Discover the German Buildings in Baku!

About the project

The history of the Germans is a part of the history of Azerbaijan.

The historical sources tell us that the first group of German immigrants arrived in the Russian empire at the beginning of the XVIII century on the initiative of Emperor Peter I. In the beginning of the XIX century, under emperor Alexander I, whose wife was a German, an active resettlement of Germans to the South Caucasus, forcibly annexed to the Russian Empire earlier, began.

During this period, bitter legacy of the Napoleonic wars was still affecting the German lands, as well as almost the rest of Europe. One of the areas, most affected by the war, was the Kingdom of Württemberg. The fertile lands of the South Caucasus were extremely attractive for the population of the Württemberg, ravaged by the war. That’s why the first group of German settlers arrived in the South Caucasus and founded the Marienfeld colony in the autumn of 1817.
In the spring of 1819, a group of German colonists settled in Marienfeld petitioned the Russian governor in the Caucasus General Alexei Petrovich Ermolov for permission to settle on fertile lands near the city of Ganja and was granted the permission. From the very first days of their stay on the Azerbaijani soil, the Germans felt overall assistance and support from the local population.

In August 1819, a small group of settlers established the Helenendorf colony on the site of the destroyed village of Khanylkar on the bank of the Ganjachay river (currently the city of Goygol). Later, the Annenfeld colony was founded in the territory of the present Shamkir district (now the city of Shamkir). Since the 1880s, the Georgsfeld settlement (currently the of Chinarly village) was established in the territory of present Shamkir district, Alekseevka and Elizavetinka villages were established in the territory of present Agstafa district, - the Grinfeld (now the Vurgun village) and the Eigenfeld (now the Irmashli village) settlements were established in the territory of present Gazakh district, the Traubenfeld village (now the city of Tovuz) was established in the territory of present Tovuz district.

The available historical materials, the publications of those times, the memories of old-timers and descendants passed from generation to generation, unequivocally suggest that the Germans who arrived here for many years felt the good regard of the Azerbaijani population and, in turn, had a beneficial effect on the life of the local population. The Germans, among whom were teachers, doctors, engineers, architects and other professionals, made a significant contribution to the development of agriculture, science, education and health in Azerbaijan. The unofficial center of German immigrants, the city of Helenendorf, which was the largest German colony in the South Caucasus, gradually became an important economic center of the region.
The Germans made a significant contribution to the development of the economic and social infrastructure of the region. German settlers demonstrated the greatest interest in viticulture and grain-growing - spheres related to the production of wine and beer, as well as sericulture, tobacco and rice production.

The famous electrical engineering concern "Siemens" built the Gadabey copper smelting plant in Azerbaijan in 1864-1865. The second such plant and a railway were built in 1883. In the 1860s, the concern was producing cobalt in Dashkesan, built the Bibi-Eybat and Belgorod power plants in Baku at the beginning of the XX century.

"Trade House “Benckendorf and Co" was involved in the oil industry of the Baku region. The colonists also produced grain, prunes, dairy products for sale.

The water pipeline built by the Germans in Helenendorf served the surrounding population for a long time. In 1912, the Germans built the first hydroelectric power plant on the Ganjachai River in Helenendorf. In addition, at the beginning of the XX century, telephone communication was used here for the first time in the country: the Forer Brothers Company maintained contact with workers of vineyards in the vicinity of Helenendorf using Ericsson phones.

Being the largest German colony of Azerbaijan, the city of Helenendorf served as the cultural and religious center of the German community of the region. In 1842, the first school was built here and the construction of the church of St. John began in 1854. It started functioning in 1857.
The Germans contributed to the economic and social life of the region, to the development of science and culture of Azerbaijan. Amateur German archaeologists laid the foundation to the archaeological research and archeological science in our country in the XIX century. Jakob Hummel (1893-1946), one of the founders of archaeological science in Azerbaijan, gave many years to the development of archeology and ethnography of Azerbaijan.

Much credit is due to Otto Wilhelm German von Abich, one of the founders of the geological study of the Caucasus, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the XIX century, he played a major role in the establishment of petroleum geology in Azerbaijan. Another prominent scientist, the corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Carl Eduard von Eichwald, studied the oil wells in Absheron. Henry Friedrich Emil Lenz, the physicist and one of the founders of electrical engineering, studied causes of fluctuations in the level of the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan in the 1830s.

Great contributions were made by German architects in the creation of masterpieces of the architecture of capitalist Baku in the late XIX - early XX centuries. Talented architects, working in European styles, aspired to use the features of local architecture in their works, to convey in the volumetric-spatial compositions of buildings the interpretation, expressing their artistic essence most. During this period, architects Johann Edel, Adolf Eichler, Nikolai von der Nonne, brothers Karl and Otto Gippius, Gut Fortunat, Ferdinand Lemkul, Robert Marfeld, Leopold Bilfeld, Paul Stern, Dietrich Thiessen, Vladimir Simonson, Franz Grosseti, Adolf von Skoyan and others. European historical styles developed in their works while paying it’s due to the local stylistic features.

For all its eclecticism, the buildings of the second half of the XIX - the beginning of the XX centuries and their appearance in urban development marked a new stage in the development of Azerbaijani architecture in such cities as Baku, Ganja, Lankaran, Nakhchivan. Due to the creativity of German architects as well, the modernist style that dominated the world architecture in this period came to Azerbaijan and, like other style directions, made a significant contribution to the architectural appearance of cities, especially Baku. Baku modern is not distinguished by a special expression of architectural volumes, the dynamics of compositional and constructive techniques, which would be expressed by the tempo and rhythm of a large capitalist city of the early XX century., Despite the architectural and decorative means of modern, calm tranquility of classical compositions of the Renaissance prevails in the Baku buildings. Emphasizing the nature of the new style in architecture, the prominent architects did not abandon the usual compositional methods but tried to use these opportunities in designing the architecture of buildings by taking local conditions into account.

More than a hundred buildings and structures were built in Baku alone on the projects of German architects: residential and tenement houses, industrial enterprises, bridges, churches, mosques, etc. A distinctive feature of the works of German architects in the city was the use of all the constructive and artistic features of local material - limestone. Hence the monumentality and completeness of the architectural image of buildings and their unity with the buildings of other stylistic systems due to the affinity of the facing and finishing material - stone, elements and details of the European classical architecture. With their beautiful projects - architectural monuments - the famous architects made a huge contribution to the formation of the unique architectural appearance of the city of Baku.

The positive features of the buildings of German architects in the modernist style of the late XIX - early XX centuries in Baku are indisputable, because it was this style that made the architects take a fresh and deep look at the architectural and constructive structure of buildings, comprehend the logic of compositional techniques in the light of modern requirements of architecture and contributed to the development of rationalistic tendencies that led to the formation of the functionalism of the 1920s.

With the outbreak of the I World War in 1914, during which the Russian Empire and Germany found themselves on opposite sides of the front line, the tsarist government issued a law on the abolition of the land ownership rights of its subjects of German ethnicity. The persecution of Germans ensued, to be suspended only with the collapse of tsarism and the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917.

On May 28, 1918, the independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed. The policy of the young state in the field of civil rights ensured all conditions for a normal life of the German population.

On November 19, 1918, the National Council of Azerbaijan adopted the "Law on the Establishment of the Azerbaijani Parliament", which allowed national minorities to be represented in the parliament in proportion to their number. Of 120 seats in the Azerbaijani parliament, one seat was assigned to a representative of the German population. The head of the German community of Helenendorf Lorentz Kuhn was elected to the highest legislative body of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. In 1919, on his initiative and with the support of the government, the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first German settlers in our country was solemnly celebrated. In his parliament speech on the occasion, Lorenz Kuhn stressed that all these hundred years the Germans lived on Azerbaijani soil in an atmosphere of peace and accord with the Azerbaijanis.

The policy of the Azerbaijani government towards the colonies was received by Germans with enthusiasm, so those who by that time left Azerbaijan began returning to their homes. Moreover, the Germans took an active part in the defense of the first Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. So, representatives of the German colonies created a quite large battalion to protect the young republic from enemies in 1918. This battalion actively participated in the liberation of the city of Ganja from the Armenian Dashnaks. The German population helped the state agencies in the establishment of law and order. However, the regular rhythm of the life of the people, including the Germans of Azerbaijan, was violated by the forceful establishment of the Soviet regime and the Bolshevik occupation on April 28, 1920.

Even acuter was the situation in the 1930s when relations between the USSR and Hitler's Germany deteriorated. Mass political repressions did not evade the population of the German colonies of Azerbaijan. Numerous arrests were made in Helenendorf and other German settlements. German names of settlements, streets, squares were renamed. In 1938, Helenendorf was renamed Khanlar (now the city of Goygol), in honor of one of the associates of Joseph Stalin, the Bolshevik Khanlar Safaraliev. With the outbreak of the Soviet-German war in 1941, on the orders of Stalin, the German population of the Caucasus was deported to Central Asia. Nearly 25,000 Germans of Azerbaijan were forcibly exiled to the steppes and deserts of Kazakhstan.

The history of German immigrants is a part of the history of Azerbaijan. Almost eight decades have passed since the Germans left the Azerbaijani lands. But thanks to their diligence, decency, friendliness, the Germans left behind a good memory of themselves.

The Azerbaijani people have always been famous for their tolerance. We respect the history, culture of all people. Therefore, today the authorities of Azerbaijan are making efforts to protect and study historical and cultural memorials of the German period, including numerous buildings designed by German architects.

Today's city of Goygol can be considered a city of Azerbaijani-German friendship, in which all memorials of German history and culture are carefully protected. In 2008, a significant event took place in the city - the German church was reopened after major repairs and reconstruction. Funds for repair and restoration of the church in Goygol were allocated by the German government.

In 2017, UNESCO celebrated the 200th anniversary of the settlement of Germans in Azerbaijan. In the same year, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Azerbaijan published the book “German Heritage in the Architecture of Azerbaijan,” the author of which was the famous scientist and architectural historian, Professor Elchin Tofik oglu Aliyev.

Nowadays, the role of cultural ties in country-to-country relations is profound. In this regard, the Azerbaijani-German cooperation is based on a very solid historical foundation, with almost a two-hundred-year history.