The memory of East or West Prussia, Silesia, Farther Pomerania, the Baltic Germans, Sudeten Germans and Danube Swabians belongs both to the families of those affected and to the current inhabitants of these regions. With the end of the Cold War, the prohibitions on confronting this history were also lifted. There had already been scientific exchanges in the past, but now museums and exhibitions are dedicated to her, some in cooperation with Germany, and often with great enthusiasm.
However, each country has its own way of remembering. Poland and Lithuania had close ties to the Teutonic Order or the Duchy of Prussia, so that for the new inhabitants of Masuria, Warmia and the Memel Territory, the history of East Prussia is also, to a certain extent, their own. For Estonians and Latvians, the history of the Baltic Germans is also part of their own history. In the Kaliningrad Oblast, the divisions are particularly strong. Nevertheless, Prussian-Russian commonalities such as the fight against Napoleon are often remembered.
Commemorating German cultural heritage is always an expression of how nationalistic and self-centred our eastern neighbours, as well as our own country, view their own history.
Illustration: Queen Louise Monument in Jakobsruh Park in Sovetsk (Tilsit)
On July 6, 2014, the rebuilt monument to Queen Louise of Prussia was unveiled in Tilsit/Sovetsk on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's expulsion from Russia. The eight-meter-high original, made of Carrara marble and created by Professor Gustav Eberlein in 1900, was completely destroyed after World War II. The reconstruction, made of special artificial stone, was manufactured in St. Petersburg. As in Germany, Queen Louise is now also regarded in Russia as a symbol of resilience in the war against Napoleon.
Bildarchiv Ostpreußen, photo: Yakov Rosenblum 2014