Оренбург: История и современность города на Урале

Administrative centre of Orenburg Oblast, Russia

Orenburg (Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, on the banks of the Ural River and is southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the border with Kazakhstan.

Several historians have tried to explain the origins of the city's name. It was traditionally accepted that the word "orenburg" means a fortress on the River Or. In all probability, the word combination "orenburg" was proposed by I. K. Kirillov [ru], the founder of the city. In 1734, in accordance with his project, a package of governmental documents was worked out. This was the starting point for Orenburg as a fortress city near the meeting of the Or and Ural rivers. On 7 June 1734, "A Privilege for Orenburg" (tsar's edict) was ordered by Empress Anna Ioannovna. While the construction site of the main fortress changed many times (down the River Ural), the name "Orenburg" has not changed since its founding in 1743. Between 1938 and 1957, the city was referred to as Chkalov, named after the famous Soviet pilot Valery Chkalov, although he was not born in and never lived in Orenburg, and never visited Orenburg. In 1954, Chkalov's five meter bronze sculpture was erected on the occasion of his 50th birth anniversary; this was installed on a seven meter pedestal on the Boulevard (the riverside promenade of the city, commonly named "Belovka").

In 1734, the Russian Empire began to expand its dominance and influence in Asia by building a fortified city called Orenburg on its eastern border (Southern Urals). For this purpose, in 1735, Ivan Kirilov, a cartographer and statistician, began to develop the settlement at the confluence of the rivers Or and Ural, and the first settlement was chosen during his expedition. He claimed that the town was needed "to open a transit route to Bukhara, Badakhshan, Balkh and India" and that "riches in the form of gold, lapis lazuli and garnets could be obtained from it". After his death, a new manager of the Orenburg expedition, Vasily Tatishchev, was appointed who did not consider the place suitable for building a city. Therefore, in 1739 he began preparations for the construction of a new town with the old name on Krasnaya Gora (Red Mountain), downstream of the Ural (Yaik)River. The old settlement was named the Orsk fortress (now the city of Orsk). On August 6, 1741, the new town was laid out. However, its construction never started. The place on Krasnaya Gora was not suitable for the construction of the city, as it was treeless, rocky and far from the river. A new manager of the Orenburg expedition Ivan Neplyuev was appointed, and on April 19, 1743, Orenburg was built up on the third attempt, at the place where the Berd settlement was earlier located, 75 km (46miles) from the Krasnaya Gora. In the summer of 1742, Neplyuev was assigned to build the city on the site of the rivers Yaik and Sakmara. The new place, surrounded by forests and fields where the Yaik and Sakumara rivers converge, was chosen by Neplyuev himself. Today it is the historical center of the city. The town built on the Red Mountain was named Krasnogorsk. Thus, in 1743 Ivan Neplyuev founded Orenburg on thesite of present day Orsk, about 250 kilometers west of the Urals. This third Orenburg served as an important military outpost on the border with the nomadic Kazakhs. It became the center of the Orenburg Cossacks. Orenburg played a major role in Pugachev's Rebellion (1773–1774), the largest peasant revolt in Russian history. At the time, it was the capital of a vast district and the seat of the governor. Yemelyan Pugachev besieged the city and its fortress from nearby Berda from October 1773 to March 26, 1774. The defense was organized by Governor of Orenburg lieutenant general Reinsdorf. General Golytsin defeated Pugachev at Berda, and later again at Kargala (north of Orenburg). Most of the city was left in ruins, and thousands of inhabitants had died in the siege. Government forces crushed revolt towards the end of 1774 by General Michelsohn at Tsaritsyn. Further reprisals against rebel areas were carried out by General Peter Panin. Alexander Pushkin visited Orenburg in 1833 during a research trip for his books The History of Pugachev and his famous novel The Captain's Daughter. He met his friend Vladimir Dal here, who would later write the first serious dictionary of the Russian language. Orenburg was the base for General Perovsky's expeditions against the Khanate of Khiva in the 1830s through 1850s. After the incorporation of Central Asia into the Russian Empire, Orenburg became a trading station and, since the completion of the Trans Aral Railway, a prominent railway junction en route to the new Central Asian possessions and to Siberia. Orenburg functioned as the capital of the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (in present day Kazakhstan) within Russia from 1920 to 1925. When that republic was renamed Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic in 1925, Orenburg joined Russia and Kyzylorda became the new capital. Almaty became the capital in 1929 after the construction of the Turkestan–Siberia Railway. Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was promoted to union republic status as the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic Kazakh SSR in 1936. Orenburg remained in Russia. From 1938 to 1957, the city bore the name Chkalov (Чка́лов) (after the prominent test pilot Valery Chkalov). The city's distance from the German invasion during World War II led many Soviet enterprises to flee there, helping to spur the city's economic growth.

Orenburg is the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative centre of Orenburgsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with ten rural localities, incorporated separately as the City of Orenburg

The city is in the basin of the middle branch of the River Ural, near its confluence with the River Sakmara. The highest point of the city is .

Orenburg is home to several large companies or their subsidiaries: Orenburggazprom, the subsidiary of Gazprom; Orenburgneft, the subsidiary of TNK BP oil company; Orenburgenergy, one of the biggest energy generating companies in Russia.

Orenburg is a regional centre of education and has a number of cultural institutions and museums.

Mountain and river tourism are developed in the region. There are a number of fast mountain rivers and rocks in pleated spurs of the southern edge of the Urals range, popular with tourists. The city is known for its location between Europe and Asia. The Ural River marks the border of Asia and Europe, and there is a bridge which connects the two sides. The city is famous for its down Orenburg shawls. The thinnest lacy design, knitted by hand shawls and cobweb like kerchiefs (pautinkas), is not only warm, but also is used for decorative purposes.

FC Orenburg, the local football team founded in 1970, reached the Russian Premier League for the first time during the 2016 17 season. Lokomotiv has played in the highest division of the Russian Bandy League. Now they play in the second highest division, Russian Bandy Supreme League. Their home arena has a capacity of 5000. Nadezhda Orenburg is a women's basketball club competing in the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League and playing in the Orenburzhe Sports Hall. Fakel Gazproma is a table tennis club with, among other players, the three time European champion Uładzimir Samsonaŭ.

In October 2015, the Russian Rink Bandy Cup was to be organised.

The asteroid 27709 Orenburg was named after the city on June 1, 2007.