Berdsk

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Berdsk (English)
Бердск (Russian)

Panorama of Berdsk
Berdsk (Russia)
Berdsk
Location of Berdsk on the map of Russia
Coordinates
54°45′N 83°6′E / 54.75, 83.1Coordinates: 54°45′N 83°6′E / 54.75, 83.1
Coat of Arms
City Day: In the first decade of September
Administrative status
Federal subject
In jurisdiction of
Administrative center of		 Novosibirsk Oblast
Novosibirsk Oblast
—
Local self-government
Charter Charter of Berdsk
Municipal status n/a
Head Alexander Terepa
Legislative body Council of Deputies
Area
Area 67.06 km² (25.9 sq mi)
Population (as of the 2002 Census)
Population
- Rank
- Density
 88,445 inhabitants
185th
1,318.9/km² (3,415.9/sq mi)
Events
Founded 1716
Town status 1944
Other information
Postal code n/a
Dialing code +7 38341
Official website
http://www.berdskadm.ru/

Berdsk (Russian: Бердск) is a town in Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia, a satellite of Novosibirsk. It is situated on a bank of the Berd river. It was founded in 1716 as a fortress. Town status granted in 1944. Its original territory was flooded by the water of the Novosibirsk Reservoir (known as the Ob sea) in 1957. Population: 90,700 (2005 est.); 88,445 (2002 Census); 79,252 (1989 Census).

Contents

[edit] History

The migration of Russians in the territory of modern Novosibirsk Oblast began in the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century. The people were usual for all the Siberia colonization: fugitive peasants who escaped from excessive pressure of Peter I regime, fugitive criminals (raskolniki), people free for various reasons (volnitsa) like hunters for furs attracted by the richness of Siberian woods and others, searching for freedom (volya) and wishing to settle in these places (see History of Siberia).

By 1715, the Berd river basin was populated significantly for those ages. The risk of incursions of nomads from the south made them demand building a fortress for defence from the Tomsk district authorities.

In 1716, an expedition left Tomsk and came to the place between Ob river and its confluent Berd. The construction was lead by Ivan Butkeyev, a captive Pole, who settled in Russia, became a serviceman and went to Siberia. The Berd ostróg (in Russian Бердский острог, Berd fortress) was built in the angle between the two rivers. It was protected by the rivers and precipitous banks from two sides and by a dense forest on the third side. The Ob river valley was observed well too from the height of the banks.

The very date of 1716 is discussed though. Some researches point to earlier mentions of this fortress. Besides, in this place there was a duty road (ясачная дорога, yasáchnaya doróga) that led to Kuznetsk (nowadays Novokuznetsk) town yet in the middle of the XVII century. This place could be ideal for a settlement, and some proofs are given by this version supporters. According to them, the fact that in maps of 1710 there was no settlement in place of Berdsk ostrog could mean that it had been destroyed by nomads.

A description of 1734 reads: "There is one wall in arc between Ob and Berd, of cleaned logs with sharp tops, 3 sazhen high (6.39 m/21'). In front of the wall there is a ditch with water and some defensive devices. By the ends of the wall there are observation towers. All the buildings are inside of the ostrog: living houses, the church, the chief's house, the court house, barns and the garrison. The troop consists of local cossacs having guns, there is one small cannon."

Besides the settled Russians who had to farm to live, the state encouraged the servicemen to farm too. They cultivated the land not far from the fortress, constructing temporary houses and farmsteads (in Russian called заи́мки zaímkas).

In 1730 the Siberia trakt (road) passed here, giving an impulse to the development of trade and crafts.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century in Berdsk area were found grains of gold washed there from the upper course of Berd, in particular from some sourses at Salair range, in 200 km from there. The discovery lead to searches and mining of gold in those places.

Merchant Gorokhov's mill
Merchant Gorokhov's mill

By the beginning of twentieth century Berdsk became a major center of grain processing, refining grain from the upper Ob basin, which nowadays is south of Novosibirsk Oblast and Altai Krai. The industry was highly developed and possessed advanced technologies.

As an example, a mill of a merchant V. A. Gorokhov was a real factory of grain processing, one of the most advanced enterprises in Tomsk Guberniya: given an advanced equipment as in the Western Europe, it could operate ninety tonnes of grain in a day, producing flour of several sorts. The flour was packed into special labelled bags and sold in all the Siberia, exported into the European Russia and even to the Western Europe. Gorokhov undertook expeditions to trade flour via Kara Sea where his barge met English merchants. In 1909, Gorokhov's mill won a minor gold medal at the World Fair in Paris. His enterprise was highly developed not only technically and economically, but also socially: the community of the mill personnel lived in a quarter of good and clean houses. They were not only paid well and given gifts for holidays, but also Gorokhov kept a house of culture with stage and professional actors, a library and a well-equipped technical school, to teach all the skills needed to work at the mill, including towboat navigation.

Berdsk village center in 1920s
Berdsk village center in 1920s

In 1915, Altai railway passed near Berdsk, it connected Novo-Nikolaevsk, Barnaul and Biysk.

The full mobilization during the World War I and the civil war after the revolution heavily struck the town: its population diminished by 1/3. During the civil was it was a place of military command and administrative centre of White movement and also a place of strong resistance of underground communists. The following collectivisation was another serious strike, given that the only kind of farmers in Siberia were private independend owners. Even if not many were subjected to repression, the radical change of the relationships ended the role of Siberia as an agricultural exporter.

Town map of 1949. The main historical part is in the left, in the right is the settlement around the railway station. In the top-right corner nowadays is Akademgorodok.
Town map of 1949. The main historical part is in the left, in the right is the settlement around the railway station. In the top-right corner nowadays is Akademgorodok.
The same map with original river beds marked with dark-blue and the flooded zone with light-blue
The same map with original river beds marked with dark-blue and the flooded zone with light-blue

Because of the construction of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric powerstation, the main part of the town turned out to be in the zone of flooding of the Ob Sea. In several years before the filling of the water reservoir in 1957–1958, the town was evacuated and rebuilt around that part near the railroad station. The state provided financial aid to inhabitants. There are no historic buildings left in Berdsk, the oldest were built by 1915 for the station, the town streets form straight rectangles. Though, they are wider than were before, and also the rebuilding doubled the average living space per capita.

[edit] Geography

The town is situated on the left bank of Berdsk gulf, the flooded valley of Berd river, the land is plain. There are fields to the south of the town and a pine forest of about 20 km² to the West, between Berdsk and the Ob sea.

The list of the cities closes to Berdsk (name of the region if outside of Novosibirsk Oblast; distance to the center directly/by automobile road; direction)

  1. Iskitim (18/18, SE)
  2. Novosibirsk (33/32, N)
  3. Ob (37/49, NW)
  4. Cherepanovo (61/71, S)
  5. Toguchin (97/154, NE)
  6. Bolotnoye (131/164, NE)
  7. Chulym (141/178, W)
  8. Kamen-na-Obi (Altai Krai, 155/233, SW)
  9. Yurga (Kemerovo Oblast, 158/205, NE)
  10. Novoaltaysk (Altai Krai, 159/193, S)
  11. Barnaul (Altai Krai, 159/207, S)
  12. Zarinsk (Altai Krai, 166/264, SE)
  13. Topki (Kemerovo Oblast, 171/266, E)
  14. Salair (Kemerovo Oblast, 183/? E)

(Source)

[edit] Structure and population

The town is divided into seven microdistricts:

  1. Tsentr (Центр)
  2. Mikrorayon (Микрорайон)
  3. Voyenny Gorodok (Военный городок)
  4. Krasny Sokol (Красный сокол)
  5. Dom Otdykha (Дом отдыха)
  6. Novy Posyolok (Новый посёлок; at the right bank of Berd, borders on Akademgorodok)
  7. Agroles (Агролес)

About one third of the town square are private one-floor small houses. They have only cold water, electricity and wired radio. Another third consists of quarters of municipal houses or recently built commercial. Some quarters possess cable TV networks and computer LANs.

Population development:

year population year population
1914 6 000 1982 68 000
1925 4 544 1986 76 000
1930 5 751 1989 79 200
1939 11 000 1992 81 200
1959 29 000 1996 85 600
1967 45 000 1998 85 800
1970 53 200 2000 86 600
1973 58 000 2001 87 300
1976 63 000 2003 88 400
1979 67 300 2005 90 700

(Sources: [1] [2])

[edit] Transportation

The road M52 passes through Berdsk connecting Novosibirsk with Altai Krai, Altai Republic and Mongolia. Thanks to it, 15-20 minutes are enough to reach Akademgorodok and about 1 hour to main part of Novosibirsk. The daily commuter traffic to workplaces in the latter two places is significant.

Inside of the town there is a network of municipal and private buses routes, including intercity routes to Novosibirsk and Iskitim. In the central part of Berdsk is situated the railway station with branch lines connecting some local enterprises. The station serves local elektrichkas and transit long distance trains to Altai and Kazakhstan.

River passenger or cargo traffic is only private and negligible, though there is a yacht-club and a pier for sand carrying barges.

[edit] Education and culture

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Transfiguration Cathedral in Berdsk, constructed in 2004
Transfiguration Cathedral in Berdsk, constructed in 2004

There are about fifteen high-schools in Berdsk, the last one was rebuilt in 1990s, four trade schools, an electromechanical secondary school, a lyceum, a management college, a medical secondary school, and several libraries.

Berdsk has two palaces of culture: one in the central district and another one in the Mikrorayon microdistrict. There are three stadiums, five sports schools, a musical school, a museum of history and culture, a park, and a yacht club.

Students normally enroll in public school at age seven and graduate eleven years later. Classes are about 40 minutes long. The school day begins about 8:00 and ends between 12:00 and 14:00 depending upon the age of the student. Many students augment their public school education by attending private specialized schools after the public school day is complete. Such schools may offer additional training in language, art, or technology. School no.7 (shown in the photo) is one of the smaller schools. It is the location of a Russian-American Summer School. This three week program is taught by volunteer teachers from the United States, public school no.7 and the Terra Lingua Language School

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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Cities and towns in Novosibirsk Oblast
Administrative center: Novosibirsk
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Barabinsk · Berdsk · Bolotnoye · Cherepanovo · Chulym · Iskitim · Karasuk · Kargat · Kupino · Kuybyshev · Ob · Tatarsk · Toguchin
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