Novosibirsk — major cultural and economic center of Siberia

The city is located east of the Ural Mountains in the south of the West Siberian Plain in the UTC+7 time zone (4 hours ahead of Moscow time (UTC+3)). With the construction of the railway bridge over the Ob River, the rise from a small village to a city of millions began.

In what was then Novonikolayevsk, the Chapel of St. Nicholas was built as a symbol of the geographical center of the Russian Empire in 1915 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. Today the chapel, located in the very center of Novosibirsk, is a special sight and a landmark of the city. However, the geographical center of today's Russia has shifted to Krasnoyarsk.

The history of Novosibirsk is closely connected with the development of Western Siberia. The settlement was first called Novaya Derevnya (New Village), Gusevka, Krivoshchokovsky, Aleksandrovsky, Novo-Nikolaevsky, until 1903, when it received city rights, it was named Novonikolaevsk (Новониколаевск, after the name of the last Tsar of Russia). In 1926 the city was renamed Novosibirsk.

Alexander III began construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway (1890-1900) in the late 19th century to connect the Siberian region, with its wealth of mineral resources, to Moscow and western Russia. The link was to cross the Ob River at the old town of Kolywan, but plans were changed and the bridge was built at the small village of Krivoshchokovo. Since this required a large number of railway workers, a settlement was quickly established at the bridge.

The official date of foundation is the laying of the foundation stone of the railway bridge over the Ob River with a church service on 20 May 1893. In the spring of 1897 the bridge was opened for traffic, the railway station with infrastructure already existed. As the surrounding settlements quickly used this opportunity to transport their goods, the city grew rapidly. Novonikolayevsk at this time already had 7800 inhabitants.

In December 1903 Novonikolayevsk received official status as a city. Including the population of the surrounding area, it had 22,000 inhabitants. In 1906 the first Siberian bank was founded in Novonikolayevsk, by 1915 there were already five banks. The city quickly became the financial and commercial center of the region. In 1907 it was granted all the rights of self-government. Shortly before the October Revolution, the city had 80,000 inhabitants and was the largest industrial city that was not industrially developed in the agricultural sector alone, with more than 40 schools, cinemas, a university, a shipyard and more than 8 churches.

In 1917, workers and soldiers took over the city in the turmoil of the October Revolution. Novonikolayevsk became an important strategic point for Kolchak's army (500,000 soldiers) in the civil war turmoil, but was captured by the Red Army in 1919. The bridge was destroyed, and the city suffered the consequences of the Civil War. Cholera, typhoid and other epidemics took the lives of thousands. Novonikolayevsk, in the difficult early period for the USSR, was one of the few cities that lacked nothing. In 1921, under Lenin, administrative institutions were moved from Omsk to Novonikolayevsk, and the city became the capital of the newly formed Novonikolayevsk Governorate, which was to last only until 1925.

On February 12, 1926, at the request of the inhabitants, the city was renamed Novosibirsk (loosely translated as "New Siberia"), as it is still called today. Under Stalin, the city became mainly an industrial center. As a commercial center, it lost importance. Many of the new industries had their focus in the agricultural sector.

From 1925 to 1930 Novosibirsk was the capital of the Siberian Krai and after its division until 1937 of the West Siberian Krai. Subsequently, the Novosibirsk Oblast, which still exists today, was formed.

During the 1932-1933 famine period, more than 170,000 refugees came to Novosibirsk and settled in slums on the outskirts of the city, which are now large neighborhoods. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, more than 50 industrial manufacturing plants were moved from western Russia to Novosibirsk in 1941-42, and the city became an armaments center. By the end of the war, over 16,000 I-16, LaGG-3, Yak-7 and Yak-9 fighter aircraft had been produced for the air forces at Plant No. 153. More than 140,000 refugees temporarily stayed in the city during the war. Between 1915 and 1945 more than 26 military hospitals were established in Novosibirsk.

In Novosibirsk, POW camp 199 existed for German prisoners of war of the Second World War. Those who were seriously ill were cared for in the prisoner of war hospital 2494. West of the Ob there was a cemetery where about 20,000 German and Japanese POWs were buried.

Novosibirsk developed into the main transport hub of Siberia as a link between West and East. In 1943, the Siberian Department of the Academy of Sciences was opened in Novosibirsk. From that time Novosibirsk is also the main educational institution of Siberia. In 1954 the tramway was built, Novosibirsk had 287,000 inhabitants. In 1955, the main bridge over the Ob River, the "Kommunalni Bridge" was built.

In 1957, the Ob reservoir (1070 km² area, maximum 8.8 billion m³ reservoir capacity) was built for the purpose of electricity generation (1687 million kWh annual average). This resulted in further environmental problems on top of those already caused by heavy industrialization. Erosion due to destroyed (flooded) forests, flooding and high water occurred.

Also on the banks of the Ob reservoir in 1957 Akademgorodok, the city of science, was built (about 30 km south of the city center) and became the center of the Siberian branch of the Academy of Sciences. Within a very short time, 14 research institutions and universities were established there, virtually a new city. In the early 1960s Novosibirsk reached a size of more than one million inhabitants. Construction of the metro began in 1979, and the first line opened in 1985.

Population development

Note: Census data (1897-1926 rounded)