The Kaliningrad Museum of Fine Arts is located in the historical building of the Burse on the banks of the Pregolya River, near Kant Island. Here you can see an interesting exhibition dedicated to the pre-war Konigsberg, works by artists from Kaliningrad, as well as temporary exhibitions of artists.
The Kaliningrad Art Museum was founded in 1988, but it used to be located in other place. In 2018, its exhibitions were placed in the Exchange building. A significant part of the historical premises of the Burse is reserved for temporary exhibitions of artists, which are regularly held here. The permanent exhibition is located on the lower floor of the Burse.
The art of East Prussia of the 19th and 20th centuries is represented by graphics and sculptures. The graphic works of Heinrich Wolf and his students are of great interest. There are also many paintings, prints and photographs that give an idea of the appearance of Konigsberg before its destruction in 1945. The museum has many paintings by Kaliningrad artists dedicated to the events of the Soviet era.
A separate exhibition is dedicated to Emmanuel Kant, the great Prussian philosopher who lived in Konigsberg in the 18th century. There is also an exhibition "Tales of Hoffmann". There you can see a puppet theater, as well as various dolls from his fairy tales, which were used for performances.
Of great interest is not only the museum`s exposition, but also the historical interiors of the Konigsberg Burse. It was built in 1875, in the Italian Renaissance architectural style atypical for Konigsberg. During the WWII, the Burse building was severely damaged, but it was restored in 1967.
Until the 19th century, the Burses in Konigsberg were located either on stilts above the water or on river barges. This made it possible to exempt transactions concluded there from taxes. In 1870, an architect from Bremen, Heinrich Muller, began to build the exchange building, which has survived to this day.
The convenient geographical location of Konigsberg allowed it to stay away from the religious wars of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Since the 16th century, Konigsberg has withdrawn from the Hanseatic League, which allowed the Konigsberg merchants to pursue an independent trade policy. They wanted to build the most luxurious stock exchange among all the Prussian cities, which would reflect the high status of Konigsberg in trade relations.
The foundation of the exchange is located on a grid of wooden piles. The length of the Konigsberg Stock Exchange building reaches 73 meters, the width is 23 meters. Inside there was a trading hall, which occupied almost the entire room and had a height of two floors. Along the river there was a Pregel terrace, a gallery with a glass roof. In front of the entrance there are sculptures of two lions that have survived to the present day.
