**A Polish commission for the standardization of geographical names has decided to ban the use of the Russian name for the city and enclave of Kaliningrad in favor of the historical Polish name, Krolewiec.**
Since May 9, the name Kaliningrad – commonly used in Poland until now – has been officially replaced by the old Polish toponym Krolewiec. The same applies to the Kaliningrad oblast, its administrative region, which is now called “Obwod Krolewiecki,” rather than “Kaliningradzki.”
The decision was made last April by the Commission for the Standardization of Geographic Names Outside the Borders of Poland, the Polish institution in charge of toponymy. Although this is only a recommendation made by the commission, it nevertheless means that all road signs bearing the name Kaliningrad will have to be changed, as will future maps.
“We do not want Russification in Poland and that is why we have decided to change the name in our native language of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region,” said Polish Minister of Development Waldemar Buda in an official statement from his ministry. “The fact of naming a large city close to our border after Kalinin, a criminal co-responsible for, among others, issuing the decision on the mass murder of Polish officers in Katyn in 1940, evokes negative emotions in Poles” the statement continues. Highlighting the particularly sensitive context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, under the pretext of a threatened ruski mir (“Russian world”), the declaration recalls a painful episode in Polish history during the Second World War: The execution of several thousand Polish officers by the Soviet NKVD political police in 1940, sanctioned by Kalinin and long covered up by the USSR.
**’A process bordering on madness’**
However, the origins of the town, founded on the Baltic Sea by the Teutonic Knights in 1255, are primarily German-speaking. Conigsberg or Königsberg (“King’s Mountain”) was named after King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who had taken part in the Crusades in the region. The city became part of Prussia in the 18th century, the birthplace of philosopher Immanuel Kant. Until the end of the Second World War, it belonged to Germany, before reverting to Russia in 1945, following the Yalta and Potsdam agreements. Russia was quick to rename the enclave after Kalinin, Stalin’s collaborator. However, following the dissolution of the USSR, despite disagreements and controversies, the town retained its Soviet-era name.
And Poland never really had much to object to – at least until the onset of the war in Ukraine, which marked the definitive distancing of the Central European nation from its Russian neighbor. “For several years, the two names of Kaliningrad and Krolewiec have coexisted in Poland,” Justyna Kacprzak, secretary of the toponymic commission, told the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. The same newspaper revealed that 12 people from Warsaw – who identify themselves as “actors working for the community” – had submitted a request for a name change to the Interior Ministry, who then forwarded it to the commission for the standardization of geographical names.
**Read the story in full at this link:** [https://www.lemonde.fr/en/europe/article/2023/06/08/in-poland-the-russian-enclave-of-kaliningrad-renamed-krolewiec_6030589_143.html](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/europe/article/2023/06/08/in-poland-the-russian-enclave-of-kaliningrad-renamed-krolewiec_6030589_143.html)
Pedantic but isn’t it an exclave not an enclave?
Kralovec je Cesky!
They should call it Königsberg. That would piss the Russians off.
Es ist und bleibt Königsberg
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How to poiss off muscovy with one simple step
Koningsbergen it is, lads!
Woah, this is worthless
What’s the point of doing that?
Totally showed them
For all those who say that it is unnecessary and nonsense, you must realize that Kaliningrad is named after the Soviet war criminal Mikhail Kalinin who ordered the killing of over twenty-two thousand Polish officers, doctors, policemen and intelligentsia in general in Katyn. Although it’s not the most spectacular and interesting, for us this small change is important (besides, it annoys the Russians, so another big plus)
I know the new name is probably for the best but I still kind of like the ring of Königsberg.
People seem to think Królewiec is some ad hoc made up name just to replace Kaliningrad. No, this is the Polish historical name of this city and before 1945 it was the official exonym in Polish as well.
Very good, place names should be translated in general, regardless of politics.
15 comments
**A Polish commission for the standardization of geographical names has decided to ban the use of the Russian name for the city and enclave of Kaliningrad in favor of the historical Polish name, Krolewiec.**
Since May 9, the name Kaliningrad – commonly used in Poland until now – has been officially replaced by the old Polish toponym Krolewiec. The same applies to the Kaliningrad oblast, its administrative region, which is now called “Obwod Krolewiecki,” rather than “Kaliningradzki.”
The decision was made last April by the Commission for the Standardization of Geographic Names Outside the Borders of Poland, the Polish institution in charge of toponymy. Although this is only a recommendation made by the commission, it nevertheless means that all road signs bearing the name Kaliningrad will have to be changed, as will future maps.
“We do not want Russification in Poland and that is why we have decided to change the name in our native language of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region,” said Polish Minister of Development Waldemar Buda in an official statement from his ministry. “The fact of naming a large city close to our border after Kalinin, a criminal co-responsible for, among others, issuing the decision on the mass murder of Polish officers in Katyn in 1940, evokes negative emotions in Poles” the statement continues. Highlighting the particularly sensitive context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, under the pretext of a threatened ruski mir (“Russian world”), the declaration recalls a painful episode in Polish history during the Second World War: The execution of several thousand Polish officers by the Soviet NKVD political police in 1940, sanctioned by Kalinin and long covered up by the USSR.
**’A process bordering on madness’**
However, the origins of the town, founded on the Baltic Sea by the Teutonic Knights in 1255, are primarily German-speaking. Conigsberg or Königsberg (“King’s Mountain”) was named after King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who had taken part in the Crusades in the region. The city became part of Prussia in the 18th century, the birthplace of philosopher Immanuel Kant. Until the end of the Second World War, it belonged to Germany, before reverting to Russia in 1945, following the Yalta and Potsdam agreements. Russia was quick to rename the enclave after Kalinin, Stalin’s collaborator. However, following the dissolution of the USSR, despite disagreements and controversies, the town retained its Soviet-era name.
And Poland never really had much to object to – at least until the onset of the war in Ukraine, which marked the definitive distancing of the Central European nation from its Russian neighbor. “For several years, the two names of Kaliningrad and Krolewiec have coexisted in Poland,” Justyna Kacprzak, secretary of the toponymic commission, told the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. The same newspaper revealed that 12 people from Warsaw – who identify themselves as “actors working for the community” – had submitted a request for a name change to the Interior Ministry, who then forwarded it to the commission for the standardization of geographical names.
**Read the story in full at this link:** [https://www.lemonde.fr/en/europe/article/2023/06/08/in-poland-the-russian-enclave-of-kaliningrad-renamed-krolewiec_6030589_143.html](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/europe/article/2023/06/08/in-poland-the-russian-enclave-of-kaliningrad-renamed-krolewiec_6030589_143.html)
Pedantic but isn’t it an exclave not an enclave?
Kralovec je Cesky!
They should call it Königsberg. That would piss the Russians off.
Es ist und bleibt Königsberg
Internet explorer news
How to poiss off muscovy with one simple step
Koningsbergen it is, lads!
Woah, this is worthless
What’s the point of doing that?
Totally showed them
For all those who say that it is unnecessary and nonsense, you must realize that Kaliningrad is named after the Soviet war criminal Mikhail Kalinin who ordered the killing of over twenty-two thousand Polish officers, doctors, policemen and intelligentsia in general in Katyn. Although it’s not the most spectacular and interesting, for us this small change is important (besides, it annoys the Russians, so another big plus)
I know the new name is probably for the best but I still kind of like the ring of Königsberg.
People seem to think Królewiec is some ad hoc made up name just to replace Kaliningrad. No, this is the Polish historical name of this city and before 1945 it was the official exonym in Polish as well.
Very good, place names should be translated in general, regardless of politics.