Childhood and Early Youth 59new fires were still breaking out.^127 Yet Königsberg itself was by all ac¬
counts beautiful, looking like a typical medieval German city. Because of
its many bridges, it was called the "Venice of the North." Leonhard Euler
(1707-1783) made the main bridges famous with his problem called "The
Bridges of Königsberg."^128
One might call eighteenth-century Königsberg "multicultural," at least
in the sense that it was made up of many different peoples. Apart from
a large contingent of Lithuanians and other inhabitants from the Baltic re¬
gion, there were Mennonites who had come to Königsberg from Holland
in the sixteenth century, as well as Huguenots who had found refuge in
Königsberg. They continued to speak French among themselves, went to
their own church, and had their own institutions and businesses. There were
many Poles, some Russians, many people from other countries around the
Baltic Sea; there was a significant Jewish community, and a number of Dutch
and English merchants. These groups largely kept their own customs and
traditions. While there may not have been much interaction among them,
the fact that they lived in close proximity with one another and had to deal
with one another at least on a business level is not insignificant.
Thus Kant did not have to travel far to become acquainted with the ways
of different cultures. He grew up in an environment that acquainted him
with ways of life other than those of eighteenth-century German tradesmen.
Königsberg, in spite of its relative isolation, was in some ways a cosmo¬
politan city. In many ways, it was far less provincial than a town like Göt¬
tingen or Marburg. It was also much larger than most German university
towns of the period.
It is doubtful whether the city and the opportunities for playing and
learning it offered for a young boy outweighed the drudgery of school life.
School would not have left him with much time to do anything but study.
Indeed, the best relaxation for him and his friends was probably found in
the few hours they could squeeze out of the week to read some of the
classic authors they really wanted to read. By the time Emanuel was ready
to leave school, he spoke and read Latin very well. As it did for so many
Germans of this period, classical antiquity provided escape from the harsh
realities of life, school, and church.
Frederick William I died on May 31, 1740, to be succeeded by Freder¬
ick II in the very year that Kant left school. Frederick II was known to be
much more liberal in matters of religion, to be interested in philosophy and
literature, and he was expected to make great changes. He came to Königs¬
berg for his inauguration (Huldigung) on July 16, 1740. At this occasion,