Research and Competitions
New Construction
In Progress
Revitalization
2
Read from
the beginnig
the beginnig
2
Read from
the beginnig
the beginnig
Schematic of the plan. Electrical layout
Appendix
First attic floor (Room 1, Attic)
Schematic of the plan. Electrical layout
Second attic floor (Room in the Tower)
Schematic of the plan. Electrical layout
First attic floor (Attic)
Wiring diagrams
First attic floor (Room 1)
Wiring diagram
"I have already mentioned that mythical concepts are devoid of any stability: they can be created, changed, destroyed and disappear altogether. Precisely because they are historical, history can very easily abolish them."
A resting place for workers
V. History of Kommdiv Kotov
I. The Phenomenon of the State Dacha
General catalog of exhibits
Part 1: Historical material
In 1977−1980 and in 1986 the Design Institute Gorkovgrazhdanproekt by order of the City Executive Committee carried out the General Plan of the recreation area of Zeleny Gorod in Gorky. Project materials are stored in the Central Archive of special documentation of Nizhny Novgorod region.
The master plan envisaged the creation of 3 clusters of recreation zones: western, central and eastern. In the western zone the development of predominantly sanatorium-resort treatment, in the central and eastern part — mixed recreation with the predominant development of recreation for adults. Creation of water recreation areas, united park or forest park areas for each cluster formation. All three cluster formations are connected by a highway, which is used for bus communication between health resorts. Each cluster has its own sub-center of cultural and domestic service, designed for daily service of holidaymakers.
The master plan envisaged the creation of 3 clusters of recreation zones: western, central and eastern. In the western zone the development of predominantly sanatorium-resort treatment, in the central and eastern part — mixed recreation with the predominant development of recreation for adults. Creation of water recreation areas, united park or forest park areas for each cluster formation. All three cluster formations are connected by a highway, which is used for bus communication between health resorts. Each cluster has its own sub-center of cultural and domestic service, designed for daily service of holidaymakers.
On the total area of the recreation area of 40 square kilometers among the forest zone there are the sanatorium named after VTSPSPS. VTSSPPS, sanatorium "Green City", children’s sanatorium "Roika", Morenovskaya sanatorium-forest school, boarding house for the elderly "Nizhegorodets", "Green City", rest houses "Krasnoe Sormovo", "Green City", "Teacher", "Kudma", boarding house of Novogorkovskaya CHPP, boarding houses of the City Executive Committee, Oblast Committee of the CPSU, Oblispolkom, Old Bolsheviks, eight bases of mixed recreation of various enterprises and organizations, eight pioneer camps, children’s cottages, school of agricultural management, as well as residential area.
The State Socio-Political Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region holds the minutes of the meetings of the bureau of the Gorky City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the secretariat of the Gorky Regional Committee of the CPSU related to the Green City. They deal with the order of sending the families of the leading party staff to rest homes, the distribution of vouchers to rest homes, the nomenclature of workers to be sent to these rest homes, the continuation of construction and repair of infrastructure.
The State Socio-Political Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region holds the minutes of the meetings of the bureau of the Gorky City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the secretariat of the Gorky Regional Committee of the CPSU related to the Green City. They deal with the order of sending the families of the leading party staff to rest homes, the distribution of vouchers to rest homes, the nomenclature of workers to be sent to these rest homes, the continuation of construction and repair of infrastructure.
Minutes of meetings relating to the Green City
Kotov Nikolai Yakovlevich. Kommdiv (1935). Russian. Member of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (since July 1920 (from 1910 to 1917 he was a member of the Social Revolutionaries, from 1917 to 1920 — of the Social Revolutionaries Internationalists). — From 1917 to 1920 — in the Social Revolutionary Internationalist Party).
Born in July 1893 in Pavlograd, Yekaterinoslav province. From the nobility. Graduated from Pavlograd Gymnasium in 1910 and entered Novorossiysk University. In 1912 he dropped out of the university and entered the Odessa Military School, which he graduated from in 1914. He participated in the First World War from 1914 to 1918. In the battles he was wounded five times. Before the February Revolution of 1917 he carried out underground revolutionary work among soldiers. After the February Revolution of 1917, he was elected chairman of the divisional and then corps committees, as well as a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Special Army. The last rank in the old army was lieutenant colonel. In the Red Army since March 1918.
Participant of the Civil War on the Southern Front. During the war he held the following positions: chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Pavlograd district of Yekaterinoslav province, Kharkov province military commissar, commander of the 121st brigade of the 41st Infantry Division. In the latter position, he served as chief of the defense of the Black Sea and Dnieper coast, chief of the garrison of Odessa.
After the Civil War he held responsible positions in the Army and Air Force, in the central apparatus and military educational institutions of the Red Army. In 1930 he was on a business trip to Germany. At the end of 1932 he was enrolled as a student of the Operations Department of the Air Force Academy named after Prof. N.E. Zhukovsky. Since December 1933 — Head of the Lipetsk Higher Flight and Tactical School of the Red Army Air Force. In June 1937, he was enrolled at the disposal of the Directorate for the commanding staff of the Red Army. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (1921. Badge of the Order No. 8017) and the Badge of Honor (1936. Badge of the Order No. 2885).
Arrested on September 6, 1937. On January 10, 1938, by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR on charges of participation in a military conspiracy, sentenced to execution. The sentence was carried out on the same day. Rehabilitated by the ruling of the Military Collegium of June 4, 1957.
Born in July 1893 in Pavlograd, Yekaterinoslav province. From the nobility. Graduated from Pavlograd Gymnasium in 1910 and entered Novorossiysk University. In 1912 he dropped out of the university and entered the Odessa Military School, which he graduated from in 1914. He participated in the First World War from 1914 to 1918. In the battles he was wounded five times. Before the February Revolution of 1917 he carried out underground revolutionary work among soldiers. After the February Revolution of 1917, he was elected chairman of the divisional and then corps committees, as well as a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Special Army. The last rank in the old army was lieutenant colonel. In the Red Army since March 1918.
Participant of the Civil War on the Southern Front. During the war he held the following positions: chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Pavlograd district of Yekaterinoslav province, Kharkov province military commissar, commander of the 121st brigade of the 41st Infantry Division. In the latter position, he served as chief of the defense of the Black Sea and Dnieper coast, chief of the garrison of Odessa.
After the Civil War he held responsible positions in the Army and Air Force, in the central apparatus and military educational institutions of the Red Army. In 1930 he was on a business trip to Germany. At the end of 1932 he was enrolled as a student of the Operations Department of the Air Force Academy named after Prof. N.E. Zhukovsky. Since December 1933 — Head of the Lipetsk Higher Flight and Tactical School of the Red Army Air Force. In June 1937, he was enrolled at the disposal of the Directorate for the commanding staff of the Red Army. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (1921. Badge of the Order No. 8017) and the Badge of Honor (1936. Badge of the Order No. 2885).
Arrested on September 6, 1937. On January 10, 1938, by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR on charges of participation in a military conspiracy, sentenced to execution. The sentence was carried out on the same day. Rehabilitated by the ruling of the Military Collegium of June 4, 1957.
Chairmen of the Gorky Regional Executive Committee
Brief biographical note
Material evidence
It seems that the least space in the exposition should be taken up by the things about which there are no material evidence, photographs, documents. But this emptiness is also evidence.
With all the amount of materials on Zeleny Gorod in the archives of Nizhny Novgorod region, no documents concerning Dacha No. 1 and neighboring dachas were found. On the general planning schemes of the resort village "Zeleny Gorod" for different years this territory appears as "Dachas and boarding house of Oblispolkom". Separately there are also "Dachas of the Oblast Committee of the CPSU" and "Dachas of the City Executive Committee". That in some sense refutes the rumors that comrade Zhdanov lived in this dacha for some time, because he was the first secretary of the Oblispolkom of the Party, and they had their own dachas at their disposal. Of course, he could visit it, but it is unlikely that it was given to him for his personal use. There is no information about the distribution of specific dachas among the responsible party workers.
Thus, we have only hypotheses at our disposal, which can be built on the basis of the available facts. It is obvious that the dachas of Oblispolkom were distributed among the first employees of Oblispolkom and their families. Dacha No. 1 gives grounds to suppose that it was intended for the first persons. We know the list of chairmen of the Gorky Oblispolkom.
It is noteworthy that the only material evidence directly related to Dacha No. 1 was a crumpled and frayed sheet of the "Menu of the Recreation House of the Executive Committee of the Regional Council" from 1952, discovered during the dismantling of the floors during the reconstruction of the Dacha. The Dacha itself is the only evidence of what happened in its interiors during the twentieth century. The chairmen of the Oblispolkom did not leave written memoirs. Some of them were repressed. Perhaps, there are photos taken here in personal family archives, but they are not available to us. Dacha No. 1 remained a state-owned house, passing with the position, which did not preserve anything personal.
With all the amount of materials on Zeleny Gorod in the archives of Nizhny Novgorod region, no documents concerning Dacha No. 1 and neighboring dachas were found. On the general planning schemes of the resort village "Zeleny Gorod" for different years this territory appears as "Dachas and boarding house of Oblispolkom". Separately there are also "Dachas of the Oblast Committee of the CPSU" and "Dachas of the City Executive Committee". That in some sense refutes the rumors that comrade Zhdanov lived in this dacha for some time, because he was the first secretary of the Oblispolkom of the Party, and they had their own dachas at their disposal. Of course, he could visit it, but it is unlikely that it was given to him for his personal use. There is no information about the distribution of specific dachas among the responsible party workers.
Thus, we have only hypotheses at our disposal, which can be built on the basis of the available facts. It is obvious that the dachas of Oblispolkom were distributed among the first employees of Oblispolkom and their families. Dacha No. 1 gives grounds to suppose that it was intended for the first persons. We know the list of chairmen of the Gorky Oblispolkom.
It is noteworthy that the only material evidence directly related to Dacha No. 1 was a crumpled and frayed sheet of the "Menu of the Recreation House of the Executive Committee of the Regional Council" from 1952, discovered during the dismantling of the floors during the reconstruction of the Dacha. The Dacha itself is the only evidence of what happened in its interiors during the twentieth century. The chairmen of the Oblispolkom did not leave written memoirs. Some of them were repressed. Perhaps, there are photos taken here in personal family archives, but they are not available to us. Dacha No. 1 remained a state-owned house, passing with the position, which did not preserve anything personal.
IV. History of “Dacha No. 1”
Correspondence on commencement of construction, land allocation
In May 1930, the idea of creating a single place of recreation near Nizhny — "the idea of socialist organization of mass recreation in conditions that best meet the needs of restoring the working capacity of the population"…" - arose, and therefore, for the organization of the ‘Green City' as a complex device serving the purposes of mass recreation, the only sufficiently convenient and extensive area near Nizhny was chosen — the Frolovsky forest massif stretching from the Kstov Rojeks and having as its head part the so-called ‘Karpovskaya Dacha' and the Velikiy Vrag, with a direct connection to the city of Nizhny. According to the resolution of the Krai Executive Committee, a Founding Bureau was formed for the construction, consisting of the Krai Executive Committee, Gorsovet and Kraisovprof with the investment of 100.000 rubles each in the current (1931) budget year.
In 1933, a dispute arose over land issues in the selected territory, where the inhabitants of the surrounding villages continued to use the farmland, while the Kstovo District Executive Committee opposed it. The Central Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region has preserved extensive correspondence on this matter.
In 1933, a dispute arose over land issues in the selected territory, where the inhabitants of the surrounding villages continued to use the farmland, while the Kstovo District Executive Committee opposed it. The Central Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region has preserved extensive correspondence on this matter.
III. History of the Green City
On October 7, 1932 the city of Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky. The thirties of the XX century were marked by the rapid growth of industry. In 1932, the largest industrial enterprise of the city — the Gorky Automobile Plant — began to work. In the 1930s-1940s, the city was even referred to as "Russian Detroit". The automobile plant was an important object of the defense industry during the Great Patriotic War, along with the plant "Krasnoe Sormovo", aircraft plant No. 21, Gorky Fat Combine and the Eva grease factory and the "Hydromash" aircraft factory evacuated from Moscow. In 1932 a large river cargo port was established on Strelka, which was of high importance both for the city and for the whole European part of the country. During this period the first capital bridges were built: the automobile Kanavinsky bridge over the Oka River and the railroad Borsky bridge over the Volga River, which connected Gorky by direct railroad communication with the Urals and Siberia.
The growth of industry and urbanization of the city, the construction of a new "Green City" with sanatoriums and recreation centers for workers, party purges at enterprises and everyday notes about them in the press — the atmosphere of the 30s in the city of Gorky, in which you can immerse yourself through the weekly newspapers of those years.
The growth of industry and urbanization of the city, the construction of a new "Green City" with sanatoriums and recreation centers for workers, party purges at enterprises and everyday notes about them in the press — the atmosphere of the 30s in the city of Gorky, in which you can immerse yourself through the weekly newspapers of those years.
II. Gorky of the 1930s
In the early 1930s, the dacha of a responsible worker was considered mainly as a place for recreation and was not his personal property, although the tendency to turn it into such (and into a place of permanent residence) was already emerging. On March 2, 1935, the decree of the USSR Council of People’s Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b) "On the construction of dachas for responsible workers" was issued: "Establish that henceforth the construction of dachas for responsible workers on the lines of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the Union Republics, the NKVD and other commissars is made with the permission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b) and the USSR Council of People’s Commissars." Shortly thereafter, on the instructions of Stalin, N.I. Yezhov, then Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b), prepared a note on the summer houses of the CEC of the USSR, provided for the personal use of responsible workers.
Later, on February 3, 1938, the Decree of the SNK of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b) "On the Dachas of Responsible Workers" was issued: "In view of the fact, first, that a number of arrested conspirators (Rudzutak, Rosengolts, Antipov, Mezhlauk, Karakhan, Yagoda, etc.) have built themselves grandiose dachas — palaces 15−20−20.) had built themselves grandiose dachas-palaces of 15−20 or more rooms, where they luxuriated and squandered the people’s money, thus demonstrating their complete domestic decay and degeneration, and in view of the fact, secondly, that the desire to have such dachas-palaces is still alive and even developing in some circles of leading Soviet workers, the USSR SNK and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b) decree:
1. To set the maximum size of dachas for leading Soviet workers at 7−8 medium-sized rooms for family workers and 4−5 rooms for non-family workers.
2. Dachas exceeding the norm of 7−8 rooms should be transferred to the USSR Council of People’s Commissars for use as vacation homes for leading Soviet workers."
Documents of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (Bolsheviks) on the construction of dachas for the party and Soviet leadership in the 1930s are kept in the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History. Copies of selected documents are presented in the exposition.
Later, on February 3, 1938, the Decree of the SNK of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b) "On the Dachas of Responsible Workers" was issued: "In view of the fact, first, that a number of arrested conspirators (Rudzutak, Rosengolts, Antipov, Mezhlauk, Karakhan, Yagoda, etc.) have built themselves grandiose dachas — palaces 15−20−20.) had built themselves grandiose dachas-palaces of 15−20 or more rooms, where they luxuriated and squandered the people’s money, thus demonstrating their complete domestic decay and degeneration, and in view of the fact, secondly, that the desire to have such dachas-palaces is still alive and even developing in some circles of leading Soviet workers, the USSR SNK and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b) decree:
1. To set the maximum size of dachas for leading Soviet workers at 7−8 medium-sized rooms for family workers and 4−5 rooms for non-family workers.
2. Dachas exceeding the norm of 7−8 rooms should be transferred to the USSR Council of People’s Commissars for use as vacation homes for leading Soviet workers."
Documents of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (Bolsheviks) on the construction of dachas for the party and Soviet leadership in the 1930s are kept in the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History. Copies of selected documents are presented in the exposition.
Archival and bibliographic research
Interpretation of historical material in the dacha space
Part 2. Exposition concept
The Space of Reality / The Space of Myth
Concept
Roland Barthes "Myth Today"
"Myth hides nothing and advertises nothing, it only deforms; myth is neither a lie nor a sincere confession, it is a distortion."
"A myth is based on suggestion; it must produce an immediate effect, no matter that the myth is later destroyed, for its effect is expected to be stronger than rational explanations that might disprove it later."
"Myth is important in the sense that it offers people role models and thus communicates the significance of human life"
Mircea Eliade, “Aspects of Myth”
"Myth is a form of holistic mass experience and interpretation of reality by means of sense-visual images considered as independent phenomena of reality."
The New Philosophical Dictionary
"Myth (from Greek. [iOcpoc, — legend, tale, conversation, talk, conversation, indication, conception, plan, news;]"
Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science
- Mikhalkovsky's Kotov turned out to be a reflection of reality - such a person with a similar biography really existed, although he had nothing to do with Gorky. Parallel to the myth - in reality there were different people living at the Dacha, whose portrait gallery is just a hypothesis, an attempt to recreate the lost history.
- The very concept of Gosdacha is just as much a myth - an echo of the lost noble past, an illusion of the “personal” in the era of the “common”, an indicator of the disposition of power, which often proved to be temporary and unreliable.
- “Green City” - a satellite city of the big city, a place of recreation for Soviet workers - the embodiment by Soviet architects of the concept of ‘garden city’ is the same co-creation of a new reality.
- And even the USSR itself - a new country built on the ruins of the old one - “We will destroy the whole world of violence / To the foundations, and then / We are ours, we will build a new world - / Who was nothing will become everything” - fits in and closes this row.
The absence of archival materials about Dacha creates a peculiar sense of emptiness — as if all that remains of the space so perfectly that it seems as if Dacha did not exist before it. Myth has supplanted reality. Myth is like a puzzle built into the space available to it. History, of which no authentic testimonies have survived, opens up opportunities for myth-making. Myth can intersect with reality, can enter into open confrontation with it, can try to pass itself off as reality, can even become it — it is important to compare them side by side, even if there is nothing to oppose reality. Except emptiness.
Biographies of alleged residents of Dacha No. 1
Open Sources:
Bibliography:
Archives:
List of sources used
Furniture used in the exposition
General list of exhibits and artifacts
Attic. Exhibits, artifacts
Attic. General situation
The history of Gorky in the 1930s and the history of Dacha No. 1
Room in the tower. Exhibits, artifacts
The story of Kommdiv Kotov
A room in the tower. General furnishings
The story of Kommdiv Kotov
Room 1. Exhibits, artifacts
The history of Gorky in the 1930s and the history of the Green City
Room 1. General furnishings
The history of Gorky in the 1930s and the history of the Green City
General functional scheme of the museum
https://gwar.mil.ru/ - Information portal “In Memory of the Heroes of the Great War of 1914-1918”. Russian State Military History Archive (RGVIA)
https://ru.openlist.wiki/ - “Open List” - database of victims of political repressions in the USSR
https://sokolsky-mg.livejournal.com/31608.html - “Pre-Premiere Talk. Grandson of Commander Kotov about his family and the work of Nikita Mikhalkov” (interview)
https://ria1914.info/ - Open database and photo archive of officers and formations of the Russian Imperial Army of the early twentieth century.
https://base.memo.ru/- Consolidated database on victims of state terror in the USSR
https://www.names52.ru/ - Nizhny Novgorod Biographical Encyclopedia
https://dnnmuseum.ru/ - Museum “House on the Embankment” (official site)
https://ru.openlist.wiki/ - “Open List” - database of victims of political repressions in the USSR
https://sokolsky-mg.livejournal.com/31608.html - “Pre-Premiere Talk. Grandson of Commander Kotov about his family and the work of Nikita Mikhalkov” (interview)
https://ria1914.info/ - Open database and photo archive of officers and formations of the Russian Imperial Army of the early twentieth century.
https://base.memo.ru/- Consolidated database on victims of state terror in the USSR
https://www.names52.ru/ - Nizhny Novgorod Biographical Encyclopedia
https://dnnmuseum.ru/ - Museum “House on the Embankment” (official site)
Barthes Roland. Selected Works: Semiotics. Poetics. - Moscow: “Progress”, 1989.
Bart Roland. “Myth today”.
Ekimova O.V. Kurochkina L.Y. “Myth-making: peculiarities of manifestation in the system of modern values”, VGTU.
Meerovich Mark. “Punishment by housing: housing policy in the USSR as a means of controlling people (1917-1937)” . - М.:
Russian Political Encyclopedia; Foundation of the First President of Russia B.N.Yeltsin, 2008.
Pantyukhina T.L. “Myth-making: in the historical and cultural context of 1917”, 2017.
Cherushev N.S., Cherushev Y.N. “Raskrelannaya elite RKKA 1937-1941”. Biographical dictionary. - Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole; Megopolis, 2012.
Eliade Mircea. “Aspects of Myth”. - Moscow: Academic Project, 2010.
Bart Roland. “Myth today”.
Ekimova O.V. Kurochkina L.Y. “Myth-making: peculiarities of manifestation in the system of modern values”, VGTU.
Meerovich Mark. “Punishment by housing: housing policy in the USSR as a means of controlling people (1917-1937)” . - М.:
Russian Political Encyclopedia; Foundation of the First President of Russia B.N.Yeltsin, 2008.
Pantyukhina T.L. “Myth-making: in the historical and cultural context of 1917”, 2017.
Cherushev N.S., Cherushev Y.N. “Raskrelannaya elite RKKA 1937-1941”. Biographical dictionary. - Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole; Megopolis, 2012.
Eliade Mircea. “Aspects of Myth”. - Moscow: Academic Project, 2010.
Central Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (GKU TsANO)
Central Archive of Specialized Documentation of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (GKU TSASDNO)
State Social and Political Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (SCU GOPANO)
Periodicals Department of the Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Universal Scientific Library named after V.I. Lenin. V.I. Lenin State Regional Universal Scientific Library (NGSUNB)
Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI)
Central Archive of Specialized Documentation of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (GKU TSASDNO)
State Social and Political Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (SCU GOPANO)
Periodicals Department of the Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Universal Scientific Library named after V.I. Lenin. V.I. Lenin State Regional Universal Scientific Library (NGSUNB)
Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI)
Dacha №1
2020 - until now. Russia, Nizhny Novgorod
