Neudorf, Russia
Now known as Karmanova, Moldova
The colony of Neudorf was founded in 1809 by 100 German families immigrating primarily from Württemberg and Alsace upon the invitation of Alexander I, Czar of Russia, grandson of Catherine the Great
When naming the new colony, Councilor Rosenhampf commented on the beautiful setting and said, "We are not going to build a city, but only a village. It shall be called Neudorf."
When the German colonists arrived in the early 1800's they found 3 isolated farms (Khutors), three wells and one dessiatine of vineyards on the steppe. The settlers received a total of 91,424 rubles from the Imperial Crown for subsistence, settlement and seed. By 1848, the village increased to 208 families and to 1,896 individuals by 1914.
After the Germans left the village in the late 1800's and early 1900's, the village was renamed Karmanova. Village signs in Ukraine and Moldova are in both Ukrainian and Russian. Many words can be similar.
Photo by Penny Raile, 1996
Sign outside Neudorf (Karmanova) written in both Ukrainian and Russian. (Official language of Moldova is Romanian.)
Photo by Penny Raile, 1996
PRESENT DAY MOLDOVA
Moldova is the only country in the European part of the former Soviet Union which has experienced large-scale armed conflicts on its territory. In 1992, a civil war in the eastern part of the country, the Dniester region, led to perhaps as many as a thousand deaths. While there is an ethnic element to this conflict, it is probably more apt to describe it as a case of politicized regionalism. The chances that renewed hostilities will break out are, at present, very small.
Location: Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania
Climate: moderate winters, warm summers
Population: 4,460,838 (July 1999 est.)
Languages: Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
Currency: the Moldovan leu (MLD) (plural lei) was introduced in late 1993
Capital: Chisinau
Natural resources: lignite, phosphorites, gypsum