РОССИЯ   ROSSIJA	RUSSIA
Калининградская область / Kaliningradskaja oblast'	Kaliningrad province
Зеленоградскский район / Zelenogradskij rajon	Zelenogradsk district

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Зеленоградск (Zelenogradsk) is the administrative center of Zelenograd district of Kaliningradskaja oblast, Russia, and is located on the Sambian coastline near the Curonian Spit on the Baltic Sea. The municipality has a population of about 13,000 (2010).

The site of today's Zelenogradsk was originally an Old Prussian fishing village, in the proximity of Kaup (today Моховое (Mohovoe)), a Prussian town on the coast of the Baltic Sea in the Viking era. The area became controlled by the Teutonic Knights and settled with Germans. The German name Cranz, originally Cranzkuhren, derives from the Old Prussian word 'krantas', meaning "the coast". For most of its history it remained a small village in East Prussia. During the 19th century, the village became the primary seaside resort for the Kingdom of Prussia on the East Prussian coastline, especially after the construction of a railway line connecting the village with Königsberg (now Калининград (Kaliningrad)) in 1885. From 1816–1895 it was known as 'das königliche Bad', or "the royal bath/resort". Despite the increase of tourists, the fishing industry remained strong; smoked flounder was a regional delicacy. Although it had over 6,000 inhabitants before the beginning of World War II, it did not have town privileges. The area was overrun by the Soviet Red Army during World War II and annexed to Russia, although it suffered minimally through warfare. The German population fled during the evacuation of East Prussia or was subsequently expelled by force. The village, renamed from Cranz to Зеленоградск (Zelenogradsk) or "Green City" in Russian, received a civic charter after 1945. The tourism industry was neglected during the Cold War and Zelenogradsk's tourism primacy was relinquished to nearby Светлогорск (Svetlogorsk). This policy changed in recent years. Zelenogradsk is becoming more popular with Russian vacationers, and many rich Muscovites own private houses in the area.

The picture on glass no. 4585 [near left] shows a view of the beach promenade.

The picture on glass no. 2702 [near left] is labeled Corso m[it] Hotel „Schloss am Meer”. The Hotel „Schloss am Meer” [left] was built at the beginning of the 20th century and was one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in Cranz. During World War II, when the Soviet Army approached the town, the hotel was hit by a granade and was destroyed completely by the ensuing large fire. In its place, a restaurant named "Прибой" (Priboj, 'wave breaking') was built in the 1970s, but this began to fall into dereliction during the 1990s and currently is in ruins. The construction depicted on the right is the music pavillon on the beach promenade.

[Text adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelenogradsk; http://www.kaliningradcity.ru/de/timetable/sights/buildings/otel_zamok_more.php, http://www.flickr.com/photos/27639553@N05/5218039911/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/27639553@N05/5206695571/]