An imitation Russian village in Potsdam that lives on
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June 13, 2018
People who visit the colony of Alexandrovka in Potsdam south of Berlin are both impressed — and surprised. As football's World Cup is set to begin in Russia, we explore a fairytale village from the time of the Tsars.
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Alexandrovka: A Russian island in Prussia
A "Russendorf", or Russian village, that once belonged to the former Prussian Empire can still be found in Potsdam. The small colony was intended to soothe the homesickness of Russian singer soldiers.
Image: DW/Maksim Nelioubin
Imitation of an "Izba"
The houses were constructed by a Prussian architect under Peter Joseph Lenné, the director general of the Royal Prussian palaces, in the style of traditional German timbered houses. Only the cladding was done in Russian style in an attempt to imitate a so-called "Izba", a traditional Russian wooden house.
Image: DW/Maksim Nelioubin
How the tiny version of Russia was planned
A total of 14 such houses, a church and a church house were built in 1826-27. In line with a meticulously organized plan, the homesteads were erected on two cross streets. Streets in real Russian villages never looked so orderly. But in the Prussian context, the order was quite appealing. Each grange was given a plot of land where people could plant fruit trees and vegetables.
Image: public domain
The social ranking order was observed
The biggest house at the crossing of the two streets was reserved for the village elder. Prussian King Frederick William III, who had a keen interest in Russian art and architecture, ordered designs with ornaments and motives of Russian wooden architecture from Saint Petersburg (later Leningrad), to make sure the buildings would be constructed in the proper style.
Image: DW/Maksim Nelioubin
A private museum offers a retrospective
Nowadays, the building houses a small private museum. It was initiated by Hermann Krämer, a doctor from Westphalia, who was a big fan of Alexandrovka. The small exhibition attempts to reconstruct the way of life of the first colonists.
Image: DW/Maksim Nelioubin
A church honoring a hero
What would be a village without a church? This church in Alexandrovka was inaugurated in 1829 and devoted to St. Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, who served as Prince of Novgorod in medieval times. Interestingly, he was beatified by the Catholic Church after having defeated the Teutonic Order in 1242.
Image: DW/Maksim Nelioubin
Outstandingly beautiful homes
Most of these homes have come into private ownership after German reunification. They are seen as very special buildings in a booming region with mostly modern homes. Alexandrovka is part of Potsdam's celebrated cultural region that has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Image: picture-alliance/DUMONT Bildarchiv
A commonly shared fruit garden
The fruit garden that was created with the construction of the colony was owned by the Prussian king. However, the colonists were allowed to keep a part of the harvest for themselves, or to sell it.
Image: DW/Maksim Nelioubin
Alexandrovka without Russians
Alexander Jablokov (honored in the pictured plaque) was one of the twelve singer soldiers that inspired Alexandrovka. His son Nicolaj also lived in the village. The last Russian singer soldier died in 1861. During the Weimar Republic, only four families with Russian roots still lived in Alexandrovka. The last descendant of the Russian colonists died in 2008.
Image: DW/Maksim Nelioubin
"A little window towards Russia"
And yet, Alexandrovka has remained an appealing monument that documents a part of history that was shared by Prussia and Russia. It's a connection that is not limited to architecture, but has remained in the collective memory of both Germans and Russians.
Image: DW/Maksim Nelioubin
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According to a legend, it all started with a song sung by a few Russian soldiers who were held as prisoners by Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars. Perhaps it was a sad song that expressed the homesickness of the infantrymen.
Prussian King Frederick William III loved the song so much that, after the war, he asked his close friend, Russian Tsar Alexander I, to leave some singer soldiers in Potsdam, the Prussian capital south of Berlin. The Russian Tsar not only agreed, but even sent a few more guardsmen to the Prussian court.
During a trip in 1825, Russian Tsar Alexander I suddenly died at age 48. Deeply saddened by the passing of his friend, Prussian King Frederick William III ordered the foundation of a Russian colony in 1826 as a "remaining monument commemorating the ties of friendship" between him and the Russian Tsar.
In the honor of Alexander I, the colony was given the name "Alexandrovka". A fruit garden was also symbolically planted.
The king hoped that the Russian-looking houses and the Orthodox church would help the colonists feel more at home, and that Alexandrovka would forever be a Russian island in Prussia that would maintain the language, culture — and of course song.
But this hope was not fulfilled as the Russian language dies out among subsequent generations of colonists. And yet Alexandrovka has continued to symbolize the close ties between the two nations.
Click through the picture gallery above to explore a Russian island on the edge of the German capital.