Sokallen

Sokallen ( Russian Зокаллен ) (since 1950 Russian Perovo Перово ) was last a place in the Russian Oblast Kaliningrad ( Koenigsberg area (Prussia) ) and geographically belongs to the Mosyrskoje selskoje posselenije (rural community Mosyr (Klein Gnie) ) within the Pravdinsk district (district Friedland (East Pr.) ).

Geographical location

The no longer existent settlement Sokallen is located around 33 kilometers east of the district capital Prawdinsk (Friedland (Ostpr.)) And around 20 kilometers northeast of the former district town of Schelesnodoroschny (Gerdauen) .

The river Aschwönen (Swine , Russian: Putilowka ) runs through Sokallen, which was dammed here for the operation of the water mill.

Sokallen was connected to the now Russian trunk road R 508 in the section between Osjorsk ( Darkehmen , 1938–1945 Angerapp ) and Snamensk ( Wehlau ) via an approximately 500 meter long side road.

There was no direct train connection. The Klein-Gnie station (today Mosyr ), about five kilometers away, was used . The Toruń – Tschernjachowsk ( Thorn – Insterburg ) line running there was decommissioned in 2001 on its Russian section for passenger traffic.

History

The existence of the place is documented as early as 1601, which was mentioned among other things when the parish Muldszen was founded. In 1725 the spelling Sakallen was also used . On March 21, 1928, the rural communities of Sokallen and Werschen (today Werschiny ) merged to form the new rural community of Werschen. Since then, Sokallen has been part of the village just under a kilometer away.

In 1905 there were 62 inhabitants here, in 1910 63. The population of the new rural community Werschen (including Sokallen) rose to 187 by 1933 and was 192 in 1939.

As a result of the Second World War , northern East Prussia and with it the village of Sokallen became part of the Soviet Union in 1945 and was renamed "Perovo" in 1950.

At what point in time the village was abandoned, it is not yet clear. Until the beginning of 1945, the district consisted of 7 courtyards, a private home, 4 installs and a water mill. The almost complete existence of the village in 1948 is documented by eyewitness reports, whereby the German residents who had not fled had to leave the village by the now Soviet administration. Due to the renaming in 1950, it can be assumed that this settlement will continue to exist, but the extent to which it was resettled by Soviet immigrants is not documented. In 1990 the district had apparently not existed for a very long time.

Sokallen today

Remains of buildings in the desert of Sokallen (in the background the former road lined with birch trees on both sides, which led out of the village)

Almost nothing is left of the place itself. On today's P508 road, around 500 meters behind Verchiny in the direction of Perewalowo (Muldschen), there is a road lined with birch trees on both sides (in some places still paved), which led directly into the village and now ends in a field. From there you can take an unpaved path (which, however, from this point onwards no longer corresponds to the original road courses in the village) to the banks of the Swine, whose water has been dammed into a small lake at this point. Here the Sokallener watermill was (see section watermill Sokallen ). The watermill no longer exists today. Only the remains of massive walls on both sides of the upper Swine bank point to the former location of the mill.

From the residential buildings and stables of the village, several clusters of bricks can still be found here and there.

Sokallen watermill

Remains of the weir of the former Sokallen water mill

Documented from old archival files, the idyllic watermill on the bank of the Swine was built by royal decree in the early 18th century. It also included 500 acres of farmland and forest. A leaseholder owned this property until 1828. As a result of the separation , the property passed into ownership. Hydropower had increased considerably at the end of the 19th century by regulating the course of the river. In addition, modern turbines were installed at this time to make better use of the flowing element. An electric motor was still ready for use as reserve power.

The mill's production increased to two and a half tons per day by 1945, plus the grinding of feed and baking meal. In addition, there was a lively trade in animal feed and grain. A modern grain cleaning system with a dressing device was also available for the perfect production of seeds.

The mill was in operation until it collapsed in 1945. Continued operation of the mill after 1945 seems unrealistic, as the mill bridge was blown up by German units in January 1945 and the granary and parts of the residential and mill building were destroyed as a result.

church

With its majority Protestant population, Sokallen was parish until 1945 in the parish Muldszen (1936–1938 Muldschen , 1938–1945 Mulden , since 1947: Perewalowo). It belonged to the church district Gerdauen (since 1946: Schelesnodoroschny) within the church province of East Prussia of the church of the Old Prussian Union .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heimatbrief Kreis Gerdauen No. 36 from December 2006
2. ↑ [1]
3. ^ Michael Rademacher: German administrative history from the unification of the empire in 1871 to the reunification in 1990. Landkreis Gerdauen (Russian Schelesnodoroschnyj). (Online material for the dissertation, Osnabrück 2006). 
4. ↑ Ordinance 745/3 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR “On the renaming of the place names of the Kaliningrad Oblast” of July 5, 1950
5. ↑ Heimatbrief Kreis Gerdauen No. 36 from December 2006
6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Heimatbrief Kreis Gerdauen No. 38/2006, page 138 ff.
8. ^ Parish of Muldszen

Coordinates: 54 ° 29 '  N , 21 ° 26'  E