The German Quarter (Emergency village) in Kyiv is a cottage quarter consisting of 2-3-storey nice apartment buildings for workers of the nearest Darnitsa factories. Houses began to be built immediately after the end of the Great Patriotic War; their construction was carried out by German prisoners of war. Civilian German specialists from transformed Germany also worked here, who gave these buildings a characteristic European flavor.
Walking through this microdistrict, you seemed to be immersed in some special, not at all Left Bank flavor – fancy patterns around rounded, decorative windows, mansard towers, graceful external staircases. The eyes rejoiced contemplating the rich stucco molding on the outer walls of the houses.
– In the warm season, after a work shift, people gathered on benches in courtyards or squares. They sat civilly, read newspapers or played chess. It was very cozy, just like at a dacha – the current resident tells about the distant past of Socialist City. – There was even a fountain, right here, in the center of the park. Now all that’s left of it is the pool… – adds the old man.
This is interesting!
1. Soviet residents from these houses were often called “Germans.”
2. The microdistrict was called the Emergency Village not because of its unsatisfactory condition at that time, but because repairmen from nearby enterprises and factories lived there (“Radical“, “Khimvolokno“, “DShK“), which in case of an emergency promptly went to repair the breakdown at any time of the day.
3. Until recently, when the neighborhood had not yet begun to be demolished for development, a real chimney sweep would visit the houses to clean the ventilation pipes.
4. The microdistrict is often called the Social City, but it does not belong to it.
5. The German Quarter was used by the creators of the game “Stalker. Clear Sky” as a prototype for the city of Limansk. Now only in the game it has been preserved intact, where you can wander around the block, even the playgrounds are drawn authentically.
As of the beginning of 2018, about 10 houses have survived and are still inhabited in the German quarter.