Kronstadt - Dreams of the Past, Dreams of the Future

KRONSTADT - DREAMING OF THE PAST Kronstadt – a Russian town with a German name – was founded in 1704 by the westernising Russian tsar Peter I on an island in the Gulf of Finland off shore St. Petersburg. It was designed by Peter and his engineers as a naval fortress to defend the maritime approach to St. Petersburg and has served as such for most of its history. Many important expeditions have set sail from Kronstadt, including the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe and the discovery of Antarctica in early 19th century. During WWII, it fiercely resisted the besieging Nazis and never surrendered. Today, when its days of glory are past, Kronstadt gives an impression of being asleep and dreaming of something more than the fate of a sleepy suburban town which it became. It dreams of seafaring, heroic feats, sea battles and bravery – everything it is associated with for most Russians. But decay, both economic and moral, is what reigns here these days: the Navy only keeps a few rusting school ships here, one of the biggest and oldest employers – the Kronstadt Dockyards – has shut. And as it is often the case in Russia, the town looks backward, not forward, trying to revive what cannot any longer be revived, and that makes it rather difficult for Kronstadt to define a new identity and a future. -- 2008

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