‘Knowing His Highness’ Impulses… I Will Post a Sentry and Put the Grand Duke in the Tsar Rooms of the Railway Station Building’. The M?salliance of the Grandson of Emperor Nicolas I and a Daughter of Orenburg Polizeimeister A. G. Dreyer

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УДК 94(47).08+93(093)

DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2018-2-564-577

Vera. V. Blinova

Orenburg Institute (branch) of the O. E. Kutafin University, Orenburg, Russian Federation

Vladimir A. Rubin

Committee for Archives of the Orenburg Region, Orenburg, Russian Federation

Tatyana V. Sudorgina

Committee for Archives of the Orenburg Region, Orenburg, Russian Federation

‘Knowing His Highness’ Impulses… I Will Post a Sentry and Put the Grand Duke in the Tsar Rooms of the Railway Station Building’. The M?salliance of the Grandson of Emperor Nicolas I and a Daughter of Orenburg Polizeimeister A. G. Dreyer

Abstract

The article presents documents from archival fonds of the State Archive of the Orenburg Region that narrate little-known facts of the biography of Alexander Gustavovich Dreyer, head of the Orenburg police and public figure, whose life was closely intertwined with the fate of Imperial family offspring Nikolai Konstantinovich Romanov. The significance of the matter lies in the opportunity to make known to contemporaries the outstanding personality of the Orenburg Polizeimeister through a variety of situations - not only in the service, but in the everyday life as well. Alexander Dreyer made a significant contribution to the development of Orenburg and the Orenburg region. A competent, energetic, and non-partisan man, he was actively involved in the creation of the city branch of the Red Cross, the St. Olga orphanage, in the improvement of the boulevard on the bank of the Ural and in many other beneficial activities. In 1877 Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich, the grandson of Nicholas I, was placed under the secret surveillance of the Orenburg police. He fell in love with Alexander Dreyer’s daughter Nadezhda and wed her secretly. In their article the authors attempt to cover the main periods in the life of A.G. Dreyer. Particular attention is paid to the period of 1878-1881, which was a hard time for the family. The documents of the Orenburg gubernia administration, the Orenburg city board (uprava), the Orenburg gendarmerie administration, the office of the Bishop of Orenburg and Ural, and the Orenburg assembly of the nobility from the State Archive of the Orenburg Region, that are presented in the article, have not previously been published. To recreate Dreyer’s biography, two formulary lists (for 1872 and 1878) were used, as well as documents on entering retired Major-General A.G. Dreyer into the genealogical book of the Orenburg gubernia noblity for 1888. In addition to the documents, Orenburg periodicals were studied. Obituaries published after the death of A.G. Dreier, indicate that the inhabitants of the steppe region were sincerely grieved and tried to honor his memory with kind words. In this case, the obituary, being a historical source, provides the researchers with valuable information. A.G. Dreyer's autographs were also discovered; they are dated 1875. Unfortunately, it was impossible to find photographs of A.G. Dreyer.

Keywords

Archive, source, Orenburg gubernia, Orenburg, Polizeimeister AG Dreyer, Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich Romanov.

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References

ASATOVA, G. R. Dvorets velikogo knyazya Nikolaya Konstantinovicha v Tashkente [Palace of Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich in Tashkent. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2013, no. 4, pp. 292-299.

DREYER, V. N. Na zakate imperii [At the decline of the empire. In Russ.]. Madrid, 1965, 224 p.

Nemtsy Rossii: Entsiklopediya [KAREV, V. (ed.). The Germans of Russia: Encyclopedia. In Russ.]. Vol. 1: A – I. Moscow, "ERN"publ., 1999, 832 p.

Orskaya biograficheskaya entsiklopediya [Orsk biographical encyclopedia. In Russ.]. Orenburg, IPK Yuzhnyi Ural publ., 2005, 336 p.

About the authors

Blinova Vera Vladislavovna, PhD in History, Orenburg Institute (branch) of the O.E. Kutafin University, history department, assistant professor, Orenburg, Russian Federation, +7-903-366-89-49, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Rubin Vladimir Alexandrovich, PhD in History, associate professor, Committee for Archives of the Orenburg Region, chairman , Orenburg, Russian Federation, +7-922-873-76-48, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sudorgina Tatyana Vladimirovna, honored worker of culture of the Russian Federation, Committee for Archives of the Orenburg Region, consultant, Orenburg, Russian Federation, +7-987-787-19-89, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Submitted 2.08.2017, published:

BLINOVA, V. V., RUBIN, V. A., SUDORGINA, T. V. “Znaya poryvy Ego Vysochestva… ya postavlyu chasovykh i pomeshchu Velikogo Knyazya v tsarskikh komnatakh vokzala zheleznoi dorogi”. Neravnyi brak vnuka imperatora Nikolaya I i docheri orenburgskogo politseimeistera A. G. Dreiera [‘Knowing His Highness’ Impulses… I Will Post a Sentry and Put the Grand Duke in the Tsar Rooms of the Railway Station Building’. The M?salliance of the Grandson of Emperor Nicolas I and a Daughter of Orenburg Polizeimeister A. G. Dreyer. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2018, no. 2, pp. 564-577. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2018-2-564-577

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