The Baltic Branch of NCCA launches an overhaul of the Kronprinz mansard

In the photo: project of an exhibition hall at the Kronprinz mansard

We’ve started an overhaul and restoration of space at the Kronprinz mansard in Litovsky val street. These works are scheduled to be completed in December 2014 to result in an exhibition hall of the Baltic branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts.

Currently the mansard of the Kronprinz barracks is being prepared for an overhaul and restoration works of the future exhibition space of BB NCCA and an entrance lobby (lobby, cloakroom, security desk). The outdoor stairs will be replaced by a full-fledged lift and a ramp for people with reduced mobility.

The architectural project of the mansard’s adaptation (developed by A.Chebykin and M.Mindlin) presupposes the conception of a modern exhibition space in a historical context. To achieve it, the unique brick laying will be preserved and restored, and the entrance area will be laid with the authentic Koenigsberg cobblestones.

It is planned to finish the reconstruction works by mid-December 2014. These works are carried out by a general contractor OOO “RASTR” with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. In 2015 the works will be continued to result in a modern complex with exhibition and collection halls, a room for children’s classes, offices, a mediatheque and a media studio, a library and an art club.

The tower-redan Kronprinz and part of the mansard spaces of a monument of German fortification architecture of mid-XIXth century were handed over to the National Centre for Contemporary Arts consecutively in 2003 and 2006. The future reconstruction works only complement a larger-scale project of the monument’s adaptation. The reconstruction of the tower Kronprinz and opening of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Kaliningrad are scheduled for 2017.

In the picture: Kronprinz mansard, August 2014

Information on the Kronprinz barracks

In the picture: Kronprinz barracks on the postcard from the beginning of 20th century

The Kronprinz barracks are situated in the central part of Kaliningrad in 38 Litovsky val street. It’s the main element in the second Koenigsberg fortification ring. The grand fortification structure was erected according to a project of a Berlin general Ernst Ludwig von Aster. The construction works were officially started on October 15th 1843 with a ceremonial laying of the first brick and completed in 1849. The barracks were built for the First grenadier guards “Crownprince”. This division was formed in 1655 by the Prince Elector and it was considered the main royal division in the city. It entered the barracks in 1849.

Since the 1890s the barracks lost their fortification functions. With a change in the tactics of military actions the buildings were converted into living spaces and since then had housed the Koenigsberg police, Wehrmacht’s war treasury and city services. After the Second World War the barracks welcomed a penal batallion and later a tank maintenance division, and in the 1970s – a marine school, a dormitory, fish industry companies and warehouses.