Stepove, Stepove rural hromada, Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast

Stepove (Ukrainian: Степове) is a village in Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast in Southern Ukraine. Its population was 1869 in the 2001 Ukrainian Census.[1] Along with another village of Zelenyi Hai, it forms a rural community: Stepivska Silska Rada. Stepove hosts the administration of Stepove rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.[2]

Stepove
Степове
Stepove is located in Mykolaiv Oblast
Stepove
Stepove
Location of Stepove in Mykolaiv Oblast
Stepove is located in Ukraine
Stepove
Stepove
Stepove (Ukraine)
Coordinates: 47°11′04″N 31°31′12″E / 47.18444°N 31.52000°E / 47.18444; 31.52000
Country Ukraine
Province Mykolaiv Oblast
DistrictMykolaiv Raion
CommunityStepove rural council
Founded1809
Former nameKarlsruhe (1809—1944)
Area
 • Total85.116 km2 (32.863 sq mi)
Population
 (2001)
 • Total1,869
 • Density22/km2 (57/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
57107
Area code+380 512
ClimateDfa
Websitehttp://rada.gov.ua/

History edit

The village was founded as Karlsruhe (after Karlsruhe, Germany) in 1809 by Catholic Germans.[3] The settlement was part of the Beresan Colonial District of Odessa region, Kherson Governorate. In 1886, the population of the German colony of Karlsruhe was 2,132 people; at which time it was part of the Landau parish, Odessa district, Kherson Governorate. There were 190 farmsteads, a Roman Catholic church, and a high school. The Catholic Church of St. Peter and Paul was built from 1881 to 1885.

In 1925–1939, the Karlsruhe colony was part of Karl-Liebknechtovsky's German National District of Mykolaiv region (from Odessa Oblast since 1932).

Today, the ruins of the 19th-century neo-gothic style Roman Catholic church still remain. It is somewhat bricked up and its wooden roof and original steeple are gone. Several pictures of The church dated from the 1930s and 40s were published in a German language book called “Die Kirchen und das Religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutsche”. Pictures from 1942 and 1943 show the steeple missing the peak and cross but still with the stone base. The steeple was destroyed by the Soviets as they removed crosses from churches all over Ukraine. It is reported that the steeple was destroyed in 1934. It was rebuilt during the German occupation and destroyed yet again when Soviet forces advanced in mid-1944. Today, the main stone body of the steeple is completely gone. The church could have been battle damaged during the Nazi's advance through the area in 1941 or their retreat a few years later. Battle damage is present on its exterior from small-arms fire and shrapnel from undated events.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Stepove, Mykolaiv Oblast, Mykolaiv Raion". Regions of Ukraine and their Structure (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Степовская громада" (in Russian). Портал об'єднаних громад України.
  3. ^ "Catholic temple of Saint Peter and Paul in the village of Stepove (Католический храм Святого Петра и Павла в с.Степовое)". ukrainaincognita (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)