Author: Yevhen Tsymbalyuk
In the 19th century, the South of Ukraine became a real magnet for foreigners who were looking for new opportunities, fertile lands and space for trade. Did you know that around Mykolaiv, their own “Munich” and “Worms” flourished? These were German colonies that forever changed the face of our region.
In our new video, we explore the history of German immigrants who not only brought European engineering solutions to the Mykolaiv region, but also became an integral part of the city community.
Emmanuel Frantsev was a member of the city council, a philanthropist and a musician, but his real passion was collecting. Imagine: 25 thousand species of butterflies, exotic minerals and paleontological finds that he kept in the wing of his own house on Admiralskaya. He was the man who gave up half a million in gold to give the city its first natural history museum. It was his collection that became the foundation of the modern Mykolaiv Museum of Local Lore.
The video was created as part of the project “What is Mykolaiv about? The Multiethnic South”, which is implemented by the MY ART Platform in partnership with the Mykolaiv Development Agency and the Mykolaiv Crisis Media Center with the support of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Ukraine.
