Technical innovations were drastic for people in the 19th century. Road construction and several railway lines not only promoted trade but also shortened travel times and postal routes – the remoteness of East Prussia was increasingly reduced.
It was not until much later, in 1828, that the first paved country road ("artificial road") between Frauenburg (today Frombork) and Königsberg (today’s Kaliningrad) was completed.
The "Prussian East Railway" shortened the travelling time between Berlin and Königsberg to a good 13 hours in 1867. Before that it took travellers many days to travel the 600 kilometres. Also, owing to the railway, the transport of goods became independent of road conditions or the water level of rivers, so trade with the states of the German Confederation grew rapidly. Previously expensive consumer goods thus became affordable. In crafts and agriculture the working environment changed, new professions emerged, old traditional ones disappeared. The social consequences were often far-reaching.
Illustrations:
1.) On the Elbląg Canal, around 1880.
On the Elbląg Canal, built between 1844 and 1860, entire ships were transported by rail on sloped planes, thus replacing locks. Considered a miracle of technology, it was operated exclusively by hydroelectric power and greatly facilitated the transport of timber to the Baltic Sea. The introduction of the railways reduced its economic importance. The canal has been in operation until today and is a tourist highlight of every trip to Masuria.
2.) Walter Busch, railway station scene in Eydtkuhnen on the Prussian-Russian border, around 1880
The acceleration of passenger and goods traffic finally turned East Prussia into a bridge between east and west. In 1837 almost ten years after its opening, the later Reichstraße 1 from Königsberg was extended to Eydtkuhnen.
The construction of the Ostbahn (Eastern Railway) went even faster – in 1853 completion to Königsberg, 1860 opening of the Eydtkuhnen railway station.