Orenburg state university

History

Orenburg was founded in 1743. Previous to this year, there had been two attempts to found the town in other places. The first corner stone was laid in 1735 near the confluence of the rivers, "Or" and "Yaik" (known as the "Ural" since 1775), but being far from the central Russia, the town was just in too remote of a location. The second attempt was done in 1741 at Krasnaja Gora (Red hill), about 80 km from the present town. It was the site itself that caused heated discussions among developers and engineers, specifically whether it would be better to build the town uphill or on even ground. Both options had advantages and disadvantages. The construction work could not go on, although not ever having really begun, all operations were stopped.

The problem was solved by a new commander, Ivan Nepliuyev, who decided to place the town where it is now. The decision was made after thorough consideration and when he had seen all the locations himself.

As for the name "Orenburg" there are several interpretations of the meaning of the word. "Or" derives from the name of the river and "burg" comes from the German language, i.e. "stronghold near the Or-river". Another version is that it is made up of the German word "Ohr" — ear, plural "Ohren" and "burg" and then it is "a stronghold with ears", i.e. an outpost on the border with Asia. It must be mentioned that in those days people of German origin were near the throne of the Empress Anna and played the first fiddle in politics.

So being deliberately located at the crossroads of trade routes between Europe and Asia, Orenburg was both a trading town and a fortress that protected Russia from nomadic cattle-breeders and worriers. In 1754–1755 the first Cossack settlements appeared in Orenburg. Those who settled were mostly Kalmyks, whom were newly christened and converted into Сossaсks.

The year 1876 saw the completion of the construction of the Samara-Orenburg railway. It began to function in 1877. The railway sparked vast development of industry. It was no longer necessary to drive herds of bartered live-stock to Samara, as one could transport the meat by train. The production of flour increased. Already in 1878 the merchant V.Ch. Yuroff received permission to build a steam-mill. It was the first one, as before there had been mostly windmills and some water-mills.

There were several orthodox churches at that time. The most prominent of them was the Kasan Cathedral, designed by the architect/academician A.A. Yashchenko. Consecrated in 1895 it became the greatest dominant structure of Orenburg. Its style was Neo-Byzantine, and it was situated where the garden in front of the House of Soviets is now.

During the first decade of the 20^th century many houses bearing the decorum of modernism were built. Sometimes the new style blended with historic styles. After World War I, the October Revolution, and the Civil War there came a period of restoration in the country, and thus the reason why nothing new could be built.

At the beginning of the 1930s Orenburg lost almost all significant town landmarks: of 21 Orthodox churches only one remained unharmed, all other buildings were demolished or lost their towers. Several new dwelling houses could not substitute the lost landmarks.

Considerable changes took place during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945). Forty-four enterprises had been evacuated to Orenburg. They gave impetus for new construction work, both industrial and civil. Houses were usually grouped in settlements near the plants.

Another impetus that broadened development was due to the commencement of gas-plant constructions near Orenburg. In the 1970s, Orenburg was practically a new town and to the north of this pre-war town new development also began.