Altstadt (Königsberg)

While some of the original settlers from 1256 remained to participate in the foundation of Altstadt, a greater number of burghers were brought to the region by the locator Gerko von Dobrin.

[4] Most of the newcomers were from Lübeck, Lower Saxony, and Westphalia, with others arriving from Pomerania, Mecklenburg, the Elbe basin, Silesia, and western Prussia.

[3] The oldest remaining seal of Altstadt depicted King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who had led the initial conquest of Sambia and was honored for his participation by having Königsberg named after him.

[8] Outlying villages and estates controlled by Altstadt included Kosse, Puschdorf, Stablauken, Steinbeck, Kraußen, Ottenhagen, Ratshubenhof, and Adlig Neuendorf.

[11] As members of the Confederation, the Königsberg towns rebelled against the Teutonic Knights on 4 February 1454 at the beginning of the Thirteen Years' War and allied with King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland.

The rebellion in Königsberg was supported by the merchant class and led by Altstadt's Bürgermeister, Andreas Brunau of Pomerania.

[13] However, Brunau and his mercantile allies lost the support of Altstadt and Löbenicht on 24 March 1455 due to spontaneous opposition from craftsmen and workers, with the rebels retreating to Kneiphof.

By the Rathäusliche Reglement of 13 June 1724, King Frederick William I of Prussia merged Altstadt, Löbenicht, Kneiphof, and their respective suburbs into the united city of Königsberg.

[16] Königsberg Castle and its suburbs remained separate until the Städteordnung of Stein on 19 November 1808 during the era of Prussian reforms.