Authenticity of Kant's manuscript is difficult to establish - experts

Kaliningrad handwriting experts of the regional police department cannot confirm the authenticity of the manuscript, possibly belonging to the famous German philosopher Immanuel Kant, without his original notes, the director of the museum told RIA Novosti...

Kaliningrad handwriting experts of the regional police department cannot confirm the authenticity of the manuscript, possibly belonging to the famous German philosopher Immanuel Kant, without his original notes, told RIA Novosti . director of the Baltic Fleet Museum, second-rank captain Alexander Finkov

A handwritten sheet of paper, possibly belonging to Kant, was discovered in early August in Baltiysk by a local resident in the ruins of the order castle Lochstedt, where exhibits of the Pillau city museum were temporarily housed.

The territory on which the Kaliningrad region is located belonged to Germany until the end of World War II, being part of East Prussia. Baltiysk at that time was called Pillau, the current Kaliningrad - Koenigsberg. Kant (1724-1804) lived there until his death, his grave to this day is located near the Cathedral in the center of Kaliningrad.

“Unofficially, the ATC experts who studied the find told us about a very high probability that this manuscript belongs to Kant. However, they cannot make an official conclusion, since this requires comparing the found sheet with any other original records of the philosopher,” Finko said.

According to him, making a reconciliation is not easy. “Experts tried to compare it with photocopies of Kant's notes, but it's all pointless - they do not convey a number of fundamentally important features of human handwriting. It is the originals that are needed, but they are not available in the Kaliningrad region, ”the agency’s interlocutor noted.

According to him, there are no original manuscripts of Kant in Russian museums either.

“Relying on the support of the regional Ministry of Culture, we have already made inquiries to Germany, turning to the leadership of the Berlin Archive and to several private historians-collectors. If they agree to provide the original notes of the philosopher, then we can compare them with our find right there, in Germany, by ordering an examination by local specialists,” Finko specified.