href="#note181" type="note">181. Daily life in Kaliningrad should be based on the recovery of the region and its function as part of the Soviet Union.
Despite the active ideological rhetoric in the early years of post-war time seemed clear that «Soviet government had not concept of development of the city, because authorities were not sure which role the region will play in the future»182.
Given the lack of interest to Kaliningrad by the central authorities, «the regional authorities with their identity politics have gone further – the enemy was supposed to be a verifier of this policy. Constant assurances of authorities that the region would be Soviet „forever“ were reflected in relation to the pre-war history. Kaliningrad was the westernmost territory of the Soviet Union, the geographical edge of the Cold War, and regional authorities fully tried to use this fact in their propaganda»183.
The territory had an unusual landscape, architecture, and environment in eyes of first immigrants. In order to «make the region closer to the immigrants, authorities have started to use the idea of the relationship of this land to Slavic culture, history; they presented its accession to the USSR as a return to basics»184.
The development of Kaliningrad was the subject of identity politics. Forbidden history could not perform an instrumental role. The importance of Kaliningrad for the Soviet Union had to explain multivariate. However, in core was the idea that «Kaliningrad plays the role of the western Soviet outpost populated by «homo sovieticus kaliningradensis»185.
2.3.5. Turn of the ’60—70s: The initial mastering of the cultural landscape
After the Stalin era, regional authorities sought to build regional identity politics on economic criteria. Kaliningrad ought to be «the epitome of Soviet progressivity»186. However, despite this, the landscape of Oblast and the city changed just a little until the end of 1960. In other areas of the Soviet Union, books and brochures about the achievements of the national economy were published after every five-year period. The Kaliningrad edition, which tells about the first achievements of Oblast, was published in the late 1950s only187.
Twenty years after the war the city looked as if hostilities ended a few months ago. The central part of the city was an available ground for architectural experimentation that began only in the 1970s (with the exception of the limited urban development by «Khrushchevki»). Worry about it showed not only the residents of the area, but also authorities. The reasons for the city standing in ruins for a long time and being not fully built were not only economic. First, the bricks of the destroyed houses were sent to the Baltic republics for the restoration of towns. Besides, there was not enough money for the first full implementation of urban plans, which were developed in the mid-1950s, because the area was funded by the Union’s budget as a residual. Reasons of a political nature remained relevant for a long time. Assurance of Nikita Chrushchev in 1956 – during a visit to the Kaliningrad Oblast on the way to the Great Britain – that the region «will be forever a socialistic» was the culmination of formal encouragement of Kaliningrad by the top leadership of the country188. This statement was reflected in many publications of the time. Only then were published first guidebooks dedicated to the Kaliningrad region; was weakened border control in the Oblast, and it has become more attractive for Soviet tourist. In particular, the guide of Kaliningrad of the end of 1950s said, «Kaliningradians will always remember the words of the first secretary».
The political background has changed gradually. In 1957, was signed the border agreement between Poland and the Soviet Union. However, fundamental changes occurred only at the turn of 1960—70s. They were associated with the results of the policy of «Détente» and «Ostpolitik» of Willy Brandt.
The highlight of the «Ostpolitik» was the conclusion on 12 August 1970 on the agreement between the Soviet Union and the BRD. The states agreed not to use force to resolve disputes and, therefore, recognized the inviolability of existing borders. In addition, the agreement contained a commitment of Germany to recognize Poland’s western border along the Oder and Neisse.
Later, in 1975, the Declaration of Helsinki was adopted, which once again strengthened the territorial results of World War II and the principle of the inviolability of borders in Europe. The essence of the Final Act, signed by all the members at the meeting on 1 August 1975, was the «Declaration of principles which will be considered by the states in their mutual relations». Out of the 10 principles, the principle of the inviolability of borders was promoted. In the chapter «inviolability of borders» stated: «The participating states are considering as inviolable border of each other and the boundaries of all states in Europe and, therefore, they will refrain now and in the future from assaulting on these boundaries»189.
These global political decisions immediately reflected in the image of the city and the character of its development. Kaliningrad was able to breathe easily, and it was an indirect confirmation of the fact that official attempts to make the identity politics as «Herstellung von Selbstverständlichkeit» practically failed over the past 25 years190. Only now, at the turn of 1960—70s began to change the relation of Kaliningradians to the territory they inhabited.
Nation states seek to produce isomorphism between people, cultures, and places, and they do this by means of history: «In Kaliningrad, the expansion of space and the making of a „new“ place proceeded in a different direction of the three elements in which time usually conceived – past, present, and future. Only two were associated in Soviet Kaliningrad with place and the people through the state’s work of representation and categorization. Strong futuristic orientation has been characteristic for state work»191.
The younger second-generation Kaliningradians who were born in Kaliningrad already considered themselves as indigenous inhabitants and treated the region as a place of permanent residence. Accordingly, the cultural and historical landscape did not seem as alien as before, but it was perceived as native. The borders between the German (Prussian) and Soviet (Russian) is gradually beginning to flatten in the perception of Kaliningradians. The population has realized that presence on this land becomes a permanent and inalienable. People began to feel themselves masters of this land. This feeling has led to «thrifty attitude» to the tangibles. This set of those causes and effects has led to the formation among Kaliningradians of the first signs of «regional ethno-cultural identity». Then began the first attempts to find self-identification with the region, and arose considerable interest to the pre-war culture, history, traditions and to people who inhabited this land.
The second-generation Kaliningradians claimed to have been socialized and affected by the Prusso – German elements in the city’s milieu192: It was a first step towards changing the cultural paradigm. Residents began to relate to the heritage as to their own. Newly created and introduced tangible assets have been seen as a continuation of the pre-war artefacts, as a new layer that is based on the past «fund of values». This approach is largely inconsistent, not fit into the ideological paradigm of the Soviet era. However, this approach proved to be much more constructive and promising than the one that took place in the 1940s and 1950s. Perception of the pre-war and post-war culture as a single organism has become a priority for young Kaliningradians who were born in the region. Nevertheless, do not say that this perception comes only to the young generation of Kaliningradians. This consciousness penetrates the minds of many residents: it was the basis and the foundation for a new phase – the phase of preservation and maintenance