A postcard from probably the 1910s showing the Münzplatz, and a recent photo from Google Earth outside what was once the Hauptbahnhof or main railway station of this former German city, since 1945 part of Russia and called Kaliningrad (see earlier post). The tramway system was converted from horse trams to electric operation in 1901; at the same time the gauge width was changed from 1435 mm (standard gauge) to metre gauge. Before WW2 cars were supplied from the Waggonfabrik Steinfurt and the motors with an output of 60 kW and the electrical equipment came from Siemens. These cars were also used after WW2 by the Russians, but were soon replaced by cars produced in the DDR. Later as generally in the communist bloc, trams from ČKD Tatra were deployed. The maximum width of trams used in Kaliningrad today is 2.2 metres compared with the standard Russian 2.5 metres.
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