Baltiysk

August 15, 2014

Look twice!

LOOK OUT FOR MOTORCYCLISTS! Look Twice !!! TWICE !!!

At first glance, this is just another small town in Kaliningrad that still bears traces of its former German beauty.

But there are a couple of highlights here. One is the Pillau Citadel, which you can’t actually visit because it’s an active military installation. Yet it could have been an excellent museum.

The second highlight is accessible to the curious. To see it, you have to take a ferry or private boat over to the Vistula Spit, to the village of Kosa.

The village itself isn’t notable in any way.

Notices

There are a few German houses here, too.

But everything is in extremely deplorable condition and is gradually crumbling to pieces.

The despondent atmosphere is occasionally brightened up by local residents.

The only people who like it here are fishermen.

And summer vacationers.

But we’re getting close to the main attraction.

The numerals from this once-beautiful clock tower have been stolen for scrap metal.

This is Neutief, a major former German airfield that housed military aircraft and seaplanes.

Today, the hangars contain nothing but air, and the concrete field serves as a place for fishermen to dry their rigs.

There are lots of hangars here. They remained in active military use after the war until they were ultimately abandoned for good in the 1990s.

Some are more intact.

Some less so.

Everything is gradually falling apart.

And becoming overgrown with landscapes straight out of a Shishkin painting.

Soon, it will all be one big forest.

And the former airfield will be just a field.

That’s Baltiysk for you.

Vivat, Russia!