World Ocean Museum
The World Ocean Museum is a bright attraction of Kaliningrad, which is visited by about 350,000 people annually. The museum presents expositions devoted to shipping, flora and fauna of the sea depths, and ecological problems. Here you can also climb into a real submarine, examine a research vessel, see exotic fish in aquariums and get a lot of useful information, because the ocean is an amazing and mysterious place, which is studied much less than any part of the land.
Video: The World Ocean Museum
Contents- History of the World Ocean Museum
- Future plans
- What to see
Mode of operation - Cost of tickets and excursions
- Guest cabins
- How to get there
History of the World Ocean Museum
The Kaliningrad World Ocean Museum is the first marinist complex museum in Russia. It was founded in 1990 and at first was used only by scientific staff – ordinary citizens were not allowed to enter the museum yet. The museum opened its doors to the general public only in 1994, when the Vityaz ship, which was converted into exhibition space, was permanently moored next to the main building. The history of the Vityaz deserves a separate large article; here we will only mention that it is the largest research vessel in the world. Now the main exposition and guest cabins are located there.
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Now the museum is not only an exhibition complex, where you can see a lot of interesting things. Here scientific activity is actively carried out: conferences are held, information for important research works is collected, exhibits for various purposes are completed. This is a significant center of scientific research and scientific and methodological work. The museum staff reviews the history of ocean exploration and preserves important data about how people have become familiar with the underwater world over the decades.
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Future plans
In 2022, a new exposition building, Planet Ocean, is scheduled to open. The future building will be the ambitious dominant feature of the museum complex. It will be an expansive building, which will include a naval center “Cube of Water”, a fondovaniye and an educational center “OCEANIA.”
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The expositions will be presented not in the form of dry museum displays, but in the exploratorium format – that is, with a lot of interactive elements. Visitors will be able to touch most of the exhibits with their hands; Planet Ocean will host movie screenings, planetariums, observatories and interactive classes. The entire building will be themed to look like a real research vessel. Departments of the exposition will be called “laboratories”, guides will be called “Planet Duty”, and the souvenir store will be called “bosun’s store”.”
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What to see
For a complete detour of all expositions, even a hasty tourist will take at least five hours, so it makes sense to break your trip to the World Ocean Museum into several days. If you do not have such an opportunity, it is better to choose one exposition and study only it – it will be much more interesting than a superficial acquaintance with all the halls of the museum.
.Main building
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The ship stopped working even before 1990. In 1990 it was decided to preserve it and create a museum exposition on board. In 1994 “Vityaz” was permanently parked at the main building of the World Ocean Museum. The vessel is still the main exhibit of the museum. Of course, there are other expositions on its decks.
.Evening walks on the deck of the Vityaz is a separate point of attraction for tourists. This is not so much a museum, but just a tourist attraction. On the deck there are no museum exhibits, but there is a beautiful view of the embankment and neighborhood. And in the summer there is an outdoor movie theater! You have to buy movie tickets separately.
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Fondokhranisch
The Fondokhranische building houses perhaps the most intriguing and interestingly designed exhibition, “Depth”. Part of the exhibition is located in an open area, and you don’t need to buy a ticket to explore it. But if you want to get exactly into the equipped rooms, you need to buy a ticket for a guided tour or a free visit to the exhibition in the Fondokhraniye. The halls of the vault are equipped with unique lighting equipment that simulates being under the water column. Children will surely love the interactive atlas of the World Ocean – a map that can be touched, twisted and zoomed in to learn the most amazing facts about a particular area.
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The core of the “Depth” exhibit is a collection of barometers, hydrophysical umbrellas, underwater survey equipment, and other equipment used in the study of the ocean. If you’ve always wanted to know exactly how scientists manage to get so much information about underwater spaces, a visit to “Depth” is a must for you!
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The Fondokhranistvo regularly holds movie screenings with qualitatively selected material. The films detail the study of the ocean at extreme depths, show examples of life in such unusual conditions, and demonstrate exactly how scientists manage to collect all of this data.
In the Fondokhraniye building you will also find Russia’s largest sperm whale skeleton – perhaps the most impressive sight!
.Submarine B-413
Submarine B-413 is a unique museum vessel, which has no analogues in Russia. It belongs to the pre-atomic period of the submarine fleet. It is noteworthy that it has been preserved almost in pristine condition – all the equipment, details that visitors see, have been preserved in the same form in which they were at the time of withdrawal of the submarine from the Russian Navy.
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All lovers of Russian history will surely want to get to B-413, as it houses exhibits concerning the development of the Russian submarine fleet. The main exposition of the B-413 submarine is “From the History of the Russian Submarine Fleet”. At the exhibition, schoolchildren visitors can take part in a role-playing game that will immerse them in a virtual voyage. Teenagers will be able to try on the role of crew members of a military submarine. Orders will be given by the submarine commander via speakerphone. The participants themselves will face typical tasks for the crew of a military submarine: to eliminate a leak in the compartment, to conduct a torpedo attack, to eliminate an accident.
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Mode of operation
The museum complex is open from 8:00 to 21:00. Most facilities have Monday and Tuesday as weekends. However, every day of the week the museum complex has an open exhibit to explore. Even if you come on a Monday, you can explore the exhibitions on the B-413 submarine, for example.
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To get the most comprehensive view of the World Ocean Museum, it’s worth dedicating a few days in the middle of the week to it – Wednesday through Friday is the least weekend here.
.Cost of tickets and excursions
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Guest cabins
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How to get there
The museum complex is located on Peter the Great Embankment, house 1. It is not far from Victory Park, southwest of the historical center of Kaliningrad.
.You can’t take a bus directly to the World Ocean Museum, as there are no bus stops on the embankment and Marshal Baghramyan Street parallel to it. But you can take the 4 bus to the end of General Butkov Street and then walk a few meters to the museum. Another option is to take the 2 or 7 trolleybus, 72 or 75 marshrutka to the intersection of Moskovsky Avenue and Victor Hugo Street (stop “SC Yunost”). Here you will have to walk a little further, but on the way you can enjoy the views of the embankment.
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