Orikhiv ( uk, Орі́хів, ) is a city in
Polohy Raion,
Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Zaporizhzhia Oblast ( uk, Запорі́зька о́бласть, translit=Zaporizka oblast), also referred to as Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запорі́жжя, links=no), is an oblast (province) of southeast Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. As of January 2022 its population was approximately
History
Orikhiv was founded in about 1783 near the
Konka River
The Konka ( uk, Конка, Кінські Води, Кінська, Кінка, crh, Yilki Su) is a left tributary of the Dnieper, flowing through the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . Among cities that are located ...
; it was incorporated in 1801. It is situated about southeast of Aleksandrovsk (today
Zaporizhzhia
Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...
), and almost the same distance north of the
Molochna Kolonia (''Milk Colony''). In 1818 Orikhiv appeared to be a place where military personnel of the Czar were stationed; an officer from Orikhiv came out to finalize arrangements for the Czar's visit to
Lindenau in May of that year. As early as 1836 a “Salt Road” (Tschumakemveg) connected Orikhiv with
Perekop to the south, the road running through the Molochna Kolonia. This road was still shown on maps of 1852. In 1850 Orikhiv was within the boundaries of Taurida, near the northeast border of that province. When the railway was built connecting Aleksandrovsk to
Berdyansk
Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of ...
it went through Orikhiv, presumably helping the development of the city and giving easy access to the port at
Berdyansk
Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of ...
.
The first
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
s likely settled in Orikhiv as early as the 1830s. By 1852 there were two
windmills in Orikhiv owned by Mennonites (''Kornelius Ediger'' and ''Kornelius Heinrichs'') as well as a treadmill and oil press operated by ''Aaron Wiens''. In the 1860s a number of families moved from
Schoenwiese of the
Khortytsia Colony to Orikhiv. Among these was ''Johann Heinrich (Ivan Andreievitch) Janzen'', who built two large steam-powered flour mills and encouraged other Mennonite businessmen to follow his example.
By 1874 the small Mennonite community, in cooperation with the equally small
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 th ...
group, had built a church and a school. Apparently the Mennonites and Lutherans had joint services in the church, but for major festivals the Mennonites tended to go to their home churches, for many this being Schoenwiese in the Chortitza Colony. They also went back to their home churches to allow the young people to meet prospective marriage partners.
In 1874 Johann Heinrich (Ivan Andreievich) Janzen was elected mayor of Orikhiv. Despite some opposition from the business community because Janzen was German, the governor of the province encouraged him to continue in his position, Orihiv being one of the few cities with a positive balance sheet despite an aggressive school building program. Janzen retired in 1899.
At the end of the nineteenth century, of a population of 10,000, there were only about 200 “Germans” in total (called ''niemsty''), which included approximately equal numbers of Mennonites and Lutherans.
Only one Mennonite estate, Rosenheim (Epp) was listed as being close to Orihiv, while Wintergruen Estate was 14 verst east-southeast of the city. These estates no longer exist.
''Peter Kondratyevitch Pavlenko'' was principal of the Halbstadt Zentralschule in 1909 and 1910, also teaching in the areas of mathematics and pedagogy; before that he had been on the faculty of the secondary school in Orikhiv.
In 1918–1919 Orikhiv was in the centre of the area controlled by the
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno, The surname "Makhno" ( uk, Махно́) was itself a corruption of Nestor's father's surname "Mikhnenko" ( uk, Міхненко). ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"),; According to ...
, so it likely suffered the usual consequences of being occupied by his army. During the subsequent
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
it was overrun a number of times as the vicissitudes of war caused frequent changes in the struggles between the
Whites
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as " ...
and the
Reds
Reds may refer to:
General
* Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism
* Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863
* USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...
. Orikhiv was the base from which the Red Army surged southward to finally defeat the
Mennonite Selbstschutz -eventually leading to the capitulation in
Gnadenfeld, Molotschna.
Orikhiv attained city status in 1938. In 1972 it was the capital of the Orikhiv Region of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In 1990 the population was 21,200. Main industries produced clothing, machinery and building supplies. There is a metallurgy plant, "Orikhiv Quarry of Molding Materials," which deals with refractory materials, and a sugar refinery. The city also has a regional museum.
There are no obvious traces of the Mennonite past remaining.
2022 Russian invasion
On 7 May 2022, around 21:00 Orikhiv hospital was shelled by Russian forces. According to the local government, Russian forces wanted to finish off the wounded and kill civilian doctors. On 21 May, local media reported that as a result of the Russian shelling, the gymnasium, and the building of the city executive committee were destroyed.
![Orikhiv after shelling and airstrikes, 25 March 2022 (01)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Orikhiv_after_shelling_and_airstrikes%2C_25_March_2022_%2801%29.jpg)
According to
OCHA, by 17 August the town's population had dwindled to 6,000. As of October 2022, Russian forces were regularly shelling Orikhiv. The
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
organization for
senior citizens,
AARP
AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization said it had more than 38 million members in 2018. The magazin ...
, profiled one family's desperate choices to stay in their familiar Orikhiv, or to leave under threat of Russian bombing.
The
OCHA has a presence in the city.
Gallery
File:Orihiv Shevchenka 11 Sadyba Genriha Yantsena 02 (YDS 0410).jpg, Mansion house of Heinrich Janzen, city mayor of Orikhiv in 1874-1899 and manufacturer
File:Orihiv Shevchenka 11 Sadyba Genriha Yantsena 05 Detail YDS 0390).jpg, Detail of mansion house of Heinrich Janzen
File:Orihiv K.Marksa 48 K.Libknehta 31 Kontos'kiy Budynok Yantsena 01 (YDS 0432).jpg, Office house of mills of Heinrich Janzen
File:Orihiv Shevchenka 1 Mis'ka Uprava (YDS 0383).jpg, Old town council
File:Orihiv Shevchenka 16 Zhinocha Gimnazia (YDS 0405).jpg, Old Gymnasium for girls
File:Orihiv Shevchenka 16 Komplex Zhinochoyi Gimnaziyi ta Cholovichogo Real'nogo Uchylyscha 02 (YDS 0400).jpg, Old non-classical secondary school for boys
File:Orihiv Poshtova Stantsiya 01 (YDS 0375).jpg, Post station
File:Orihiv Lenins'kyh Kursantiv 39 Torgovi Ryady (YDS 0379).jpg, Old shopping street
File:Orihiv Lenins'kyh Kursantiv 40 Pershiy Traktyr 03 (YDS 0372).jpg, First victualling-house in Orikhiv
References
{{coord, 47, 34, N, 35, 47, E, region:UA_type:city, display=title
Cities in Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Berdyansky Uyezd
Cities of district significance in Ukraine
Populated places established in the Russian Empire
Blackboard places