*Yes we Kant! Russian territory woos tourists with German philosopher

Record ID: 1354327

  • Title: *Yes we Kant! Russian territory woos tourists with German philosopher
  • Date: 31st August 2018
  • Summary: KALININGRAD, RUSSIA (FILE) (REUTERS) ROWS OF KANT IMAGES ON WOODEN PLAQUES WITH HUMOROUS SUB-TEXT T-SHIRT ON DISPLAY WITH CARICATURE OF KANT READING (English) 'YES I KANT' AMBER STATUE OF KANT VARIOUS OF SOUVENIR STANDS ARTIST AND KANT POPULARIZER OLGA DMITRIEVA IN KALININGRAD PARK HOLDING UP COPY OF HER GRAPHIC NOVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL TITLED "THE LIFE AND REASONING OF THE PHILOSOPHER IMMANUEL KANT" VARIOUS DRAWINGS INSIDE BOOK (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ARTIST, OLGA DMITRIEVA, SAYING: "Of course, on one hand it is business. On the other hand, people want to find out what our countryman (Immanuel Kant) is famous for and why any foreigner who comes here seeks to visit Kant's tomb, his cenotaph and to pay tribute to this great philosopher who was born in Konigsberg." STYLIZED IMAGE OF KANT ON COVER OF GRAPHIC NOVEL (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ARTIST, OLGA DMITRIEVA, SAYING: "I wanted to introduce people to him (Kant) and to introduce them in an accessible form and not in the language in which philosophers express and understand the teachings of Kant." REPORTER: "So this is a story about Kant on a children's level, yes?" "Well yes - Kant for Dummies." DMITRIEVA LAYING OUT KANT-THEMED IMAGES VARIOUS OF HUMOROUS KANT-THEMED IMAGES AUDIO EQUIPMENT WITH STICKER READING (Russian) RADIO BALTIC PLUS RADIO HOST IRINA BORODULINA SPEAKING INTO MICROPHONE AUDIO PROGRAM ON SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RADIO HOST OF PROGRAM "NEAR KANT", IRINA BORODULINA, SAYING: "You know, Kant became popular about three years ago when people began to speak about the brand of the city, he was on that list. We had a show with a sociologist once, (he said) Kant is definitely in the top five things. We have the (Baltic) sea, something else." BORODULINA'S HAND ON SOUND EQUIPMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RADIO HOST OF PROGRAM "NEAR KANT", IRINA BORODULINA, SAYING: "We try to show Kant not as that annoying personality which we study in universities. So that our citizens can proudly say that not only was Kant born here, but to state facts from his life such as where he lived and where he walked and what he thought about this or that topic." VARIOUS OF LIFE-SIZED FIGURE OF KANT STANDING IN GARDEN ON KNEIPHOF ISLAND OTHERWISE KNOWN AS KANT ISLAND PEOPLE SITTING UNDER TREE NEAR KONIGSBERG CATHEDRAL WHERE IMMANUEL KANT'S TOMB IS LOCATED VARIOUS OF IMMANUEL KANT TOMB KONIGSBERG CATHEDRAL EXTERIOR STAINED GLASS WINDOW WITH INSCRIPTION READING "IMMANUEL KANT" 18TH CENTURY EUROPEAN CLOTHES EXHIBIT PAINTING OF IMMANUEL KANT KANT'S DEATH MASK VARIOUS OF KANT'S STATUE
  • Embargoed: 14th September 2018 10:55
  • Keywords: Immanuel Kant Kaliningrad Kant Museum Kneiphof cultural heritage historical figure Western philosophy
  • Location: KALININGRAD, RUSSIA / VESELOVKA, KALINIGRAD REGION, RUSSIA
  • City: KALININGRAD, RUSSIA / VESELOVKA, KALINIGRAD REGION, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA0058VIPS2H
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In universities across the world, scholars build careers following 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant down the byways of his thoughts on ethics, metaphysics and aesthetics.
    In his home town, tourism chiefs are just as interested in the physical roads he followed with his feet on his daily walks through what was then the Prussian city of Königsberg, and is now the heart of the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.
    Guidebooks showing his regular route are just the starting point for fans of the philosopher who laid the foundations of many international schools of modern-day thought.
    Visitors can buy plaques, T-shirts and postcards emblazoned with slogans borrowed from the Beatles - "All You Need Is Kant!"; from rapper MC Hammer - "Kant Touch This!"; and from former U.S. President Barack Obama - "Yes! I Kant".
    There are shops stocked with his figurines and a whole island named in his honour.
    Tourists can visit his tomb and, as of this month, "Kant House" in the village of Veselovka - the newly renovated home of a pastor where Kant lived and worked as a tutor, now filled with paintings and exhibits linked to his life.
    Residents and officials only recently woke up to the branding opportunities offered by their most famous son, said Irina Borodulina, host of the radio show the "Near Kant", a programme dedicated to his life and theories.
    "We try to show Kant not as that annoying personality which we study in universities," she said.
    Borudulina wants her listeners to come away with a thorough knowledge of "where he lived and where he walked and what he thought".
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