German Quarter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The German Quarter, also known as the Kukuy Quarter (Russian: Неме́цкая слобода́, Nemetskaya sloboda) was a neighborhood in the northeast of Moscow, located on the right bank of the Yauza River near the Kukuy Creek (hence, the Kukuy Quarter, or слобода Кукуй).
The German Quarter appeared in the mid-16th century and was populated by foreigners from Western Europe (collectively called "germans" by the Russian people) and prisoners, taken during the Livonian War of 1558-1583. The residents of the German Quarter were mainly engaged in handicrafts and flour-grinding business (that's where the flourmills on the Yauza come from).
In the early 17th century, the German Quarter was ravaged by the army of False Dmitri II. It was gradually returned to life in the mid-17th century and became known as Novoinozemskaya (Novonemetskaya) sloboda, or New Foreign (New German) Quarter. it was now located on the Yauza River above the mouth of the Chechera River. The quarter was populated by merchants, store owners, and foreign military officers, who served in the Russian army. Among them were future associates of Peter the Great, such as Patrick Gordon and Franz Lefort. Peter the Great was a frequent guest in the German Quarter, and he met his mistress Anna Mons there.
In the second half of the 17th century, they opened one of the first manufactories in Moscow - the Silk Manufactory, owned by A.Paulsen. In 1701, J.G.Gregory opened the first pharmacy in Moscow, located in the German Quarter (hence, the name of the street - Pharmacy Lane, or Аптекарский переулок).
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. The shores of the Yauza housed P.Belavin's silk factory, N.Ivanov's ribbon factory etc. After the fire of 1812, the former German Quarter was mainly populated by merchants and petty bourgeois. Nemetskaya Street (Baumanskaya Street since 1918) was named after the German Quarter.
The name "German Quarter" disappeared from the Moscow lexicon in the mid-19th century. Most of the neighborhood's territory is now a part of Basmanny municipal district of Moscow.
