Alexandrowka
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Transcript
Alexandrowka looks like a transplanted Russian village, but it was created in Prussia as a memorial and residence connected to Russian singers who had entered the Prussian king’s service during the Napoleonic era. Its name honoured Tsar Alexander the First.
The colony captures the intimate side of dynastic international politics. Prussia and Russia could be military allies, rivals and family-connected monarchies at different moments, and those relationships left physical traces. Alexandrowka is not evidence of a large Russian immigrant district. It is a royal commemorative project built around a small group of people whose lives became entangled with European war and court culture.