Engels, Saratov Oblast

Engels (Russian: Энгельс; IPA: [ˈɛnɡʲɪlʲs]), named after Friedrich Engels, is a port city on the Volga River in Saratov Oblast, Russia, located across from Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast, and since 1965 connected to it with a bridge. Population: 202,419 (2010 Census).

History

Founded as Pokrovskaya sloboda by Ukrainian settlers in 1747, it was granted town status and renamed Pokrovsk (Покровск) in 1914. During the reign of Catherine the Great, ethnic Germans moved there, making it a major center of the Volga German culture. At that time, the town was known as Kosakenstadt ("Cossacks' Town"). It became the capital of the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, now a part of Saratov Oblast, in 1924, and it was renamed Engels in 1931. On August 26, 2011, a monument in honor of the Russian-German victims of repression within the Soviet Union was unveiled.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Engels serves as the administrative center of Engelssky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with four rural localities, incorporated separately as Engels City Under Oblast Jurisdiction—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, Engels City Under Oblast Jurisdiction, together with the work settlement of Privolzhsky and one rural locality (the settlement of Geofizik) in Engelssky District, are incorporated within Engelssky Municipal District as Engels Urban Settlement.