56 Kant: A BiographyBoth views are misleading. Königsberg had a somewhat "insular" character,
being situated in the northeastern corner of Prussia, near to the Russian
border, and closer to Poland than to western Prussia. Still, it was a very
important city. Founded in 1255 by the Teutonic knights, it joined the
Hanseatic League in 1340 and was the capital of all of Prussia until 1701.
When Kant was born, it was just the capital of East Prussia, but it was still
one of the three or four most important cities of the entire kingdom.^115
A considerable number of government institutions remained, along with
a heavy contingent of the military. Located at a bay in the Baltic Sea, it was
an important trading point, connecting all of eastern Europe with other
seaports in Germany and Europe. Its dealings were mainly with Poland,
Lithuania, England, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. The main goods from
eastern Europe were grain, hemp, flax, ash, wood, tar, wax, leather, and
pelts, while the most important wares from the west were salt, fish, linen,
zinc, lead, copper, spices, and southern fruits.^116 As a busy harbor town,
it was comparable to Hamburg and other Hanseatic cities. Its main rival was
Danzig.
Königsberg grew throughout the eighteenth century. In 1706 it had about
40,000 inhabitants, by 1770 about 50,000, and by 1786 close to 56,000.^117
It also remained one of the major urban centers of Prussia.^118 Königsberg
was a more Prussian city than most others in Prussia. The Prussian state
was still weak. Indeed, most of the people in Prussia did not identify them¬
selves as "Prussians," but rather as "Berliners," "Westphalians," or as
citizens of Cleves or Minden. Königsberg was an exception. Properly
speaking, the only people who deserved the name "Prussian" were the
inhabitants of Königsberg and its environs. Since the Prussian king lived
in Berlin, Königsberg was more directly linked to Berlin than most other
cities.
The arm of the king had a long reach, indeed. As the dispute between
the Pietists and the orthodox clergy shows, Königsberg had close connec¬
tions to both Halle and Berlin. Furthermore, it housed some of the im¬
portant institutions of Prussia, and officials of the government were highly
influential in the city. Frederick William I, though pious, was a stern
monarch. No one, except his army officers, was safe from his stick. He
brutally beat those whom he felt lacking in duty. Though Königsberg was
usually too far away for him to take such personal actions, his decrees,
edicts, and laws had an almost immediate effect there. He drew up rules
in great detail for nearly everything, from the education of students, to ex¬
ams at universities, to the "training of gardeners, millers, lamplighters,"