Translated material
Boos for all times
Kaliningrad officials were seized by a passion for composing local symbols
In the westernmost Russian region, they decided to immortalize local leaders of all times. Portraits of 23 “first persons” of the Kaliningrad region will be painted.It is planned that in the corridor of the regional government from the office of Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shalimov to the door to the reception of Governor Georgy Boos, beautifully illuminated portraits of 23 “leaders” of the region will be hung - from 1758 to the present day. “Portraits of the five governors general who led Prussia at the time when it belonged to the Russian Empire will be made, and in addition to them, Soviet and Russian leaders will be depicted,” Arkady Saraev, deputy head of the regional government apparatus, told Vremya Novostey. At the same time, the Nazi period will be ignored. Answering the question whether the leaders of East Prussia from the Nazi period (for example, Gauleiter Erik Koch) would be painted in oil, Mr. Saraev categorically assured: “Never.”
However, local artists were skeptical about the idea of perpetuating the “first persons”, which was invented within the government. The thing is that 250 thousand rubles were allocated for 23 portraits. and two weeks of work. The painters say that they will not work for such modest money and a very limited time. Mr. Saraev admitted that they have not yet agreed with the artists on the price-quality ratio. “Although there are already people who are ready to paint portraits of leaders for the current money. But we are not sure that good work will turn out,” he explained. As a result, the decision on the portrait issue had to be postponed for a couple of weeks.
And in parallel with the galleries, Kaliningrad officials came up with another wonderful idea. A whole range of measures has been developed to popularize regional symbols. These include the release of hundreds of regional emblems, flags, badges and booklets, even “thematic” school notebooks and diaries, the installation of power symbols on the buildings of airports and railway stations, in all registry offices.
It is planned to make 110 colored coats of arms of the Kaliningrad region and the coats of arms of eighteen municipalities of the region from bulk plastic (there are actually more districts and districts, but not all of them have their own symbols). Soon, every more or less significant official will have a coat of arms hanging in his office (in addition to the regional flag previously placed in the red corner). All this, as the government believes, should instill in the inhabitants and visitors of various high offices respect for the region and the state as a whole.
As Mr. Saraev explained to Vremya Novostey, no one specifically allocated money for all the “symbolic” events: “We just managed to save a little while celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the region.” As a result, approximately 750 thousand rubles will be spent on the art gallery and “herbarium”.
In the Kaliningrad region, symbolism has become especially relevant in the last year. The region lived for more than half a century without a coat of arms and a flag (of course, there is nothing special to be proud of here), and then, as if by magic, literally in a few months it received all the symbols in bulk (the anthem will be completed very soon), adding three official logos. True, all these multi-colored flags with monograms and coats of arms with crowns do not yet go further than bureaucratic offices. If a patriotic Kaliningrader wants to hang a regional flag on his house, he will not be able to do it. Because they still don’t sell flags in stores (the government can’t decide who can sell them to). As a result, the popularization of regional symbols is carried out, so to speak, for internal use - to decorate the offices of officials.
In general, all these symbolism games are somewhat ambiguous. Citizens of one country should have the same main symbols - the national coat of arms, flag and anthem. In the Kaliningrad region, separated from the main territory of the country by the borders of foreign states, state symbols must be “promoted” with double zeal. Reminding the residents of the exclave again and again that “big” Russia is nearby and it has not forgotten about its small region. Instead, the coat of arms of the Russian Federation was recently removed from the Kaliningrad city hall - many local residents perceived the incident with sadness. And regional authorities are now proposing to promote symbols of their own production everywhere. By engaging in politically controversial games of symbolism, Kaliningrad officials are taking a risk - as a result, Kaliningrad residents and the Russian tricolor may forget, and they will not get used to the local banner of cheerful colors.