As we approach the halfway point in the Franztal Gemeindebericht, or community report, we do well to remind ourselves why we should care about this relatively insignificant Molotschna village. On the one hand, Franztal was the first Molotschna village in which a member of our extended Buller family lived: Jacob Jacob Buller moved there in 1819. On the other hand, as we learned in the Przechovka Emigration series, Franztal was also the primary destination of the first group of immigrants from the Przechovka church to Molotschna. Our interest in both Bullers and the Przechovka church thus leads us to want to know more about this village.
Having read about the building of the house-barns in the village in the previous post, we pick up the account with the following paragraph: a description of the physical layout and features of the village.
The village is laid out in the direction from northeast to southwest. The Iushanle forms the border between the village and the land of the Tatars; the distance to the opposite border of the village Chernigov is 7 versts. On the northwestern side of the village along the lane are the orchards, each of which is a dessiatine in area and is already planted with a considerable number of fine fruit trees. At the end of the orchards rises the tree grove, which offers a lovely sight from the village with its green-leafed trees. On the west the village borders on Großweide, on the east Pastwa, and it is 60 Werst from the county seat Berdyansk. The numerous ancient burial mounds (Mohilen) give the land, one might say, a warty shape. The surface is almost everywhere black soil, in places containing saltpeter, with a layer of gravel and quarry stone, which lies over a thread/strand deep and in places comes to light. Although the productivity of the land does not equal that of the Molochna, trees, grains, and food crops thrive here as well. Violent storms often destroy the corn/grain fields in rows.
It is important to keep in mind that the description of this paragraph reflects the reality of 1848, not the initial founding of the village. The previous paragraph ended with the early houses just built; this paragraph speaks of fruit-bearing orchards. Much progress has been made in the nearly three decades since Franztal’s founding.
from northeast to southwest. The satellite photograph below shows the probable area of Franztal’s allotted farmland, and the site of the village itself is visible in the lower left of the red outline. The two rectangles at the bottom left (shown close up in the second photo) are oriented differently than the other fields. Those two rectangles were the original site of Franztal (which apparently was turned to farmland in the mid-1940s). The “northeast to southwest” description of the village’s layout makes sense when one sees it on a map.
from northeast to southwest. The satellite photograph below shows the probable area of Franztal’s allotted farmland, and the site of the village itself is visible in the lower left of the red outline. The two rectangles at the bottom left (shown close up in the second photo) are oriented differently than the other fields. Those two rectangles were the original site of Franztal (which apparently was turned to farmland in the mid-1940s). The “northeast to southwest” description of the village’s layout makes sense when one sees it on a map.
Iushanle. The Iushanle River (also spelled Yushanlee and Jushanlee) formed the southern border of Molotschna colony on its southwest and southeast corners. Thus Franztal, which was founded on the bank of the Iushanle (seen clearly in the photograph above), was right on the border of the colony.
the land of the Tatars. Although Tatar in its strict sense refers only to people groups who speak one of the Turkic languages (e.g., Turkish), the term was used in a looser sense in imperial Russia to refer to both Mongols and Turkic peoples who had formerly been part of the Mongol Empire. The referent here is no doubt to the Nogai Tatars who lived to the south of Molotschna colony. We saw earlier that August von Haxthausen referred to the Nogai Tatars (here), and it is safe to assume that the authors of the Franztal Gemeindebericht had the same group in mind with their reference to Tatars.
the village Chernigov. This village cannot presently be identified, in spite of it being located with respect to Franztal (see next). What complicates the issue is that (1) Chernigov was also the name of a guberniia (or governate) far to the north–northwest of Molotschna and (2) Russian peasants from the Chernigov guberniia were settled in the Molotschna area (Staples 2003, 18, 58). Did the village referenced have some connection with the settlers from Chernigov guberniia? One might suspect this, but the village Chernigov seems clearly located in “the land of the Tatars,” which would generally imply that this was a Nogai village. The mystery will have to remain unsolved for now. We know that there was a village named Chernigov near Franztal, but beyond that we cannot say.
the distance … is 7 versts. The village Chernigov was relatively close, since 7 versts is equal to 4.6 miles. Thus, Chernigov was located approximately 4.6 miles to the southeast, south, or southwest of Franztal. Whether a village still exists on that site we do not know.
northwestern side of the village along the lane. Abruptly the community report shifts locations, and we are back in Franztal now. The village map below (modified from the one that appears here) shows what is being described. The original row of twenty-four houses extended along the river (highlighted in pink). The main street (lane) of the village (purple) ran along the stretch of houses. Although the second row of houses that was added later has been hidden below, the villagers may have left the area vacant for future expansion and planted their orchards and groves on the other side of the vacant land. If not, then the orchards and groves were presumably set right next to the village lane and cut down when the village doubled the number of its homesteads. Those details aside, if one mentally rotates this map so that north is at the top, the phrase “northwestern side of the village along the lane” makes perfect sense.
Now that we have described the location and layout of the village, we are ready to describe in greater detail some of its characteristics—which we will do in the next post in this series.
Work Cited
Staples, John R. 2003. Cross-Cultural Encounters on the Ukrainian Steppe: Settling the Molochna Basin, 1783–1861. Tsarist and Soviet Mennonite Studies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Die Kolonie ist in der Richtung von Nordost nach Südwest angelegt. Der Juschanlee bildet die Grenze zwischen ihrem und dem Lande der Tataren; bis zur entgegengesetzten Grenze am Lande des Dorfes Tschernigow beträgt die Entfernung 7 Werst. An der nordwestlichen Seite der Kolonie der Gasse entlang befinden sich die Obstgärten, welche je eine Dessjatine Flächeninhalt haben und bereits mit einer beträchtlichen Anzahl von edlen Obstbäumen bepflanzt sind. Am Ende der Obstgärten erhebt sich die Gehölzplantage, welche von der Kolonie aus mit ihren grünbelaubten Bäumen einen reizenden Anblick gewährt. Gegen Abend grenzt die Kolonie an Großweide, gegen Morgen an Pastwa und ist von der Kreisstadt Berdjansk 60 Werst entlegen. Die vielen alten Grabhügel (Mohilen) verleihen dem Lande sozusagen eine warzige Gestalt. Die Oberfläche ist fast überall schwarze Erde, stellenweise etwas salpeterhaltig, mit einer Unterlage von Kies und Bruchstein, welche über einen Faden tief liegt und stellenweise zum Vorschein kommt. Obwohl die Erträglichkeit des Landes derjenigen an der Molotschna nicht gleichkommt, so gedeihen doch auch hier Bäume, Getreide und Futterkräuter. Heftige Stürme zerstören oft strichweise die Kornfelder.
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