Welcome to clandestine places which have not yet been fully explored, places keeping their stories and full of legends. This is a project about unusual places in Kaliningrad region, the project will be extended.

Burial mound Georgenswalde. According to some sources, this structure made of rocks served as an altar. Many centuries ago, pagan rites were held there. It is an archeological monument belonging to Iron Age, VIII BC.

Borstenstein – a split rock, more familiar as the Rock of Lie, can theoretically be attributed to the Bronze Age, i.e. 4000 years ago. We can find the following statement in F. Borbstadt’s article on ‘rocks of lies’ and ‘oaks of hangmen’: ‘A legend says that a liar cannot pass this rock: it’s halves join in and squash the liar’. In those and later pagan times, the rock could have been used as a ‘gate’ – a portal for initiations and possibly for sacrifices.

The Baltic spit in Kaliningrad region. The biggest defense system in Eastern Prussia was located there during the Third Reich. The coastal artillery battery Neutief was a two-level bunker for targeting and ammunition for the first gun.

Coastal artillery battery Lamberg was a warehouse of guns and ammunition, canteen, power station and a guard room. The battery was also a spare command post of Pillau’s antiaircraft defense system.

Pillau fortress: Western fort 1869-1871, Baltic spit.

Pillau fortress: Western fort 1869-1871, Baltic spit.

Fort # 3 Fortification structure of Kenigsberg fortress city, one of twelve main forts of the fort belt, built in 1879. The two-level building contains barracks, an infirmary, a kitchen, a canteen, warehouses of ammunition, food, equipment and fuel, a guardroom, a boiler house, workshops and ancillary premises.

On both sides of the central gallery, there are interior yards used as transport junctions and shelters for guns.

Sheltered artillery positions were located on the battle shaft. They were equipped with ammunition lifts and observation facilities.

In the fortress part of the fort there are vaults with embrasures for flank fire.

The church was built in XIV century. For a long time, Sankt Lorenz was the place of worships for its parishioners. The last worship was held in March 1945.

Aerodrome Noitif. In the early 40-ies of the 20 th century, the airfield began to be used as the Luftwaffe airbase of the 3rd Reich.
At the aerodrome there are several runways located at an angle to each other, which allowed its use in almost any weather in any direction of the wind,
so the runways had heating.
In the 90 years, during the collapse of the army and navy, the base was abandoned and decayed.

Hangar No. 3 for seaplanes.
The airfield had 6 hangars, of which 3 concrete hangars 100x30 meters for aircraft and other equipment.

Spare command post.

Spare command post.

Fort # 5 King Frederick William III was built in 1878.
On the flanks to the fort two casemates adjoined, in which personnel could be hidden.

Ruins of a lifting mechanism for the delivery of weapons and shells.

Aerodrome Jesau.
It was built in 1935-36, the main purpose of the airfield, it used for military purposes,
and tests of missile interceptor missiles Messerschmitt.
One of the caponiers for aircraft, built in the early 1970s.

Coastal German pillboxes Pillau.
The exact purpose is not known, currently it is desolate.

You can still find used rusty gun shells.

Villa "Sohr".
The building was built at the beginning of the last century in 1904-1906. After the Second World War, several families used to live in the building.
In early 2016, residents moved.
In August 2017, the villa burned down.

In the aftermath of the war, the villa was a two-story building with an attic and a basement, 3 apartments per floor. The room used to have a fireplace.

Coastal Raule-Pillkoppen Battery
Built by the Germans on the Curonian Spit on the eve of World War II, in 1939.
The premises of the powder cellar in which the ammunition was stored.
Ventilation grills remained inside.

The German coastal artillery battery, Raul-Pillkoppen, was part of Memel’s defence system. The battery was armed with four guns,
equipped with a range finder and was intended to cover the approaches to the port of Memel (now Klaipeda).

Five years ago, a fire broke out near the battery. The dune of Efa burned, as a result, more than 11.3 hectares of plantations of mountain pine burned out.
These forest plantations were made in the early 50s.
When the ground near the ammunition depot of the Raule battery warmed up from the fire, the shells left in the ground from the war time began to burst.

The ruins of the stables of 13th century Brandenburg castle.
The remains of the castle of the Teutonic Order in the village of Ushakovo.
In 1206, Pope Innocent III issued a bull on the Christianization of the Prussians. The year of foundation of the castle is considered to be 1266.
In 1945, Brandenburg was in a zone of fierce fighting and was partially destroyed. After 1945, Brandenburg was renamed Ushakovo.

The ruins of the hall for ballroom dancing. By now, there is practically nothing left of the main structure of the castle.

Brandenburger kirche
It was first mentioned in 1482. It consisted of a tower, a one-nave brick building in Gothic masonry on a wild stone, narrow choirs and an ancient apse (the only example in East Prussia of the Middle Ages).

During World War II it was badly damaged. Above the Gothic lancet entrance to the tower there is a plate with a bas-relief of the Brandenburg coat of arms.

Excavations were carried out near the church in 2003, but no valuable artefacts were found.
Since 2010, the locals dismantled the church for bricks, as well as the neighboring Brandenburg castle.

Abandoned building complex, formerly a children's camp, time period unknown.

Abandoned building complex, formerly a children's camp, time period unknown.

Pillau's Anti-Aircraft Battery Fortifications.
During and just before WWII, extensive defenses were built, including artillery emplacements, trenches, tunnels, watchtowers, firing ports, and numerous reinforced bunkers (DOTs).

The core of the coastal defense was formed by Battery 242 of the "Großer Kurfürst" Division, positioned north of the city on a ridge of sand dunes.
In addition to massive underground structures housing, ammunition depots, independent power generators, gun crews' quarters, and other facilities.

Pillau had three stationary AA batteries, supplemented by dual-role 105mm and 128mm coastal guns; its fortified position featured five 120cm-thick concrete bunkers 
housing ammunition magazines with mechanical lifts and crew shelters.

The "Lemberg" coastal battery featured four concrete gun emplacements, crew/ammo bunkers between positions 1-2 and under gun 3 (with tunnel to gun 4), 
a fire control bunker, mess hall, power station, and prison bunker, also serving as Pillau's backup AA command post.

Ruins of a concrete coastal artillery casemate from the "Lemberg" battery.

"The Knobloch Family Crypt – A Portal to the Afterlife"
In the 15th century, Jakob von Knobloch entered the service of the Teutonic Order. The noble Knobloch family, bearers of their own coat of arms and owners of a vast estate,
 built an imposing mausoleum. Today, only a haunting stone archway and crumbling steps remain of their ancestral crypt – locals whisper it serves as a gateway between worlds.

The Goldbach Church 14th century.
This medieval church survived WWII intact but was repurposed as a warehouse postwar. Abandoned since the mid-1970s, its roof collapsed by decade's end. 
The ruins now stand near a modern penal colony.

Alleenberg Psychiatric Hospital (1852-1940)
Located in Wehlau (now Znamensk, Kaliningrad Oblast) on the left bank of the Alle (Lava) River, this East Prussian institution was constructed over four years (1848-1852).
Upon its opening on September 1, 1852, it received its first 59 patients transferred from Königsberg clinics. The facility underwent significant expansion,
 1873-Capacity increased to 250 beds, 1900-Expanded to 1,000 beds, 1929-Reached peak capacity of 1,400 patients.

In 1909, Allenberg experienced a smallpox outbreak, and during WWI, many patients succumbed to influenza, tuberculosis, and malnutrition, reducing the patient count to just 586 by 1918.

The hospital morgue stored bodies in a chamber adjacent to ice storage cubicles.

In 1940, the hospital was closed, and incurable patients were exterminated by SS troops under the "Aktion T4" program. 
At Allenberg, the SS conducted a series of experiments studying the effects of various medicinal plants on human subjects.

The facility contained specialized restraint cells for violent patients, along with strictly segregated men's and women's wards.

The attic, repurposed as a Soviet military cinema hall during the Cold War era.

The canteen was located within the main building's structure.

After 1945, the buildings were transferred to the Soviet Army and repurposed as a military base.

Traces of ritualistic practices can be found within the building's decaying walls.

One of the premises where patients were kept.

During the asylum's operation, this space housed the women's ward; after the hospital's closure, it was repurposed as a gymnasium.

All hospital barracks followed the same standardized design—three-story structures with basements and attics.

The "Gallows Bridge" over the Pregolya River survived intact in January 1945 - the German-built bridge and Lock No. 2 were never demolished despite retreat orders.

The "Kontur" radio relay station (military unit 60182) was built in 1967 under VMP-28 project and commissioned in 1978 to provide communications for naval/air force HQs; 
decommissioned in 2000 and later scrapped, leaving only 2 barracks, a bathhouse, park. 

The main arched two-level structure housing transmitters, diesel generators, climate control, and ventilation systems 
(cooling tower remained while antenna masts were dismantled).

One of the largest churches in Samland, built from boulders and bricks in Pobethen east of the fortress in 1321; a tower was added on the west side in the 15th century, 
receiving a new spire in 1800. In 1680, an organ by Adam Gottlob Casparini was installed, and the church was thoroughly restored in 1773. 
A weathervane was placed on the spire in 1823.

Undamaged during the 1945 battles, it was repurposed for agricultural use post-war.
Abandoned since the early 1980s, neglect and local activity accelerated its decay. 
By 2020, the eastern gate and window openings were bricked up, while the western and northern entrances were secured with locked metal grates.