Komarivka

Komarivka (Ukrainian: Комарівка; also Kamarovka) is a village in the Odessa Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It was founded in 1810 with the name Kassel and later renamed as Komarivka (Komarovka).

Geography

Kamarovka is in the Odessa Oblast subdivision (province) of western Ukraine, a few kilometres south of the city of Pavlivka just east of the Moldovan border and about 130 kilometres northwest of the city of Odessa on the north coast of the Black Sea.

History

Kamarovka was founded as Kassel in 1810. It is part of the Bergdorf, Glückstal,^[1] Kassel, Neudorf area near Odessa in Ukraine, which was allocated by the Russia Crown government to German immigrants who left certain areas of Germany/Hungary (Hesse, Baden, Württemberg (now Baden-Württemberg), Alsace (now part of France), the Palatinate, or Hungary) between 1808 and 1810.^[2] The immigrants who founded Kassel were all Protestants, the majority Evangelical [Lutheran], a minority Reformed. Czar Alexander I encouraged immigration from many countries into the Ukrainian areas along the Black Sea, acquired from the Ottoman Empire in 1804. The Germans were fleeing the oppressive occupation of southwest Germany by Napoleon’s armies (until his defeat at Waterloo in 1815). Although the Russians discouraged the practice of any religion other than Russian Orthodoxy, the official church of Russia, Czar Alexander I granted religious freedom and other special privileges, such as local autonomy and temporary tax relief, to the German immigrants. In 1871, Czar Alexander II revoked some of the special privileges (including exemption from military service) originally granted to the German immigrants by Czar Alexander I, and shortly after that many of them began to migrate to the United States, especially to the Dakotas.^[3]

References

• Kassel Village Web Site

Notes

1. Glückstal District, Cherson, South Russia Map
2. German-Russian Settlement
3. Photos of Kassel

Coordinates: 47°9′36″N 29°34′48″E / 47.16000°N 29.58000°E