In this video we explore the dramatic events that shaped East Prussia during the First World War and the extraordinary memorials that were later built to commemorate the battles of 1914–1915. When WW1 broke out, Germany’s Schlieffen Plan collapsed within weeks. Russia mobilised far faster than expected and crossed into East Prussia in August 1914, capturing large parts of the province before the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes pushed them back. Although German forces eventually regained control, East Prussia was devastated and its experience became central to German wartime memory.
After the war, the region was physically and politically transformed. East Prussia was cut off from the rest of Germany by the new Polish Corridor, yet it remained a powerful symbol for many army officers and veterans who had been born there. Local communities began constructing monuments to commemorate soldiers who fell on both fronts, as well as civilians deported to the Russian interior. Memorials appeared in town centres, cemeteries, churches and public squares across the province.
The largest of all these structures was the Tannenberg Memorial at Hohenstein (today Olsztynek) — at one time one of the biggest war memorials in the world. Built between 1924 and 1927 and inaugurated in the presence of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, it became a national shrine. In 1934, the deceased President Hindenburg was transported by torch-lit procession to be interred here, despite his wish for a modest burial. His remains stayed for less than eleven years. As the Red Army approached in 1945, the site was partly demolished on Hitler’s orders, and later stripped by the post-war authorities. Today only fragments survive: original access roads, sections of walls, and the famous stone lion — now standing outside the Olsztynek town hall.
This video also takes you to the second-largest East Prussian WW1 memorial: the Kreiskriegerdenkmal in Marggrabowa (later Treuburg, now Olecko). Built between 1920 and 1927 on a 14-hectare site overlooking the lake, it featured monumental fieldstone architecture, pointed arches, towers crowned with iron crosses, ceremonial flame bowls, a lower viewing platform, sports facilities for youth groups, and a central plinth for patriotic commemorations. Its inscription, once reading “Lord God, hear our prayers, allow a strong Germany to rise again,” was removed after 1945 — but the original rods remain visible. Remarkably, unlike the Tannenberg Memorial, the Olecko monument survived the war and is undergoing conservation today.
Along the way, we also look at key figures connected with these battles, including Field Marshal Hermann von Eichhorn, commander of the 10th Army, who helped retake East Prussia during the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes and was later assassinated in Kyiv in 1918.
If you are interested in the First World War, the Eastern Front, or the lost landscapes of East Prussia, this video offers an on-the-ground look at what remains today — from forest clearings and old road alignments to forgotten structures preserved by local communities.
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Thank you for watching, and greetings from north-east Poland — the former East Prussia.
#EastPrussia #WW1History #Tannenberg #Olsztynek #Olecko #MasurianLakes #Hindenburg #EasternFront #LostPlaces #PolandHistory #HistoricalDocumentary #FirstWorldWar #TannenbergMemorial #EastPrussianHistory #WarMemorials
why the Schlieffen Plan failed in East Prussia and how the Russian invasion of 1914 changed the course of the First World War
what remains today of the Tannenberg Memorial at Olsztynek and how the site was destroyed in 1945 and after the war
history of the Kreiskriegerdenkmal in Olecko formerly Marggrabowa Treuburg and how East Prussian war memorials survived WW2
exploring the lost WW1 battlefields of East Prussia including Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes with surviving monuments and ruins
East Prussia 1914 documentary explaining the Russian invasion German counterattacks and the memorials built after the First World War
full history of East Prussia’s war memorial tradition and how towns like Olsztynek and Olecko commemorated WW1 battles
how East Prussia was cut off from Germany after WW1 and how this shaped regional identity and memorial culture
tracing the battles of 1914 and 1915 in East Prussia and seeing what is left today on the ground in Olsztynek and Olecko
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