German Quarter (russian: Неме́цкая слобода́, ''Nemetskaya sloboda''), also known as the Kukuy Quarter (), was a neighborhood in the northeast of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, located on the right bank of the Yauza River east of Kukuy Creek (hence the name Kukuy Quarter), within the present-day

Basmanny District Basmanny District (russian: райо́н Басма́нный) is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population: The district extends northeast from Kitai-gorod, within the radial boundaries of ...

of Moscow. Its boundaries were defined by present-day Dobroslobodskaya Street and Bolshoy Demidovsky Lane (west, following the track of Kukuy creek), Spartakovskaya Street (north) and Yauza River (south and east). Kukuy formed a wide pond west of present-day Elizavetinsky lane, on site of present-day Sokol stadium of

Moscow State Technical University The Bauman Moscow State Technical University, BMSTU (russian: link=no, Московский государственный технический университет им. Н. Э. Баумана (МГТУ им. Н. Э. Баумана)), some ...

, which occupies the southern half of former German settlement.

Old German Quarter

"German" Quarters developed in Moscow in the 16th century and were populated by foreigners from

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

(collectively called "Germans" by the

Russian people , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

(the Russian word for "German", ru , немец, translit = nemets, relates to the Russian word for "mute", ru , немой, translit =nemoy]) and by prisoners taken during the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pr ...

of 1558-1583. The residents of the Old German Quarter mainly engaged in

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

s and

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

-milling (whence the

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

s on the Yauza River). In the early 17th century, the army of

False Dmitri II False Dmitry II ( rus, Лжедмитрий II, Lzhedmitrii II; died ), historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius II and also called "тушинский вор" ("rebel/criminal of Tushino"), was the second of three pretenders to the Russian throne w ...

(self-proclaimed Tsar, 1607-1610) ravaged the Old German Quarter. It did not immediately recover, since many residents relocated closer to the

Moscow Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (R ...

or fled the country.

New German Quarter

After the end of

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...

, downtown Moscow attracted many European settlers, serving the royal court and the numerous foreign soldiers of muscovite troops. In the 1640s, however, the clergy persuaded the tsar to limit foreign presence in Moscow, and in 1652 Alexis I of Russia forced all

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

foreigners to relocate to German Quarter, which became known as the New German Quarter (Novonemetskaya

sloboda A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for "freedom" and may be loosel ...

), located east of present-day Lefortovskaya Square, above the mouth of the Chechera River. By 1672, it had three

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

and two

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

churches and numerous factories, like Moscow's first

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

Manufactory, owned by A.Paulsen. In 1701, J.G.Gregory, based in German Quarter, obtained a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

patent for a public

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

(hence, the name of Aptekarsky (Pharmacy) Lane). The quarter was populated by merchants, store owners, and foreign officers of the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...

. Among them were future associates of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

, such as Patrick Gordon and Franz Lefort. Peter the Great (who grew up nearby, on the eastern bank of Yauza) was a frequent guest in the German Quarter, and he met his mistress

Anna Mons Anna Mons (russian: Áнна Монс, link=no; 1 January 1672, Moscow – 15 August 1714) was a royal mistress of Peter the Great. Royal mistress In 1691, during one of his visits to the German Quarter, young Peter I of Russia became ena ...

there. Deceased residents were buried at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery, also known as German Cemetery, located across Yauza in Lefortovo; this tradition persisted among Lutherans and Catholics until the 20th century. In the early 18th century, the usual way of life in the German Quarter started to change. Its territory gradually turned into a construction site for palaces of the nobles, notably Lefort and later Alexander Bezborodko (in the 1830s, these palaces became the site of

). At the same time, foreigners, not bound by former restrictions, migrated to center of Moscow, for example, the French community settled in Kuznetsky Most.

End of "German" presence

Throughout the 18th century, Russian merchants took over the German businesses and established their own; the shores of Yauza housed P.Belavin's silk factory, N.Ivanov's

ribbon A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mat ...

factory etc. The fire of 1812 razed the area, and the ruined owners preferred to sell their lands to new owners. By 1826, all foreign landlords sold their land to local merchants and craftsmen; German Quarter lost its ethnic flavor but retained the name of Nemetskaya (German) Street (Baumanskaya Street since 1918). Lutheran churches were never rebuilt; Moscow's Lutheran Cathedral was erected nearly 100 years after the fire in central

. The name "German Quarter" itself disappeared from the Moscow

lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or fo ...

in the mid-19th century.

Footnotes

References

* Russian: П.В.Сытин, "Из истории московских улиц", М, 1948 (Sytin), pp. 304–313 {{DEFAULTSORT:German Quarter Geography of Moscow 16th century in Moscow 17th century in Moscow Russian and Soviet-German people German communities in Russia German diaspora in Europe Quarters (urban subdivision)

Old German Quarter

New German Quarter

End of "German" presence

See also

Footnotes

References