Kneiphof

Kneiphof (Lithuanian: Knypava; Polish: Knipawa) was a quarter of central Königsberg, Germany. During the Middle Ages it was one of the three towns that composed the city of Königsberg, the others being Altstadt and Löbenicht. The town was located on a ten hectare island of the same name in the Pregel River and included Königsberg Cathedral and the original campus of the University of Königsberg. Its territory is now part of the Moskovsky District of Kaliningrad, Russia.

Etymology

Medieval variations of Kneiphof included Knipaw,Knipab, and Knypabe. The name was of Old Prussian origin, referring to a swampy land or area flushed by water; the island was bounded to the north by the Neue Pregel and to the south by the Alte Pregel (or Natangische Pregel), branches of the Pregel River. At the start of the 14th century the island was known in German as Vogtswerder (Vogt's ait), because it was used by a vogt of the Teutonic Knights. The name Pregelmünde (mouth of the Pregel) was encouraged in 1333, but the German townspeople instead used the Prussian name used in the 1327 charter. A town seal from 1383 and a 15th-century signet name the town as nova civitas, or new town, but this designation was not used in documents.