Stalingrad is a famous hero city. A lot of domestic and foreign films have been shot about the battle of Stalingrad, a huge number of streets and quarters have been named. This article is devoted to this city and the history of its formation. modern name- Volgograd.

In Soviet times, it was not uncommon to find a city on the map of fifteen republics under the name of some outstanding personality: a commander, politician, commander in chief. Stalingrad was no exception.

Stalingrad - the origin of the name

In total, the city has had 3 names since its foundation. The city was founded in 1589 as Tsaritsyn (next to the river Tsaritsa). Then, in 1925, the city received its second name - Stalingrad, in honor of Stalin, who led the defense of the city from the army of Ataman Krasnov.

Stalingrad - modern name

In 1961, 8 years after Stalin's death, when the fervor of patriotism towards this person subsided, the city was renamed Volgograd. Back in the 18th century, the city was one of the main industrial cities of Russia, which it is to this day.

Disputes on the topic of renaming Volgograd back to Stalingrad are ongoing today. People who support the political left, mostly communists, socialists and many older people, believe that the renaming of the city is disrespectful to history and those people who fell in the battle of Stalingrad.

This issue was considered in the highest echelons, at the state level. In order to reach a consensus, the government decided to keep the name Stalingrad only on specific dates that are directly related to the historical events of the city.

Days when Volgograd is officially called Stalingrad:

• February 2. On this day, Soviet troops defeated the Nazis in the battle of Stalingrad.
• 9th May. National day of victory over Nazi Germany and its allies.
• 22nd of June. Day of memory and sorrow for those who died in World War II.
• 2 September. End of World War II.
• August 23. Day of Remembrance of the inhabitants of Stalingrad who died from the fascist bombardments.
• November 19th. On this day, the defeat of the Nazi army near Stalingrad began.

The city of Stalingrad: what is it called now, and what was its name before? This will be our conversation.Turning the pages of history, one can understand that the city has a complex, heroic biography.Tsaritsyn, Stalingrad, Volgograd - all these are the names of the same city. Few cities in Russia have changed their names three times in their history.

Tsaritsyn

Let's start the journey into history from the distant 16th century, when the city of Tsaritsyn was erected on the banks of the Volga, designed to become one of the trade and political centers that was needed here, since the river in those days was a means of transportation in summer for ships, in winter - for carts . And this path had to be maintained and protected from enemy attacks.

The wooden fortress erected here in 1589, built by settlers, was burnt down by the tsarist troops. Stone structures appeared in place of the wooden ones. The settlement roamed from place to place, sometimes rebuilding on the right bank of the Volga, sometimes on the left. Either the Cossacks ruled there, or the Adyghes, Circassians, Nogais ran in.

This went on until Peter the Great arrived in the city and ordered the construction of the Tsaritsyno guard line, giving the city his cap and cane, which are kept in the museum to this day. It happened in 1718.

Many more terrible events befell the city of Tsaritsyn: two devastating fires, the raid of Emelyan Pugachev, a settlement on the banks of the Volga by German colonists.

In the 19th century, Tsaritsyn reached an unprecedented flourishing. The first school opened in the city, doctors began to receive patients, a mustard factory opened, potatoes began to grow in the fields, and a railway line appeared. These events turned out to be only the forerunners of the rapid development of Tsaritsyn as a center of industry and culture.

In 1917, the power of the Bolsheviks was established in the city peacefully, and this served only as another impetus for its rapid flourishing.

Stalingrad

In 1925, the congress of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to give the city the name of I.V. Stalin, who, according to eyewitnesses, was against this and did not even appear at the congress.

As a result of the congress in 1925, the city lost its historical name Tsaritsyn. Stalingrad is a name that marked a new milestone in its development.

New factories and factories are being built, the Stalingrad State District Power Plant is being launched, the Stalingrad Tractor Plant has been put into operation, pedagogical and medical institutes are being opened. Stalingrad (1925-1961), in spite of everything, in the most difficult historical conditions, became the largest industrial and cultural center Volga region.

The city developed and got upset until disaster struck our country. In 1941 the Great Patriotic War began.

Battle of Stalingrad

The Nazis moved across the country by leaps and bounds. Stalingrad was an important strategic point for their offensive.

The days from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943 are a terrible time for the city and for the whole country, which received the name of the Battle of Stalingrad. According to official figures, more than a million Soviet people died in those days. Among them were old people, women and children.

People died not only in battle - the city was subjected to air raids, as a result of which a huge number of civilians died. Although it is difficult to call those people civilians. Everyone who could hold tools in their hands, young and old, went out to build defenses in the devastated city. Despite the ruin, factories continued to operate, releasing new tanks and shells. Who could, became to the machines.

The command sent more and more military units to the Stalingrad Front. Relentless statistics show that the average life of a fighter on the Stalingrad lines was 24 hours.

They fought for every street, every house. The Nazis joked bitterly, calling that war on the streets of Stalingrad a "rat war."

The real massacre went beyond the highest point near the city - Mamaev Kurgan. From time immemorial, the enemy has been trying to capture this important strategic object. From it, as in the palm of your hand, you could see the whole city and its districts for many kilometers.

Particularly fierce fighting took place in the areas of the artillery and tractor factories, which continued to produce all this time military equipment, which immediately went into battle.

February 2 - official victory day Soviet army over the Nazis in the Battle of Stalingrad. This day was a turning point for the outcome of the entire war. In Germany, mourning was declared over the defeat at Stalingrad.

The city of Stalingrad suffered terrible battles. The name of the place that immortalized the memory of the defenders who died here is now known to every resident of the city and all of Russia. A majestic monument to the heroes who gave their lives in that battle rises on Mamayev Kurgan.

In the post-war years, the city quickly began to recover, acquiring the past grandeur and beauty. Destroyed buildings, plants, factories were revived, new ones were built.

Volgograd

The city of Stalingrad: what is the name of this hero city now? No one doubts why the name of the city has changed once again.

The decision to rename was made in 1961. The working people of the country did not want the name of the city to remind of a person whose name was associated with the destruction of a huge number of innocent people.

Changes have taken place on the map of our vast country. The replacement of Stalingrad-Volgograd did not affect the rapid development of the city. Currently, it is a million-plus city that attracts many tourists who remember its heroic history.

There are many here memorable places, and to this day, residents of the whole country remember the city of Stalingrad. What is the name of the panorama of military events now? Of course, the Stalingrad panorama. And how can you rename that battle? No way. It will forever keep the name -Stalingrad battle.

Education

What is the name of the city of Stalingrad now? History of Stalingrad

Remember the history of the Second World War - 1942, for example. The battle for the city of Stalingrad (as it is now called, probably, outside of Russia and not everyone knows), in which the Red Army gained success, turned the tide of the war back. It deservedly bears the title of Hero City.

The city of Stalingrad: what it is called now and what it used to be called

During the Paleolithic period, on the outskirts of the city, there was a site of primitive people, which was called Dry Mechetka. In the 16th century, in historical sources, this area is associated with the stay of representatives of the Tatar people. Since in the memoirs of the English traveler Jenkinson, "the abandoned Tatar city of Meskhet" is mentioned. In official royal documents, this city was first mentioned on July 2, 1589 under the name Tsaritsyn. So it was called until 1925.

As is known, in the 1920s and 1930s, cities were mainly called by the names and surnames (pseudonyms) of Soviet leaders and party leaders. The former Tsaritsyn in 1925 was the 19th city in the USSR in terms of the number of inhabitants, so its fate of renaming could not be avoided. In 1925 the city was renamed Stalingrad. It is under this name that he is best known, because the Battle of Stalingrad entered the world history as the most important event of the Second World War.

In 1956, the debunking of the cult of Stalin began. The party had a lot of work in this direction, so the party leaders got to the renaming of the city only in 1961. From 1961 to the present locality bears the name that very accurately characterizes its location - Volgograd (a city on the Volga).

Brief history of the city from 1589 to 1945

Initially, the city concentrated on a small island. Why is it based here? Because until that time people had already lived here, and the place was convenient for trade. The location on the Volga gave the settlement good chances for dynamic development. Real transformations in the city began to take place in the 19th century. The first school for children of the nobility, the first gymnasium, was opened, in which 49 children studied. In 1808, a doctor came to the city, who did a lot for the development of medicine in it (she was the first local doctor).

With the development of transport infrastructure (Volga-Don and other railways) since the late 1850s, industry and trade in the city have been developing very strongly, the well-being of residents has increased.

For the first three decades of the 20th century, the territory of Stalingrad was expanding. New industrial facilities, residential buildings, places of mass recreation of the population are being built. In 1942, the Germans came to the city of Stalingrad. What is this time called now? An occupation. 1942 and 1943 were the worst years in the history of the city.

Our time: the city is flourishing

Stalingrad - what city is it now? Volgograd. This name fully reflects its essence, because the river is one of the main trade routes. In the 1990-2000s, Volgograd acquired the status of a millionaire several times. Industry, services and recreation, sports are actively developing in the city. The football team of the Volgograd "Rotor" has played more than one season in the major league of Russia.

But still, the settlement played its most important role in history under the name "city of Stalingrad" (as it is now called, you should also not forget, because the old name is unlikely to return).

Actual

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous

Volgograd is one of largest cities Volga region, whose history goes back several centuries. The first mention of the city, stretching along the Volga right bank for about 70 km, dates back to 1589, when the Russian state faced an urgent need to protect a new transport route - the Volga River. It was then that the city of Tsaritsyn was founded, a few centuries later renamed Stalingrad, and then Volgograd.

Tsaritsyn - the beginning of the history of the city of Volgograd

July 2, 1589 is considered to be the day of the foundation of Tsaritsyn. On the island, the settlers built a wooden fortress to defend themselves from the steppe nomads. However, this church did not save the city from the royal troops, who stormed the settlement in 1607. A year later, the first stone church (John the Baptist) was erected in Tsaritsyn, which stood until the end of the 30s of the XX century and was restored in its original place in the 90s.

In 1615, the fortifications of Tsaritsyn were rebuilt in a new place - no longer on the island, but on the right bank of the Volga. It was here that Stepan Razin stopped on his way to Persia in 1667 and in 1669 during his return trip. His squad in 1670, after a long siege, captured Tsaritsyn, establishing Cossack self-government in the city.

In 1708, during the uprising of the Don Cossacks in the Lower Volga region, one of the large detachments led by Ignat Nekrasov and Ivan Pavlov moved to Tsaritsyn and stormed the city. In the next decade, this settlement more than once became the object of raids by the Circassians, Nogais and Adyghes.
In 1718, on the Volga coast, by decree of Peter I, the Tsaritsyno guard line began to be built. Tsaritsyn became the most extreme from the Volga coast, the fifth fortress in a row. Having once again visited the city, the tsar promised the locals that no one would dare to resettle the townspeople in Azov, and donated his cane and cap to Tsaritsyn (these items are still kept in the Volgograd Museum of Local Lore).

Two strong fires (in 1727 and in 1728) almost completely destroyed the wooden buildings. The victims were allocated land across the Tsaritsa River, thus forming the Zatsaritsyno part of the city (now the Voroshilovsky district of Volgograd is located on this territory).

In 1765, with the permission of Catherine II, the first foreign colonists appeared in Tsaritsyn. At the mouth of the Sarpa River, the German Hernguters founded a settlement called Sarepta-on-Volga, surrounded by a fortress with an earthen rampart and a moat.

In 1774, Emelyan Pugachev's troops tried to take Tsaritsyn by storm, but the government troops under the command of Mikhelson, who came to the rescue, repulsed the attack. After the defeat of the Pugachev uprising, the Volga Cossack army and the Tsaritsyno Watch Line were abolished.

The beginning of the 19th century was marked by a number of events that determined the further development of the city. In 1808, the city's first literacy school was opened in Tsaritsyn, and the first professional doctors appeared. In 1812, a mustard plant was launched, and in 1820, by order of Tsar Alexander I, it was approved new plan buildings of Tsaritsyno. In the middle of the 19th century in Sarepta, for the first time, fields were sown with potatoes, which had previously been considered a harmful “devil's apple”.

In 1862, the Volga-Don railway was laid from Tsaritsyn to Kalach-on-Don, connecting the Volga and Don along the shortest distance. In 1870, the first trains passed along the Gryaz-Tsaritsyno railway.

1814 marked the beginning of a towing shipping company, and in 1857 regular passenger traffic along the Volga was opened.

In 1872, the first theater was opened in Tsaritsyn, and three years later, a men's gymnasium, which became the first educational institution in a city where one could get a classical secondary education.

The end of the 19th century is an important milestone in the industrial development of the city. During these years, a large oil depot was built, a sawmill, an oil refinery and a metallurgical plant were launched, and a city water supply system was opened.

In 1885, the first issue of the Volzhsko-Donskoy leaflet was published, and five years later the city public library was opened.

The 20th century began with a great fire that raged for several days. And again the city had to be rebuilt.

In 1913, the first city tram was launched in Tsaritsyn and the construction of the Astrakhan bridge over the Tsaritsa River was completed. At the same time, paved roads, cars and the first electric lights appeared in the city.

In 1914, a ceremonial laying of a cannon factory took place in the city and a pedagogical museum was founded. A year later, the House of Science and Arts was built in Tsaritsyn and a meteorological station was opened.

In 1916, the construction of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, begun in 1901, was completed in the city, and already in 1932 the temple was destroyed.

During the October Revolution of 1917, a revolutionary headquarters was formed in Tsaritsyn. Soviet power in the city was established peacefully, since a month ago, the leadership of Tsaritsyn was taken over by the Bolsheviks S.K. Minin and Ya.Z. Yerman.

Stalingrad - the heroic history of Volgograd

In 1925, by decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad. The documents of those years show that Comrade Stalin himself was against such a renaming, he even refused to appear at the local Congress of Soviets.

In 1924, Stalingrad was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by government decree.

Until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War active industrial and social construction continued in the city: tractor and hardware plants were put into operation, the construction of a power plant began according to the GOELRO plan, and the Stalingrad Tractor Institute was opened. By the end of the first five-year plan, Stalingrad had become the largest industrial center of the Volga region.

In 1930, the Stalingradskaya GRES with a capacity of 51,000 kilowatts was launched, and a year later the first stage of the shipyard in the Krasnoarmeysky district of the city was put into operation. In the mid-1930s, pedagogical and medical institutes, the Tsaritsyn Defense Museum, and the first Palace of Pioneers and Schoolchildren were opened in Stalingrad.

A year before the Great Patriotic War, the only children's Volga River Flotilla in the USSR was built in the city with its own ships and a pier.

On July 17, 1942, the heroic defense of Stalingrad began, which lasted until February 2, 1943, when the liquidation of the encircled group of Nazi troops was completely completed. This day is considered to be the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. The restoration of the destroyed city began. In 1945, Stalingrad, Leningrad, Odessa and Sevastopol were awarded the title of Hero Cities.

In 1958, the largest in Europe Stalingrad hydroelectric power station was put into operation and the Stalingrad television center began broadcasting.

Volgograd: the history of the name of the city

On November 10, 1961, "at the request of the working people," the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to rename Stalingrad to Volgograd. The history of the name of the city is connected with the Volga. Volgograd literally means "city on the Volga".

Was lit in 1960 Eternal flame, in the same year, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, Fidel Castro, arrived in the city on an official visit.

In the city, almost completely restored after the war, large-scale construction of industrial, residential and social facilities continued. The history of the development of Volgograd, incredibly full of both joyful and tragic events, did not stop for a minute.

In the 1960s, the engine and soot plants were put into operation, a new circus building was put into operation, a monument-ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" was erected, and the Higher Investigative School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened its doors. In the same years, the city was awarded the Golden Star medal and the Order of Lenin, the title of Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Volgograd was established.

In the 1970s, the history of Volgograd, whose photos are presented in the photo gallery on this page, was marked by such a significant event as the awarding of the Order of Lenin. This award was awarded not only to the city, but to the entire Volgograd region, and five residents of Volgograd were awarded the title of honorary citizen.

At the same time, the Volgograd shoe factory was built,

Theater of the Young Spectator opened.

In the 1980s, the Volgograd State University, the panorama "Battle of Stalingrad" was opened, the third urban master plan for Volgograd was approved, the first stage of the high-speed tram was launched, connecting the city center with its northern regions. The length of the branch was 16 km (13 km on the ground and 3 km underground). In the same years, a monument to the participants in the revival of Volgograd was opened and new holiday- Day of the city of Volgograd. One of the significant events of this period was the birth of a millionth inhabitant; on May 3, 1989, Volgograd officially became the 24th million-plus city in the USSR. In September of the same year, Volgograd celebrated its 400th anniversary.

No less important events occurred in the 1990s of the XX century. At the turn of the century were discovered:

State Historical and Ethnographic Museum Reserve "Old Sarepta"

Center of Russian Spiritual and Singing Culture "Concordia"

Volgograd Regional Armenian Cultural Center.

The private art gallery "Vernissage" and the Children's Art Gallery opened their doors.

In 1991, the 1st International Festival of Avant-Garde Art "Kaifedra" was held in Volgograd, the Union of Volga Germans "Khaimat" was created and the State Don Cossack Theater was established. At the same time, for the first time in the history of Volgograd, pilot issues of Novaya Gazeta and Gorodskiye Vesti were published, the Nizhne-Volzhskaya customs was formed, the first visitors were received by the Volgograd Regional Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS and the Volgograd Regional Cardiology Center, the Volga Olympic Academy, the Volgograd Institute were created management and the Diocesan Theological School.

In the 1990s, the Volgograd TV and Radio Company began broadcasting, the first radio station in the FM band, Europe Plus Volgograd, and the New Wave radio station. In 1998, Volgograd dropped out of the number of million-plus cities.

The beginning of the 21st century was marked by the second award to the city on the Volga of the status of a millionaire (2002). But already in 2004, the number of residents of Volgograd again fell below the coveted mark. Between 2000 and 2010 A center of gerontology, a representative office of the International Association for Combating Drug Addiction and Drug Trafficking were opened in the city, the first stage of the bridge across the Volga was put into operation and the second stage of the Volgograd Metrotram was opened. In 2008, Volgograd received the status of a millionaire for the third time. In 2011, 28 settlements were included in the regional center.

From its very beginnings to the present, the city has played an important history in shaping Russian state. The history of Volgograd, a video about the main milestones of which can be viewed on this page, continues, the city is developing in all important areas, our descendants will have to say their next word in the annals of Volgograd.

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet army in the Battle of Stalingrad. Everyone knows that after the expulsion of the Nazi troops, the city lay in ruins, everyone remembers the famous photograph of the Barmaley fountain with dancing children.

But almost no one, except for interested local residents, saw what Stalingrad (and until 1925 - Tsaritsyn) looked like before the battle for it began. Therefore, I suggest you look at old photographs and try to imagine a pre-war Volga city:

There are not so many Soviet pre-war photographs of Stalingrad, so let's start with Tsaritsyn of the imperial period.

The first (central) part of Tsaritsyn. The picture was taken from the first fire tower, opened in 1854, which stood where the entrance to the Medical University is now located (along the Alley of Heroes).

Salt pier and barns in late XIX century

View of the city of Tsaritsyno, 1886. Now this is the perspective of Prospekt im. Lenin from the city center in a southwestern direction.

Fishing pier on the Volga, 1886

Lower Forest Wharf, 1886

View of the city of Tsaritsyn, 1886

Gryase-Tsaritsynskaya railway. Oil warehouses of the Nobel Brothers Association, 1886

Viaduct, 1898 The railway bridge over the Tsaritsa River, built in 1898, connected the Gryaz-Tsaritsynskaya and Tikhoretskaya railways into a single transport system.

The Tsaritsa River at its confluence with the Volga, early 20th century

Tsaritsyn at the beginning of the 20th century. Astrakhanskaya street is the current Sovetskaya.

Kulyginsky vozvoz is another, alternative to Astrakhan, way from Zatsaritsynskaya to the central (First) part of the city. Vzvoz is partially preserved in the area of ​​the high-speed tram reversal ring, where even now you can go down the same road to the Tsaritsyno ravine.

View of the floodplain of the Tsaritsa River and the beginning of Aleksandrovskaya Street, 1880s. Yes, residential buildings used to stand right in the ravine.

Pleasure garden "Concordia", late XIX - early XX century. Apparently, now this place is a wasteland.

Railway station, summer gazebo. 1875

Station Square at the end of the 19th century

Tsaritsyn station, fish warehouses

Station in 1903-1905

Trade school, early 20th century. It was located on Belskaya Street (the current Communist); in the distance you can see the tower of the 1st fire station.

Moskovskaya street and the building of the Zemskaya uprava, 1905-1912

View of the city from the Volga, 1912

The ravine through which the Tsaritsa flows, 1910-1914

The building of the 4th women's gymnasium, 1913. Surprisingly, it survived the war. Now it houses the Cossack Theatre.

The same building from a different angle. Here you can see the trams, which then just appeared in the city (the first electric tram was launched in Tsaritsyn in the spring of 1913).

Gogol street, 1913-1917

Same street, 1913-1916

Market Square, 1910-1915

Prison

Holy Spirit Monastery, 1912-1917

Tsaritsyn. 1st Men's Gymnasium and Real School, 1916-1917 These buildings no longer exist, now this quarter on Prospekt im. Lenin is occupied by the administration of the Volgograd region.

Square in front of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, circa 1918. Now there is a square in this place. Sasha Filippov.

Orphanage of the organization Mezhrabpom, former home of Miller. After the revolution, it housed the Youth Theater. The building was seriously damaged during the war, but did not collapse, and stood abandoned until the 1960s, and then it was demolished. The house stood next to the current parking lot of the Pyramid shopping center.

"House with swans", built in the 1920s (corner of Mira and Lenin streets). He, too, suffered during the war, and he was restored in a greatly altered form.

Physiotherapy Institute. Semashko, 1925-1942

City Council building, 1925-1942 Now it houses the Volgograd Regional Museum of Local Lore.

Tsaritsyn Defense Museum, late 1920s.

In 1930, the famous fountain was built on the site of the flower bed.

The station after the restructuring of 1931.

Stalingrad Youth Theater, 1930-1941

House of Communal Services, 1937-1941 The building was destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Fallen Fighters Square, 1937-1938 The ruins of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which was blown up in 1932, are visible at the top of the picture.

From a different angle.

Lower Oktyabrskaya Street and Oktyabrskaya Square, 1935 (now here is the Alley of Heroes)

State publishing house, 1930s

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and a monument to Lenin on the square Fallen Fighters. They coexisted, as you already understood, not for long. The cathedral was destroyed by the communists in 1932, and the monument was destroyed during the war.

City center in 1931

Stalingrad in 1932. The cathedral has not yet been blown up.

House of Science and Arts, 1930. It was opened under the tsar, but under the Bolsheviks it retained its functions.

He is. During the war, the building was badly damaged, and in the early 1950s it was rebuilt in the Stalinist style.

Regional Executive Committee, 1935-1940. There is now a square where the construction of a new Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is underway.

The central department store, which was built right before the war, in 1938. During the war it was destroyed, and in 1949 it was rebuilt according to a new project. Now the hotel "Intourist" is located here.

Proletkultskaya Street, until 1942. It ran parallel to the current Komsomolskaya Street, now there are post-war residential areas on this site.

"House of visitors" at the Tractor Plant. It has survived to this day (Prospekt im. Lenina, 215), but in poor condition.

Checkpoint of the plant "Red October", 1939

View of the village of the tractor factory and the circus, 1932-1941. The Stalingrad circus was opened in 1932 and is designed for 3,000 spectators. During the Great Patriotic War it was partially destroyed. The lower part of the building was subsequently used for the construction of the market of the Traktorozavodsky district.

April 10, 1941, view of Komsomolsky Square

All photos found on the site