The Exchange building is located on the opposite Bank of the Pregolya river from Kant island. It was built in 1875, in not typical for Konigsberg Italian neo-Renaissance architectural style. During the Second World war, the Exchange building was badly damaged, but was restored in 1967.
Until the 19th century, the stock exchanges in Konigsberg were located either on stilts above the water or on river barges, as this allowed the transactions concluded there to be exempt from taxes. In 1870, an architect from Bremen, Heinrich Mueller, began building the Exchange building, which has survived to this day.
Very convenient geographical location of Konigsberg allowed it to stay away from the religious wars of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. From the 16th century, Konigsberg left the Hanseatic League, which allowed the Konigsberg merchants to conduct an independent trade policy. They wanted to build the most luxurious exchange of all the Prussian cities, which would reflect the high status of Konigsberg in trade relations.
For the construction of the exchange, a grid of wooden piles was traditionally made. The length of the Konigsberg Exchange building is 73 meters, and 23 meters wide. Inside the exchange there was a trading hall that occupied almost the entire room and had a height of two floors. Along the river were located Pregel terrace, gallery with a glass roof. In front of the entrance there were sculptures of two lions that have survived to this day. After the reconstruction was completed, the exchange building housed the collections of the Kaliningrad Museum of Fine arts.
The gallery has its own permanent exposition and rent space for various exhibitions. Of a special interest is the biennale «Kaliningrad-Königsberg» where one can see a collection of modern graphics from the countries of Baltic region. There are also many pictures of local painters at the gallery.
The art of East Prussia of the end of 19 - the beginning of 20 century is presented by graphics and sculpture. The graphic works of Heinrich Wolff and his pupils have a special place at the exposition. At the gallery one can also see many photos of Königsberg before its destruction in 1945.
