culture and a cinema until it burned down in 1995
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Tollmingkehmen Church
One of the most unusual churches in the region, part of the Kristijonas Donelaitis Museum
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Neu Argeningken Church
Surprised by the shape of the dome on the church tower in Novokolkhoznoye? In German times it looked almost the same
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St. Hubertus Chapel
The elegant wooden chapel at the Kaiser's hunting lodge was dismantled after the Second World War
Anatoly Bakhtin
Trappönen Church
Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it stood unused after the Second World War. By 1960 it had been demolished
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Pillkallen Church
During the Second World War Pillkallen church was destroyed too. The ruins were demolished after the war
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Ragnit Church
In 1945 Ragnit church was undamaged, but in the 1950s it began to be converted into a furniture shop and a hostel
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Lasdehnen Church
Built in the second half of the 19th century on the high northern bank of the Šešupė, it is used for its original purpose and adorns the town
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The Protestant Church and the Catholic Chapel of Stallupönen
The first was demolished in the 1950s; the second stands perfectly intact
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Groß Kryszahnen Church
It has survived to this day. It stands as if in a vacuum: the whole village around it was taken apart for bricks
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Groß Friedrichsdorf Church
Undamaged in the Second World War, it stood unused and gradually fell into ruin in the post-war years
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Gross Skaisgirren Churches
The large one is Protestant, the miniature Gothic one is Lutheran
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Karkeln Church
It was dismantled during a flood in 1958, and its stones were used to reinforce a washed-out dam
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Kaukehmen Church
A landmark in the north-eastern part of the Kaliningrad Region. Restoration is under way, but slowly
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Heinrichswalde Church
After the war the church, like all of Heinrichswalde, was in excellent condition. A warehouse was set up in the building
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Pokraken Church
A building untypical of Prussia. A successful example of a blend of the Neo-Romanesque and Neo-Gothic styles
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Gawaiten Church
After the Second World War it was intact and was used as a warehouse until 1976–77, then it was demolished
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Sodehnen Church
Until the early 2000s it served as a collective-farm canteen. After a fire in 2010 it was completely demolished
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Wilhelmsberg Church
The church had a half-timbered tower with two bells and an eagle as its weathervane
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Kleschowen Church
The bell tower stood separately. In the mid-18th century the organ was bought from the Tragheim Church in Königsberg
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Trempen Church
Perhaps the church's fate was an unhappy one because a pagan "Field of the Dead" was chosen as its building site
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Karpauen Church
The local parish took shape in the late 1840s, but it acquired its own church only in 1860
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Ballethen Church
Even a not particularly expressive building of the early 17th century would deserve attention, but it has not survived
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Niebudschen Church
It was built at the end of the 17th century. The bell in its tower first rang only a hundred years later, in 1797
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Gerwischkehmen Church
A modest plastered brick building without a tower, erected in the early 19th century on a fieldstone foundation
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Mallwischken Church
An octagonal plastered brick building with a wooden tower and a gallery on the roof. Demolished in the 1950s
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Nemmersdorf Church
It was built around 1569 on the orders of Duke Albrecht, who died a year before it opened
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Walterkehmen Church
If a beautiful church stood in Olkhovatka, travellers heading for Lake Vištytis would not just drive straight through
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The Reformed Church of Gumbinnen
The congregation was founded by settlers from France, Switzerland, Nassau and the Palatinate. Before the church was built, they worshipped in a brewery
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The Catholic Church of Gumbinnen
It was built in 1930, was not damaged during the Second World War and afterwards served as a club on the grounds of a military unit
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The Kreuzkirche of Gumbinnen
A polygonal building with a portal facing Schillerstrasse. Its pyramidal roof bore a turret
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The Altstadt Church of Gumbinnen
It was built in 1720 on the orders of Frederick William I. In 1810–11 it was skilfully raised and enlarged
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The Salzburger Church of Gumbinnen
The Salzburgers settled here in 1732. In 1839 the foundation stone was laid. On 15 October 1840 the church was consecrated
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Sprindt Church
The church of the community of the settlement that grew up around the Sprindt estate, north of Insterburg
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Plibischken Church
The church had a massive tower with a beautiful spire, which collapsed in 1950 and broke through the roof of the nave
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Georgenburg Church
A neighbour of the castle of the same name, north of Insterburg (Chernyakhovsk). It has not survived
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Jodlauken Church
After the Second World War this 18th-century church was, in keeping with local "tradition", used as a warehouse
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Aulowönen Church
When there are many churches and nobody needs them, who will notice one more or one less? This one was wrecked in the 1960s
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Neunischken Church
In the post-war years the building was divided inside into two floors and converted into a village house of culture
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Judtschen Church
It would have fitted perfectly into the ensemble of the Immanuel Kant Museum (the Pastor's House) in present-day Veselovka
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Didlacken Church
Built by the Frenchman Pierre de la Cave, who in the 17th century rose to be commandant and governor of Pillau
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Pelleningken Church
Consecrated in December 1892. Since July 1996 it has served as the Orthodox Church of St John of Kronstadt
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Groß Berschkallen Church
In the first quarter of the 21st century it was a sorry sight. All hope rests with the "Guardians of the Ruins"
Anatoly Bakhtin
The Reformed Church of Insterburg
After the war it was used as a club with a dance floor and as a gymnasium. In 1989 it was handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church
Anatoly Bakhtin
The Catholic Church of Insterburg
The active Church of St Bruno was built to a design by Friedrich Heitmann at the very beginning of the 20th century
Anatoly Bakhtin
The Lutherkirche of Insterburg
One of the town's architectural symbols, which graced it for more than 400 years. It was demolished in 1975.
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The Melanchthonkirche
It was named in memory of Luther's companion-in-arms, who led the Protestant movement after Luther's death
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Saalau Church
Having lost its bell tower after the Second World War, it continues tirelessly to serve the people
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Puschdorf Church
It was built of fieldstone. The half-timbered bell tower stood separately
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Grünheide Church
High-class eclecticism: a Romanesque-style building crowned by a tower with a Gothic spire
Anatoly Bakhtin
Obelischken Church
Not particularly expressive, but large. Today it is a majestic ruin in the spirit of German Romanticism
Anatoly Bakhtin
Friedenberg Church
Having survived the war and held out until the mid-1990s, the church began to fall into ruin. In 2010 it was handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church
Anatoly Bakhtin
Groß Schönau Church
One of the hardest-to-reach monuments of medieval architecture in the region
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Böttchersdorf Church
A brick-and-fieldstone building from the time of the Teutonic Order. The walls and the tower have partly survived
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Mulden Church
Built in 1806–1808 of fieldstone and brick. It survived the war and was then used as a warehouse
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Schönbruch Church
After the war the village was split in two by the border. The church ended up on the Soviet side. In 1974 it was demolished
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Stockheim Church
The upper part of its tower was handsomely articulated by slender blind windows. Lost in the 1970s
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