Kant’s Tomb is located near the altar of the Konigsberg Dom Cathedral under the granite portico. Immanuel Kant is one of the greatest philosophers, the founder of classical philosophy. He was born in 1724 in Konigsberg, lived all his life in his hometown and died there in 1804.
The buildings of the Konigsberg Albertina University surrounded the Cathedral from three sides. The cathedral itself was also a university church, and next to the cathedral there was a "professor`s necropolis”. University professors have been buried there since 1558.
The professor`s necropolis was located on the north side of the Dom Cathedral of Koenigsberg. It was an open arcade hall that stretched along the entire wall. At the beginning of the 19th century, there were no places left in the necropolis, but a place was found for the great philosopher Kant outside the wall, near the altar of the cathedral. Immanuel Kant`s funeral took place on February 12, 1804.
The arcade vestibule of the Professorial Necropolis was named after Kant: "Stoa Kantiana". In Athenian architecture, Stoa was called long portico galleries with colonnades. However, during the Napoleonic Wars, all Stoa Kantiana with Kant’s Tomb suffered greatly and after a few decades fell into complete decline.
In 1880, the authorities of Konigsberg decided to reburial Immanuel Kant. The eastern part of Stoa Kantiana was demolished and a new Neo-Gothic chapel was built over Kant’s Tomb. Due to an unsuccessful design, it was demolished in 1898. In 1924, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Immanuel Kant, the city authorities decided to build a new chapel over the grave of the great philosopher. This time, huge granite columns were installed, with a coffered ceiling above them. Outwardly, it resembles an ancient mausoleum. The gravestone in the chapel is a cenotaph, the real grave is deeper and to the side. This image of Kant`s grave has been preserved to this day.
After the bombing in 1944 by British aircraft, the center of Konigsberg was completely destroyed. Having captured Konigsberg in April 1945, the Soviet authorities decided to use the ruins of destroyed houses as building material for the restoration of St. Petersburg. All materials were taken out by barges, and by the 1950s only the ruins of the Cathedral remained on the Island of Kant, and on the opposite bank of the Pregel River the ruins of the Konigsberg Castle remained. There was no trace of the other houses. Subsequently, the ruins of the castle were also demolished, and the Cathedral was not touched.
The Soviet authorities recognized that the main reason why the ruins of the cathedral were not demolished was the fact that Immanuel Kant’s Tomb was attached to it. Vladimir Lenin praised Kant`s philosophy in his works, although he sometimes criticized it.
As a result, the cathedral stood in ruins for almost 50 years, until the early 1990s. It began to be restored in 1992. In 2005, the cathedral appeared in all its splendor, including the recreated Wallenrodt Library. Now the Cathedral is a symbol of Kaliningrad. Inside there is an organ hall, as well as several museums.
