Pleskau/Pskov
Pleskau/Pskov
Official name
Russian: Псков, transliterated as Pskov, a corruption of the original Pl’skov, hence the German name Pleskau. The name of the town, like that of the river of the same name, probably derives from the Baltic-Finnic Piiskva/Piiskava.
Location
The city of Pskov is situated at 57° 49’ north latitude, 28° 20’ east longitude, in the far north-west of the Russian Federation, not far from the border with Estonia, at the confluence of the Pskova (Pskova) and the Velikaya (Velikaya) rivers, some 20 km downstream from where the latter flows into Lake Pskov (Russian: Pskovskoe ozero), the southern part of Lake Peipus.
Political and administrative affiliation
Pskov constitutes a city district in its own right and is also the administrative centre of the Pskov Oblast.
Common symbolism
The coat of arms and flag of modern-day Pskov feature a striding golden leopard on a blue background, beneath a blessing hand emerging from a white cloud.
Middle Ages
A Baltic-Finnic settlement on the promontory at the confluence of the Pskova and Velikaya rivers formed the nucleus of the town, which was probably destroyed by Vikings around the middle of the 9th century and replaced by a fortified settlement. An entry in the oldest Russian chronicle (known as the ‘Chronicle of Nestor’) for the year 903, which states that Prince Igor (Old Norse: Ingvar) of Kyiv/Kyjïv/Kiev took a wife named Olga (Old Norse: Helga) from Pskov. This entry is still regarded today as the earliest evidence of the city’s existence.[1] However, the chronicle’s dating is fictitious, as Olga could not have become a mother before 942 and, following the early death of her husband Igor, acted as regent in Kyiv from 945 to 960 on behalf of her underage son Svyatoslav. Pskov developed into the centre of a limited territory stretching in a narrow strip on both sides of the Velikaya River and east of Lake Peipus as far as the mouth of the Narva. Until the 12th century, Pskov remained closely linked to the princely seat in Kyiv, but the rise of neighbouring Veliky Novgorod fostered a political rapprochement between the two in the interests of military alliances against the threat posed by the Lithuanians and the Chud (Estonians) in the west. Velikij Novgorod therefore sought to bring Pskov under its control, but in the long run this succeeded only in terms of ecclesiastical subordination to the Archbishop of Novgorod. Like Veliky Novgorod, Pskov had no princely dynasty of its own, but appointed its princes from Vladimir-Suzdal’, Lithuania (the most prominent being Daumantas/Dovmont, 1266–1299), other principalities and, finally, Moscow/Moskva. From the end of the 14th century, it aligned itself with the Grand Duchy of Moscow and, from the early 1460s, placed itself entirely under its suzerainty – on the one hand as a counterweight to the claims to power of Veliky Novgorod, and on the other, as a military bulwark against the constant threat posed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Livonia. However, following the dissolution of the city-state of Veliky Novgorod by Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow (1440–1505, reigned 1462–1505) in 1478, it was, however, only a matter of time before Grand Prince Vasily (Vasilij) III of Moscow (1479–1533, reigned 1505–1533) would also put an end to Pskov’s political autonomy in 1510. Until the mid-16th century, however, the right to conclude bilateral treaties with the Livonian Order remained in the hands of the Moscow governor and the commercial representatives in Pskov.
Modern History and Contemporary History
During the First World War, German troops occupied the town from February to November 1918; during the Second World War, they occupied it from July 1941 to July 1944. During this period, the city played an important role as a supply base for Army Group North and as the centre of numerous camps housing Soviet prisoners of war, half of whom died in the winter of 1941–42 alone as a result of starvation, frost, disease and ill-treatment. In December 1941 and February 1942, German police units from Pskov also shot thousands of local Jews as well as Jews deported from Estonia . From 25 July 1941, Pskov also served as the first recruitment centre within the territory of Army Group North for Soviet forced labourers aged between 14 and 65.
Pskov also became a centre for the Nazi looting of captured museum, church and book collections by the ‘Pskov Group’ of Reichsleiter Rosenberg’s Task Force (ERR). The Pogankin Palace in the city served as a collection point for art treasures from Veliky Novgorod, Tikhvin and the tsar’s palaces in the Leningrad region. Icons and vestments looted from the Pskov Cave Monastery in Pechory were discovered in 1973 in an icon museum in Germany and returned in their entirety.
The city, which had been heavily damaged during the war, managed to develop well from 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet system, but was unable to recover from the upheavals of the 1990s. Pskov Oblast is now the poorest region in the Russian Federation and suffers from significant out-migration, particularly in rural areas.
Twin town partnerships have existed with Gera since 1969 and with Neuss in the Rhineland since 1990.
Administration
Details of Pskov’s internal structure are only known for the 14th and 15th centuries. In many respects, it resembled the political system of Veliky Novgorod; however, unlike the latter, it retained its commercial character until the end of the city-state, as the small size of the state’s territory hindered the development of large-scale landownership. Over time, a system of power-sharing developed – albeit a fragile one – between the prince or princely governor, the assembly of all free men (veče), the mayor (posadnik), who came from the upper classes, the centurions (sotskie) as representatives of unspecified subordinate self-governing units, and the governor of the Archbishop of Novgorod, who hailed from Pskov. The fact that merchants bore their own seals is known from the turn of the 15th/16th centuries only in the case of Pskov.
Contrary to what has sometimes been claimed, Pskov does not belong to the Western European model of city organisation due to the absence of a council constitution, a citizens’ oath and municipal law restricted to the city limits; rather, like Veliky Novgorod, it constitutes a special case among Russian cities.
Pskov demonstrated its outstanding role as the north-western bastion of the Muscovite Empire in 1581/82 and 1615 during the months-long, unsuccessful sieges by a Polish and a Swedish army respectively. With the annexation of Livonia to the Russian Empire ( 1721), Pskov lost both its pre-eminent military role and its function as a trading hub, which was subsequently taken over by the seaports of Reval/Tallinn and Riga/Rīga, as well as the newly founded Saint Petersburg/Saint-Pétersbourg/Leningrad . From 1772 to 1927, Pskov was the capital of a province of the same name; it was then assigned to the Leningrad Oblast and has been the centre of its own oblast since 1944.
Population
With a population of around 30,000 at the beginning of the 16th century, Pskov was on a par with Veliky Novgorod. According to the 1897 census, the city had 30,470 inhabitants, of whom 1,830 were German-speaking (around 6 per cent). In 1939, it had 60,439 inhabitants; by 2020, this figure had risen to 210,000. In 2010, 425 German-speaking people (0.06 per cent) lived in the Pskov administrative district, 285 of whom were in the towns.
In 1498, a riverside area on the Pskova was first mentioned as the ‘German Bank’ (nemeckij bereg). German or Livonian merchants must have lived there in houses they had rented from locals. A permanent trading post (gostinyj, priezžij dvor) is unlikely to have been established there before the 1530s. Following the fire of 1562, the Germans were granted a plot of land in the Zavelič’e district opposite the Kremlin, where the trading post was re-established by 1585 at the latest and remained there until its closure. Merchants, primarily from the Livonian towns and from Lübeck, but also from Poland-Lithuania, stayed there. The court was under state protection and supervised by tsarist officials. With the Treaty of Stolbovo (1617), Livonia came under Swedish rule and Russia lost its direct access to the Baltic Sea. Its Baltic Sea trade could now only be conducted via Swedish territory (Riga, Reval, Narva), and as a result, the importance of Pskov grew. However, all Sweden’s efforts to establish its own trading post in the city failed until the end of the 17th century. Consequently, Swedish subjects continued to live at the German Court, which was therefore also known as the ‘German-Swedish’ or simply the ‘Swedish Court’. Attempts by Sweden to place this court under its own sovereignty also failed. In 1670/71, only eight foreign merchants lived at the court: three from Livonia ( Riga, Narva), three from Lübeck, and one each from Lübeck, Bremen and Pomerania.[2] From 1588 (with a war-related interruption between the early 17th century and 1636), Lübeck also maintained its own trading post in Pskov, in the immediate vicinity of the German Court. Like Veliky Novgorod in the 15th century, Pskov played an important role in the 17th century in helping Hanseatic merchants learn the language. Tönnies Fonne of Lübeck, who is recorded as having been in Pskov in 1607, is thought to have been the author of a textbook on Russian business language.[3] The German-Swedish and Lübeck trading posts were finally closed as a result of the Great Northern War (1700–1721), because, having regained access to the Baltic Sea, Russia no longer required the trading posts in Veliky Novgorod and Pskov.
Prominent Germans born in Pskov included the scholar and diplomat Boris Meissner (1915–2003), who specialised in Eastern European law but was controversial due to his membership of the SA, – and the Eastern European historian Georg von Rauch (1904–1991).
Economy and Society
Initially, Pskov’s economic development remained in the shadow of Veliky Novgorod. Pskov’s direct access to the Baltic Sea by water was hampered by the rapids of the Narva River, so that Pskov’s trade relations were concentrated on overland routes. It was not until the 13th century, when state structures emerged in neighbouring Lithuania and Livonia, that Pskov’s economic life flourished. Alongside Veliky Novgorod, Pskov developed into the second hub for trade between Rus’, Livonia and the Baltic region, particularly for the German Hanseatic League. Consequently, it was now in a position to finance its elaborate city fortifications. Following the closure of the German trading post in Veliky Novgorod (1494), Pskov’s importance as a trading partner of the Hanseatic League grew. Foreign trade, however, was primarily conducted via the Livonian Hanseatic cities of Dorpat/Tartu and Reval; in the 17th century, it was largely channelled through Riga and Narva. In the 14th and 15th centuries, wax and tallow were exported via Pskov; from the 16th century onwards, these were joined by flax and hemp fibres, animal hides and leather, particularly Juchten leather. Imports consisted mainly of salt, high-quality cloth, non-ferrous metals, weapons (albeit smuggled due to the import ban imposed by the Livonian Order of Knights), salted herring, beer and wine. Exports brokered by Hanseatic merchants in the financial year 1670/71 went to northern Germany, England, Sweden and the Netherlands, with only 15 per cent going directly to Lübeck.[4] In the 17th century, foreign trade began to concentrate in the hands of a few major merchant families, such as the Pogankins, Russinovs and Men’ščikovs. Of their residences, the imposing stone Pogankin Palace has survived to this day. Pskov did not possess its own trading compounds in the Livonian towns, but its merchants concentrated in rented compounds around the Orthodox churches (St Nicholas’ and St George’s in Dorpat, and St Nicholas’ in Reval). It was only in Riga that they were allocated their own small trading courtyard in 1642. The merchants of Pskov maintained closer contact with Western partners than those of Novgorod. On this basis of trust, an extensive system of mutual credit was able to develop in the 17th century.
From the 18th century onwards, the city lost its international economic significance. Industrialisation in the second half of the 19th century remained modest and only reached a more substantial level after the Second World War, with a focus on mechanical engineering and flax processing. After 1991, however, industry largely collapsed. Today, Pskov Oblast relies largely on state subsidies, whilst the city’s population depends primarily on the public sector.
Military history
In the second half of the 13th century, a fortification (Dovmontov gorod) covering just one and a half hectares was built in front of the three-hectare castle rampart (Krom), from which the settlement between Velikaya and Pskov rapidly expanded outwards. In 1309, this oldest part of the civilian settlement (srednij gorod) was secured by a fortification, which was extended again in 1375 and expanded in a semicircular shape beyond the Pskova. In 1465, the city’s outer fortifications extended further inland, also encompassing the areas of Polonišče and Zapskov’e. By the beginning of the 16th century, the city centre, covering 215 hectares, was completely protected by stone walls, unlike most Russian cities (even Veliky Novgorod). This made Pskov one of Russia’s strongest fortresses due to its border location. However, the district on the west bank of the Velikaya (Zavelič’e) remained unfortified.
History of Religion and the Church
It was not until 1589 that Pskov became a bishopric, and in 2014 the seat of a metropolitan. The city became known for the Strigol’niki heresy (from the mid-14th century), which was likely influenced by the West and persisted in Pskov for longer and more intensely than in Veliky Novgorod. The city’s 1,265 German-speaking Lutherans (in 1897) had their own church (St Michael’s) at their disposal until the beginning of the Soviet era.
Culture and Science
The Pskov Museum, founded in 1876, is one of the oldest in Russia. The building housing the Academic Pushkin Theatre dates from 1906. Pskov has had a state university since 2010.
Art History
Alongside the imposing oldest fortifications, the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Troitsky Cathedral) is the city’s most significant architectural monument. The present building dates from 1699, but is based on three earlier structures. The cathedral has been regarded as the city’s landmark since the mid-13th century.
Culture of Remembrance
In 2019, ten of the city’s oldest historic monuments – including the fortifications, but above all monasteries and churches – were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 2019, Pskov hosted the International Hanseatic Days, which rotate amongst the former Hanseatic cities.
4. Controversies
Whether Pskov can be regarded as a politically independent city-state from the mid-14th century until 1510 remains a matter of debate.[5]
Bibliography
- Norbert Angermann: On the German trading posts in Pleskau and Krasnyj. In: Hansische Geschichtsblätter 89 (1971), pp. 79–91.
- Ibid.: The Lübeck Court in Pskov. In: Journal of the Society for Lübeck History and Archaeology 59 (1979), pp. 227–235.
- Vladimir A. Arakcheev: The Evolution of State Institutions of the Republic of Pskov and the Problem of Sovereignty from the Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Centuries. In: Russian History 41 (2014), pp. 423–439.
- Vladimir Anatol’evič Arakčeev: Medieval Pskov: Power, Society, Everyday Life in the 15th–17th Centuries. [Medieval Pskov: Power Structures, Society, Everyday Life in the 15th–17th Centuries]. Pskov 2004.
- Ibid.: Pskov and the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages. Pskov 2012.
- Dieter Bach, Vladlen Smirnov (eds.): German Traces in a Russian City. Pskov – From the Teutonic Order to Today’s Partnerships. Wuppertal 1997.
- Sergei Vasil’evich Beletsky: The Origins of Pskov. St Petersburg 1996.
- Mikhail Borisovich Bulgakov: The Collection of Customs Duties from Foreign Merchants in Pskov in the 16th and First Third of the 17th Centuries. In: Pskov in Russian and European History, Vol. 1 (2003), pp. 338–345.
- Anna Leonidovna Choroškevič: Credit in Hanseatic trade with Pskov based on materials from Tönnies Fonne’s ‘Conversation and Dictionary’. In: Norbert Angermann and Klaus Friedland (eds.): Novgorod. Market and Trading Post of the Hanseatic League. Cologne 2002, pp. 211–226.
- Ibid.: Pskov as an intermediary between Western, Northern and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the modern era. In: Pskov in Russian and European History, Vol. 1 (2003), pp. 33–39.
- Antjekathrin Graßmann: The Lübeck Court in Pskov. On Buildings and Facilities in the 17th Century. In: Ortwin Pelc and Gertrud Pickhan (eds.): Between Lübeck and Novgorod. Economy, Politics and Culture in the Baltic Region from the Early Middle Ages to the 20th Century. In Honour of Norbert Angermann on his 60th Birthday. Lüneburg 1996, pp. 269–280.
- Andrej Viktorovič Jurasov: K istorii nemeckogo-švedskogo gostinogo Dvora v Pskove v XVII veke [On the History of the German-Swedish Trading Post in Pskov in the 17th Century]. In: Metamorphoses of History. Almanac, issue 1. Vienna–St Petersburg–Pskov 1997, pp. 119–135 (online).
- Jürgen Kilian: The Wehrmacht and the Occupation in the Russian North-West, 1941–1944. Paderborn etc. 2012.
- Anatolij Nikolaevič Kirpičnikov: Pskov on the Threshold of the Modern Era and Foreign Accounts of the City [Pskov on the Threshold of the Modern Era and Foreign Accounts of the City]. In: Pskov in Russian and European History, Vol. 1 (2003), pp. 39–58.
- Mikhail Krom: The City of Pskov in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries. In: Russian History 41 (2014), pp. 440–457.
- Nikolai Nikandrov: “Russia’s Cultural Treasures – Witnesses and Victims of the Second World War. The ‘war haul’ of the Rosenberg Task Force”. In: Russians and Germans. 1,000 Years of Art, History and Culture. Essays. Museum of Prehistory and Early History – State Museums of Berlin / State Historical Museum (Moscow). St Petersburg 2012. pp. 502–509.
- Gertrud Pickhan: Gospodin Pskov. The Origins and Development of an Urban Centre of Power in Old Russia. Berlin 1992 (Research in Eastern European History 47).
- Ibid.: “‘Wan Ich Frolich Sy so Hebbe Ich Dy Gerne’”. Basic Patterns of Intercultural Everyday Communication between Germans and Russians in Tönnies Fonne’s Conversation Book (1607). In: Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, New Series, 49 (2001), pp. 500–509.
Web links
- www.pskov.ru (official website of the city’s state institutions in Russian)
- www.pskovgorod.ru (official website of the city of Pskov in Russian)
Notes
[1] See the two-volume commemorative edition: Pskov in Russian and European History (marking the 1,100th anniversary of its first mention in the chronicles) [Pskov in Russian and European History. Marking the 1100th anniversary of its chronicle mention], vols. 1–2. Moscow 2003. However, Olga’s origins in Pskov are not undisputed; see V.M. Ryčka: Byla li svjataja ravnoapostol’naja knjaginja Ol’ga uroženkoj Pskova? (Istoriografičeskij ėtjud) [Was Saint Olga, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess, a native of Pskov? A historiographical study]. In: Pskov in Russian and European History, Vol. 1 (2003), pp. 118–123.
[2] Jurasov: On the History of the German-Swedish Guest House in Pskov (1997), pp. 130ff.
[3] Elisabeth Harder-Gersdorff: ‘Dar klingedtt geldtt’. Merchants’ language at Russian markets in the Low German phraseology of Tönnies Fonne (Pskov 1607). In: Horst Wernicke, Nils Jörn (eds.): Contributions to Hanseatic Cultural, Constitutional and Maritime History. Weimar 1998 (Hanseatic Studies 10), pp. 81–91.
[4] Jurasov (1997), p. 127.
[5] For an overview, see Aleksey Valentinovich Valerov: Novgorod and Pskov. Essays on the Political History of North-Western Rus’ in the 11th–14th Centuries [Novgorod and Pskov. An overview of the political history of North-Western Rus’ in the 11th–14th centuries]. St Petersburg 2004, esp. pp. 186–190.
Citation
Carsten Goehrke: Pleskau/Pskov. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2023. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32509 (as at 26 June 2023).
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