Zhelezka
Kaliningrad region (Russia), 2019
The village of Zheleznodorozhny (in the common people - Zhelezka), located in the Kaliningrad region, on the border with Poland, was ceded to the USSR after World War II. Before the arrival of Soviet troops, Zheleznodorozhny was called Gerdauen (in honor of the Prussian leader). It could preserve the Prussian architectural heritage like no other village in the region. Fortunately, during the war, the village was practically not damaged.
But time destroyed what the shells could not to. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, the subsequent closure of enterprises, trade routes and the railway, unemployment led this beautiful place to desolation. Active butter, brewery and brick factories were closed. The village turned into a place where time seems to have stopped, having seen several eras that are intertwined here. Soviet buildings are mised with the ruins of a German church and Prussian houses.
Those who remember the golden times of this village do not hide their sadness. Locals sometimes do not even understand how they lived here all their lives and what happened to this land.
