Where in the World is Gumbo? (11/20/13)

Looks like something from Holland or Belgium.

Howabout Antwerp, Belgium!  (??)

Hmmmm.....let me see...the rules don't say I can't tell you, so yes. This building is still standing.

Sorry! No hints....yet.

OKAY...It's Friday, so here's the first hint:

The building in the picture has not moved, but it is not in the country in which it was first built, and its present users do not speak the same language as those who built it.

Your last clue.  Martin Cruz Smith has a new book out (Arkady Reinko series -- among my favorites).  Might it be tied into that or can't you say?

I've been thinking Alsace.

The plot thickens.

No more clues.

See you Tuesday morning!

It's certainly up to the Puzzler, but why not more clues?  Isn't getting it more fun than not?  We want fun, we want fun!

Mrs. Briggs! That was harsh. Do you have a guess and want to keep others in the dark?

All right, fans: one more clue tomorrow morning, and I hope we'll hear from some new fans by then.

A summary of Amazon from on the new Martin Cruz Smith Novel, TATIANA (see latest clues(.

"Arkady Renko, one of the iconic inves­tigators of contemporary fiction, has survived the cultural journey from the Soviet Union to the New Russia..... The trail leads to Kaliningrad, a Cold War “secret city”......" 

TravelandNature, I believe we may have an answer!

DrF, you're right and you know it!  Google Kaliningrad and there's a picture!  Very exciting.

Oops, maybe the Puzzler is supposed to officially confirm the winner.  Sorry Puzzler if I'm out of line.  Just excited.

The puzzler will let us know on Tuesday!  

Excellent team effort, everyone!  I was stumped by the photo, but everyone working off each other and the clues has yielded (I believe) the correct destination.

Coool!

Remember: it is necessary to identify both the location and the object (in this case the building).

In view of the pack of wolves rapidly closing in on the sleigh carrying Little Liza across the vast steppes, it no longer seems necessary to post a Sunday hint.

Grrrrrr !!!!  Woooff !!  Woof !

DrF. must say the name.

While I"m never too busy to look up a clue that might involve one of my favorite authors, I'm too lazy to look up the precise place.  One of the rest of you wolves figure out the final piece of the puzzle, post it, and sink your muzzle into this thread.  

OK, then, having waited a respectful hour...is it Kreuzkirche, Kaliningrad, Russia?  If so, obviosly no credit here.

Keep working guys...no cigar yet!

Konigsberg Cathedral, Kaliningrad, Russia.

Everyone on the team deserves a cigar for this one, PHeymont.  I enjoyed the group effort. 

Well, that'll teach me to believe the first thing I see.  Duped by a pretty picture.  I should have looked further when the caption read it was a 20th C. church.  Now I know what Kreuzkirche really looks like (do I care...no).

Indeed, also called Cathedral of Immanuel Kant (himself being a permanent resident), begun c.1333.

BTW, in my rambles around the web I saw the city referred to as the world's ugliest.  I don't think I'd like to be given the job of confirming that fact (how many ugly places would one need to visit) but have you actually been there PHeymont?  Or rather nipped it from the pages of that new mystery in the safety of your home?

PortMoresby,

I'm not sure the Russians will let him talk about, one way or the other.  They have ways of dealing with informants, as we all know.

It's been a great game, Gumbo fans, and you've now pinned it to the wall.

Tuesday morning's post will confirm your correct answer, with more details.

It was fun playing with the group. In answer to the question: I've only been to Kaliningrad twice, both times on paper. Most recently, I was reading Tatiana, and was struck by Smith's comments on the rebuilding of churches, partly as vanity projects of the new capitalist class. When I came to the chapter in which Renko is attacked at the cathedral, his description piqued my interest enough to search for a picture. When I saw how little it looked like what it is, I knew I had a Gumbo puzzle!

My other "trip" was really to Koenigsberg, its old name as capital of East Prussia, through a military history reading on the 1945 Battle of Koenigsberg. The Red Army moved forward on that front in January 1945, but the city and its garrison held out until April, which worked well for Stalin's plan. The offensive in that area was intended to occupy large numbers of German troops, keeping them out of the way of the Red Army's drive on Berlin. Martin Cruz Smith's narrative and description of the city 60 years later was therefore doubly fascinating!