The updates for name changes in Ukraine to adhere to what is prescribed in the Law of Ukraine № 317-VIII have been completed. The places listed below are the ancestral German village names by colony group whose current names have changed under this law.
Beresan: Elizabethgrad, Karlesrhue, Neu-Kaltschna, Slepucha, Sonnenberg, Wolkowo
Bessarabia: Mathildendorf
Chortitza: Dnjepropetrowsk, Friesendorf, Kalinindorf, Rosa Luksemburg, Schöndorf
Don Cossacks: Bachmut, Christianowka, Katharinenfeld, Krinitschin, Lenintal, Marinort, Rosowka
Early Black Sea: Alt-Danzig
Glückstal: Neu-Berlin, Neuhof-Chutor, Seebach
Hoffnungstal: Chutor Beutelspacher, Chutor Ishitskoye, Hoffnungsfeld, Tichi Kut, Werba
Jewish Agricultural: Kalinindorf, Neuweg
Kherson: Hoffental, Neu-Karlsruhe
Kronau: Hoffnungsort
Kutschurgan: Neu Elsass
Liebental: Herrmannsdorf, Johannesfeld, Lenintal
Mariupol: Dawido-Orlovka, Eichwald, Ludwigstal, Mariental, Ostheim, Prinzfeld, Waldheim
Molotschna: Mariental, Pordenau, Schardau
Prischib: Ebenfeld, Jürgental, Weinau
Taurien: Preobrashenka
Yekaterinaslav: Eigenfeld
Zagradovka: Gnadenfeld
Volhynia: Kniahininek Kolonie
My favorite story from the list is the Liebental colony of Lenintal. It was founded in 1925 after Ukraine became a part of the USSR. Its ancestral name is Lenintal. Its new name is Liebental. I find it very satisfying that we sort of got one back.
A few things to point out:
- A few of the current names were already correct. At the time some of them were recorded for this project, they had been updated on Google Maps and went in without notice that they had been changed. In those cases, the sources were updated to include the link to the Wikipedia page (easier to decipher and follow than the original Ukrainian source) noting that the current name had changed.
- Some of the places are in occupied territory and have not been changed on Google Maps to comply with the new names. These have been noted, and we'll check back on those at a later date to see if anything changes.
- Most of the name changes are not in the Global Gazetteer, a source used heavily for confirming historical names with current names. It's unknown when/if they will be updated in the future. The source was left in place for historical name references and with the hope that it will be updated.
To prepare for continued standardization and clean up work, all of the maps have been updated. Some areas have significant updates already, while others just have the framework for what is to come. You can check out the change history file if you'd like to see details of the changes. I'm trying to keep it up to date, but some work will fall off the radar at times.
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