{"id":4113,"date":"2021-07-13T18:59:37","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T18:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=4113"},"modified":"2022-06-17T15:29:29","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T13:29:29","slug":"it-happened-at-waldau-castle-kaliningrad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/it-happened-at-waldau-castle-kaliningrad\/","title":{"rendered":"It Happened at Waldau Castle Kaliningrad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A night to remember<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Published: 13 July 2021 ~ It Happened at Waldau Castle Kaliningrad<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a 750-year-old castle, a friendly curator-family from central Russia, an impressive and well-stocked museum, two classic Volgas and a vintage Hanomag car, a guided tour by a youthful tour guide better informed than Tacitus, home-baked bread the delights of which I have never tasted before made by a child baker, a female troupe in full traditional German dress demonstrating Prussian folk dancing, first-class quality beer and cognac, a rousing speech by our friend Grozmani about the book that took him 29 years to research and write, an opera concert performed in the open air by professional opera singers, a grand finale supper with large iced cakes, and what you have is one of the most unusual and interesting birthday parties that I have ever had the good fortune to have been invited to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The curious location of this event, to which we were driven in style in our friend\u2019s, Arthur\u2019s, classic Volga, was Waldau Castle, thirty minutes or so by car from Kaliningrad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had called at the castle at the end of the Kaliningrad Retro Car Club\u2019s rally<\/a> a couple of weeks before, on which occasion I had been attracted to the castle on many levels but immediately by the feel of what it was and what you would not expect it to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Happened at Waldau Castle Kaliningrad<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No sooner had we passed through the gate into the castle grounds than I was smitten with an enveloping sense of calm, a convalescent repose, which had it been a churchyard or a monastery would have excited no further response but, given the purpose for which it had been constructed and by which it had lived out most of its life, fortification, seemed oddly at variance with its military biography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first impression had been no aberration, for the same singularity stepped out to greet me when we passed through the castle gate this evening. There was no challenge, no rattle of sabres or priming of firearms, in fact nothing to authenticate its militaristic legacy, only an inviting, calling, sense of calm, the kind that those who seek and who are fortunate to find might speak of in terms of sanctuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had pulled up in our Volga not at the front of the house but a short distance from it and parked at the side of the drive. Although the castle\u2019s surviving principal building was visible from where we were, it was yet indistinct, only a glimpse of its tall, grey walls asserted itself through the wooded area that lay between us, the tree trunks and branches obscuring whilst the leafy canopy overhead cast a thoughtful but not unpleasing shade over the tranquil prospect and introduced a welcome coolness in which refuge could be taken, for although it was early evening the heat of the day had not yet abated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set in the middle of this entreating copse stands a solid monument of large, rectangular proportions surmounted by an apex top. It is dedicated to those who fell in the First World War. This is a German monument which has on both of its narrower ends an incised representation of the imperial military cross and along the top edge of the monument\u2019s greater width words of commemoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"German<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is something so touchingly melancholic about this monument immersed within the shade of Castle Waldau’s trees. I detect in it an attitude of self-consciousness, as if it plainly understands that whilst symbolism is timeless, the land on which it is stationed, and for which the men it pays tribute to gave their lives, is now but a point of historical record and has lost all claim to anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be this as it may, I could find nothing in the calm that I have already described to suggest the slightest trace of rancour, just a gentle, quiet, contentment. So, if there are ghosts in the grounds of Waldau Castle, you are less likely to hear them rattling chains than to catch them occasionally sighing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Happened at Waldau Castle Kaliningrad<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The path that leads away from the German memorial led us in a straight line to the front door of the castle. We stood on the opposite side of the sweeping driveway taking in the Teutonic might with which all German buildings of a certain age and stature in this part of the world are redoubtably invested. Bold, solid and, apart from the section of the building devoted to the doorway and its encasement, austere, the structure embodies typical if mythical German virtues and has an impregnability about it that perceptibly transcends bricks and mortar, effortlessly overshadowing the knowledge and laws of mere physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waldau Castle facade<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The only concession that the architect of this building has made to the decorative lies in the perpendicular that projects, surrounds and extends vertically from the main entrance, a feature which supports two sets of simple Gothic windows, three in parallel, both sets incorporating tracery and both arranged within a rectangular oriel supported by a stepped, pyramidical corbel. Enrichment takes the form of a small number of various blind, recessed arches, with the oriel culminating in a crenelated cornice and the perpendicular typically concluded as a broad stepped gable, the last horizontal platform of which makes the perfect base for Mrs Stork and her nest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Waldau<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Waldau
Two photographs (see above) depicting Waldau Castle entrance and the Gothic nature of the embellishing features<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To the right of the building, orienting from the position of observer standing at the front of the castle, is a second three-storey building connected to the principal by a high wall. This second building houses the castle museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The museum at Castle Waldau, Kaliningrad region, Russia<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both the castle and its grounds have passed through innumerable transitions in its 750-year history and no better appreciation of this can be found than by visiting the on-site museum, which occupies the cellar, ground and second floors of the surviving wing of the castle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is impressive in its collection of artefacts, impressive in its layout, impressive in its inventive displays and impressive in the past that clings to it in every tread of its ancient steps and every nook and cranny. It is so impressive that it needs to be covered in its own article, so we will put it on hold for the time being and revisit it at a later date. Ghosts and God willing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Happened at Waldau Castle Kaliningrad<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the wall that connects the two remaining parts of Waldau Castle, there is a small, low archway, the kind in historic buildings that must be walked through in order that the apparition that you will eventually become can follow in the footsteps of those that once like you were physical forms. It is truly a time-honoured ritual, in every sense of the word, but do not forget to lower your head!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other side of this portal, we found ourselves on a piece of wild ground, on a slight eminence looking over more ground of an even wilder nature: lush, green, overgrown and silent. This is the last step on the road to complete tranquility that you would want to take of your own volition. We ambled along, Olga, our friend Inara and I, stopping now and again to move fragments of brick with our shoes or to pick up a piece of pottery, deep in the thought of moments past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The back of the castle is not in the best of health. There is no denying its solid state, but the wall rendering has given way in places and the castle\u2019s eyes, the many windows spread out across its awesome width and height, are covered in a mess of makeshift cataracts. I cannot remember when, if ever, I last beheld such an incongruous and anomalous sight, in which doors of all shapes, sizes, makes and periods have been requisitioned for use as wooden blinds to eye-patch empty window sockets. But work proceeds, and as Waldau Castle knows, possibly better than anyone, nothing remains the same for long or forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boarded<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Returning to the front of the castle was a lot like having swapped Leonard Cohen for VE Day. The vintage cars had been lined up on the opposite side of the drive to the castle entrance and the party guests were busy assembling in the middle of the driveway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hanomag<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A troupe of ladies all dressed in period Prussian costume were about to demonstrate the art of traditional Prussian dancing. The music and footwork in clogs set the party spirit in motion, but before getting down to the serious business of sampling the beer and cognac, we were about to be given a guided tour of Waldau Castle’s ground floor rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Waldau<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the other side of Waldau Castle’s entrance sits a great hall, which owes its present restored condition to the hard work and volunteer commitment of one family, the Sorokins, whose tender loving care can be seen and felt everywhere. Observing and appreciating is one thing, but it is quite another to have to clean and repair acres of wooden floorboards, bricks by the thousands and dusty, peeling plasterwork and have to construct hefty, wooden, external doors and massy window frames when by trade you are not a carpenter but are the sort of valuable person who can turn your hand to anything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my wife mentioned this feat to the head of the Sorokin family, he modestly confirmed, \u201cNo, I am not a carpenter by trade, but I believe that everyone has an innate knowledge that they rarely ever use, and if necessitated can turn their hand to anything.\u201d I would like to have concurred, and I did note the professionalism of his castle doors and windows, but I also recalled in secret embarrassment how, back in the 1970s, my one foray into DIY had resulted in the humiliating experience of witnessing the wall-mounted can opener that I had screwed to the wall lasting for less than a day before it fell off ~ and so I had my doubts. As the saying goes, “Horses for courses.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the process of describing Waldau Castle it is next to impossible not to resort to words like strong, solid, robust, but it is only when you get inside that you are able to fully appreciate the exactitude with which these attributions apply. The windows, sitting as they do at the front of broad, deep brick arches, reveal the thickness of the walls to be at least three feet, and the quality of the brickwork, in all its restored glory, leaves you in little doubt that endurance and longevity have always been the castle’s watchwords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But restoration in terms of visitor attraction is not confined to structural work. Also to be considered is, for want of a better word, the inclusion of suitable \u2018props\u2019, the seeking out, acquiring and emplacing of interior d\u00e9cor and household items best able to create a medieval atmosphere. Central to this objective, and situated in the main hall of the castle, are two suits of armour ~ a matching pair (I did not stop to check if it was \u2018his\u2019 and \u2018hers\u2019),  conjoined with wall-mounted hunting trophies, intricate tapestries and a ceiling pendant made from a heavy wooden wheel entirely surrounded by antler horns. I’ll have the full Hermann G\u00f6ring baronial hunting-lodge works, please!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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