Modernist Kaunas

From the current scores it is clear that Kaunas isn't viewed very highly here, but having been to most of the European countries, Kaunas's OUV clearly shines. It is the only city I have been to where modernist architecture plays a very central role, definitely a result of the christening of Kaunas as the interwar capital of Lithuania whilst Vilnius remained in Polish hands and the ensuing construction, and gave a markedly different vibe to every other European city I have visited. In fact, I don't think there is another European city-architectural inscription regarding the interwar period, but I'm happy to be corrected.

Getting there

The easiest way to get into Kaunas is via Ryanair and Wizz Air into Kaunas Airport, or trains from Vilnius. I got into Kaunas by plane when it was still on the T List before heading off to Vilnius.

Getting around

As mentioned by the other reviewers, the city is compact. Indeed, I was able to view most (if not all) of the important sites in Kaunas within half a day before catching my train onwards to Vilnius, all by foot, although the inscribed site is significantly larger (a triangle between the edge of the city zoo, Old Town, and the train station). Laisvės al. is the main throughfare - if you're short on time, focus on this and the two parallel streets to it. The Christ Resurrection Church is the only major thing way off the main areas, but it does allow you to appreciate some of the smaller inscribed buildings on your walk there. So will the walk to the train station.

Due to its impending proposal and my budding interest on modern architecture I added Kaunas to my baltic ittinerary. Now, I want to make clear that I'm not an architect and I feel in no way capable of examining the merit of kaunas modernist buildings. What I can offer is my opinion on the site, which overall was positive.

After WW1 Lithuania emerges as a new nation born out of the crumbling Russian empire. However they're stuck with an unusual problem. Their historic capital, Vilnius, is not part of their state, but rather part of neighboring Poland. As such the newly founded states sets out to build a capital basically from scractch following the architcetural trends of the time. They choose Kaunas as the place to do this. During the interwar period around 1200 buildings are erected in the city. Many of them are still kicking around which allows for a wonderfull insta-shot of how architecture looked at the time. At least thats what the proposal states.

Kaunas does in fact have lots of modern architecture and its easy to grasp even to the untrained eye. some of these buildings I found particularly enticing (the iljiani family house, the artist house and Christs resurrection church). However the strong suit of Kaunas is that its an ensemble. You really can just stroll around and find good examples of cutting edge interwar architecture in every corner of the new city. Even with a whole day I couldn't see all the buildings I wanted to see. Even so I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

About that. I recommend going to the tourist office (Laisves Al 36). They have a nifty map about modernist architecture in Kaunas, which you can also find it at kaunas.lt. It's pretty comprehensive.

From a historical perspective, The collapse of the Russian empire is a monumental event and this certainly adds another layer to the proposal. Many countries in eastern Europe had their very first take at independence (or at least the first in a very long time) after the Brest-Litovsk treaty. This makes kaunas a particularly symbolic site for lithuania and the region, in general. This is especially true in the light of current events in Ukraine. What I'm trying to say is that this is a bit of a jab at Russia.

August 2017 - After the day on the Curonian Split, our next Goal was Vilnius. We had dinner in Klaipeda and had the stupid idea of going a bit further on the Highway that day. After 1 hour we had to stop as we just fell asleep in the car. So we arrived really early in the morning in Kaunas. Fortunately a small cafe had already opened and we had some breakfast. We walked the Main street and a parallel street to Marvel at the modernist buildings. Well, they are quite nice, but as a  standalone Whs? We also drove by the Big white church, which is quite amazing. Definitely worth a stop between Vilnius and Klaipeda.

Building a new capital from scratch, often results in a large and consistent set of period architecture. Fatehpur Sikri or Jaipur come to my mind. A capital needs many buildings. You need offices for the government, you need more residential areas for the influx of inhabitants and you need to provide public services. And more likely than not, you will build using the at the time hip architectural style. Kaunas is no different.

After WW 1, the Polish occupied the main city of Lithuania: Vilnius. The temporary capital of the new found country of Lithuania was established in Kaunus. The original historic town was greatly enlarged by new, modernist buildings. They went all in and the amount and consistency of the modernist buildings is unique.

OUV

I feel the modernist architecture is unique and consistent enough to warrant inscription. It's not backward looking, but represents cutting edge architecture of the time.

Getting There

Kaunas lies on the main highway between Vilnius and Klaipeda (Curonian Split). It's a natural stop, if you travel from Vilnius to the coast and plan to tick off all sites in Lithuania In the city, I did everything on foot.

Lithuania gained independence after World War One, however Vilnius was soon after given to Poland. Kaunas was then designated as the new capital of Lithuania. As a consequence, many buildings were built in homogenous modernist style in a short period of time – actually till 1940 when Lithuania was taken by Germany then USSR.

It is easy to identify this part of the city on a map of Kaunas, with its straight and large streets, at the East of the historical area. Laisves avenue is the main street of the area. Arriving in the morning from Klaipedia, we stayed one night in Hotel Kaunas (easy to remember that name!) right in the centre of that area, before making our way to Vilnius on the next day, in August 2017.

Tourist website of the city provides a good list of most interesting interwar buildings; most of them close to each other. Walking Laisves avenue from East to West, we could see the post office, the former headquarters of Pienos Centras Company (at a street croner), Romuva cinema (on the north side of Laisves avenue, not immediately on the avenue but some 50 m back). Still walking to the East on Laisves avenue and turning next right (South) after seeing the cinema, we immediately found the former Officers’ Palace. One block north of Laisves avenue, you can easily reach Unity Square, surrounded by many “interwar” buildings: former ministries, schools, and the War museum. We wanted to end our tour at Christ Resurrection church (a massive white building on top of a hill), unfortunately the cable car (also listed as interwar building) was closed for maintenance, so we had to climb stairs under warm August sun to reach the church. The visit was rewarding, as the church looks like no other we visited before: it looks more like a factory – and was actually used as such during the period Lithuania was occupied.

We enjoyed this half-a-day visit of Kaunas. Interwar buildings are quite concentrated, so you don’t have to walk long from one building to the other. Most of them are still in use (post office, museum, church, restaurant at the ground floor of Officers’‘ Palace), so you can go inside and don’t have the feeling to visit a “museum” city. Others are being restored (cinema, cable car). Panels with information have been installed in front of some buildings, giving the feeling that Kaunas city is making big efforts to showcase this part of its history. Interwar buildings of Kaunas are clearly important in the history of the country, but maybe not fundamental in World history. However, considering there are still few modern architecture buildings on the list, and with a strong supporting file, I believe it could make its way to the List.