Engels, Saratov Oblast

What would become the city was founded as a sloboda named Pokrovskaya Sloboda by Ukrainian Chumak settlers in 1747. During the reign of Catherine the Great, ethnic Germans were encouraged to settle in the Volga region and many moved into the town, making it a major center of the Volga German culture. It was granted official town status and renamed Pokrovsk ({{lang|ru|Покровск}}) in 1914.{{cite web | url=https://enc.rusdeutsch.ru/articles/1375 | title=ПОКРОВСКАЯ СЛОБОДА (Покровск), ныне город Энгельс Саратовской области }} At that time, the town was commonly known as Kosakenstadt ("Cossacks' Town") in German, alongside its official Russian name. During the Russian Civil War, the region came under control of the Bolshevik Russian SFSR, and in 1918 it became the capital of the newly established Volga German ASSR within the Russian SFSR. Pokrovsk/Kosakenstadt was renamed Engels in 1931,{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} after German communist philosopher Friedrich Engels. The Volga German ASSR was abolished in 1941 with the German invasion of Russia serving as a pretext, and the city became part of Saratov Oblast. Its German inhabitants suffered persecution as Soviet authorities accused them of being spies for Nazi Germany. All Germans were deported from Engels, with most being sent far away to Siberia and the Kazakh SSR. On August 26, 2011, a monument in honor of the Russian-German victims of repression within the Soviet Union was unveiled in the city.

Engels-2, a Russian Air Force base is nearby. The airbase was attacked numerous times by Ukrainian drones during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web |date=29 December 2022 |title=Russia says it shot down drone near Engels air base |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-shot-down-drone-near-engels-air-base-2022-12-29/ |website=Reuters}}{{Cite web |last=Axe |first=David |date=2025-03-20 |title=Ukraine Triple Taps Russia’s Engels Bomber Base |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2025/03/20/ukraine-triple-taps-russias-engels-bomber-base/ |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Brennan |first=David |date=21 March 2025 |title=Ukraine targets key Russian airbase with 'massive' drone attack |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/ukraine-targets-key-russian-airbase-massive-drone-attack/story?id=119975332 |access-date=20 March 2025 |website=ABC News |language=en}}

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Engels serves as the administrative center of Engelssky District,{{OKATO reference|63 250}} even though it is not a part of it.{{OKATO reference|63 450}} As an administrative division, it is, together with four rural localities, incorporated separately as Engels City Under Oblast Jurisdiction—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} As a municipal division, Engels City Under Oblast Jurisdiction, together with the work settlement of Privolzhsky and one rural locality (the settlement of Geofizik) in Engelssky District, are incorporated within Engelssky Municipal District as Engels Urban Settlement.Law #106-ZSO

Engels is an industrial city. The Trolza factory manufactures trolleybuses for Russia's public transportation networks. The Engelssky factory of transport mechanical engineering produces rolling stock for railways. The Bosch-Saratov plant, previously Autotractor Spark Plugs, produced spark plugs, and the German Henkel company operated a factory producing domestic laundry detergent and chemical products for the auto-industry. The sanctions against Rusia, after it invaded Ukraine, ceased all the German participation and the subsequent shortage of imported inputs or skilled technicians and managers have limited their activities. The Engelssky pipe factory makes steel electro-welded pipes, steel water pipeline, and profile pipes.

In August 2015, a prototype 1520 mm gauge Bombardier Traxx F120MS locomotive was unveiled at a ceremony to mark the inauguration of First Locomotive Company's factory at Engels.{{cite web |url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/traction-rolling-stock/single-view/view/russian-traxx-unveiled-at-engels-locomotive-plant-inauguration.html |title=Russian Traxx unveiled at Engels locomotive plant inauguration |publisher=railwaygazette.com |date=20 August 2015 |access-date=26 August 2016}}

{{Historical populations|1897|21599|1926|34167|1939|73240|1959|90724|1970|130066|1979|161349|1989{{ru-pop-ref|1989Census}}|181201|2002{{ru-pop-ref|2002Census}}|193984|2010{{ru-pop-ref|2010Census}}|202419|2021|225428|type=|footnote=Source: Census data|align=left}}

• {{flagicon|United States}} Edmond, Oklahoma, United States{{cite web |url=http://www.sister-cities.org/interactive-map/Engels,%20Russia |title=Interactive City Directory |publisher=Sister Cities International |access-date=February 20, 2016 |archive-date=October 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018073407/http://www.sister-cities.org/interactive-map/Engels,%20Russia |url-status=dead}}

• Lev Kassil (1905–1970), writer
• Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998), composer

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• {{RussiaBasicLawRef|sar}}
• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|sar|mun|list0}}
• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|sar|mun|list|engelssky}}

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• [https://www.engels-city.ru/ Official website of Engels] {{in lang|ru}}
• [https://engels.jsprav.ru/ Engels Business Directory] {{in lang|ru}}

{{Saratov Oblast}}

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Category:Cities and towns in Saratov Oblast

Category:Populated places on the Volga

Category:Novouzensky Uyezd

Category:Populated places established in 1747

Category:Volga German settlements

Category:1747 establishments in the Russian Empire

Category:Friedrich Engels