Slavgorod (Siberia, Russia)
Slavgorod, a city in the region of Tomsk in the Kulundian Steppes, Siberia, was established in the vicinity of the Barnaul (later Slavgorod) Mennonite settlement in 1909. The engineers in charge of building this city were Belyayev and Tchernov. Tchernov in particular, as a direct representative of the St. Petersburg government, helped the Mennonites in establishing the Slavgorod settlement. The city was planned so that lots 140 x 175 ft. could be rented. By 1913 the streets were lighted. Slavgorod soon developed into a business center, particularly for the Mennonites. A number of Mennonite businesses were established here. Cornelius P. Wiens, Peter A. Friesen, and Jakob Dück had grocery and dry goods stores. Peter P. Friesen and Franz P. Friesen operated a flour mill. Mills were also owned by Peter F. Klassen, Jakob C. Friesen, H. Hamra and H. Miller, David Hübert, and Heinrich Hübert. Among the dealers in farm machinery were Bernhard Friesen and Peter J. Wiens. All these businesses were confiscated after the Revolution of 1917. After World War II the town had a population of 16,000. It is located on a branch of the Trans-Siberian railroad, 250 miles west of Barnaul.
In 1927 J. Wall, an Mennonite Brethren (MB) minister, preached and conducted Bible conferences in the large Baptist church, which had been built in the previous year. Klaus Mehnert, who visited Slavgorod in 1955, reports that the population was about 30,000, of whom approximately one third were of German background. He found a Baptist church, which is also attended by the Mennonites. At the time of his visit German services were not yet permitted. Meanwhile this permission has been granted. The minister told Mehnert that they had 300 registered members, but that the attendance was larger than the capacity of the church. Permission had not yet been granted to enlarge the church.
Bibliography
Fast, Gerhard. In den Steppen Sibiriens. Rosthern, 1957: 27 f.
Mehnert, Klaus. "Deutsche—vom Sturme verweht." Der Bote (5, 12, 19 September 1956).
| Author(s) | Cornelius Krahn |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Krahn, Cornelius. "Slavgorod (Siberia, Russia)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Slavgorod_(Siberia,_Russia)&oldid=85021.
APA style
Krahn, Cornelius. (1959). Slavgorod (Siberia, Russia). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Slavgorod_(Siberia,_Russia)&oldid=85021.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 537. All rights reserved.
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