KONIGSBERG, kerrigz-berg, Prussia, a seaport town, capital of the province of East Prussia and of the government of the same name, on the Pregel, about 454 miles above where it enters the northeast extremity of the Frische Haff. It was once the Prussian capital, and the residence of the electors of Branden burg, and still is a residence of the sovereigns and the place of coronation. It is surrounded by ramparts and detached forts. The larger part of the town is on the north bank of the Pregel, on hilly ground, a feature being an ornamental sheet of water with richly wooded banks, called the Schloss-Teich (Castle Pond). The older portion is divided into three parts — Altstadt, or Old Town, on the west,' Lbbenicht on the east, and Kneiphof, on an island of the Pregel. The town, provided with electric street railroads, has on the whole a modern appear ance. The principal public buildings are the cathedral, begun in 1333, an interesting Gothic structure, situated in the Kneiphof ; a new Gothic church in the Altstadt; the Haberberg Kirche, a conspicuous church in the southern portion of the city; the Schloss, or palace, a large building, containing apartments for the royal family, once the residence of the grand masters of the Teutonic Order; the Schloss kirche, occupying a wing of the palace, in which Frederick I in 1701 and William I in 1861 placed the crown on their own heads as kings of Prussia; the old citadel of Fredericksburg; the handsome exchange, of recent erection; the university, founded in 1554 by the Margrave Albert, and hence called the Albertine, attended (1914) by 1,700 students, accommodated in hand some new buildings in the Renaissance style, and having connected with it a library of 320, 000 volumes, a zoological museum, etc.; an ob
servatory which the labors of Besse] have ren dered famous, a botanical garden, a conserva tory of music, museums and an ecclesiastical seminary. The town contains other valuable libraries in addition to that of the university. The manufactures include locomotives, ma chinery and iron castings, woolen cloth, yarn and thread, leather, sail-cloth, copper, steel and ironware, chemicals, tobacco and cigars, flour, cement, articles made of amber, earthen and stone ware, liqueurs and artificial mineral waters. There are also breweries and distil leries, and some ship-building. The Konigs berg Ship Canal, 29 miles in length, and terminating on the Bay of Danzig, was opened in 1901. The principal exports are grain, flax. hemp, oil-cake, hones, timber, etc. Konigsberg is the seat of important provincial courts and public offices. Waterworks, gas and electricity are municipally owned. It was founded in 1255. In 1365 it became a member of the Hanseatic League; was the residence of the grandmaster of Teutonic Knights from 1457 1528; in 1626 was surrounded' with walls; in 1657 it received a strong additional defense in the citadel of Fredericksburg, though the object of the margrave who built it is mid not to have been so much to defend the town as to overawe its citizens. It suffered much during the Seven Years' War and from the French in 1807. The town suffered investment and bom bardment at the hands of the Russians in 1914, but speedy relief was given by the German counter-offensive. Pop. is predominantly Prot estant, 245,994. See WAR, EUROPEAN.