Residential town of the "Ludwig Nobel" factory

The founder of the Nobel Prize lived in St. Petersburg for almost two decades, and his relatives owned the largest machine-building plant in Russia. The Nobel Prize, Baku oil fields, Russian diesel engines, arithmometers, plywood, and much more all began right here.

In 1862, the mechanical plant "Ludwig Nobel" was founded at 30 Sampsonievsky Prospect. The enterprise manufactured steam engines for ships, as well as underwater mines and shells. "Ludwig Nobel" was the largest machine-building plant in the Russian Empire. Ludwig Nobel was the elder brother of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prize. After the founder, the enterprise was headed by Emmanuel Nobel, Ludwig’s eldest son. He owned it until the revolution, when the plant was nationalized and renamed "Russian Diesel".

In the Lesnoy Prospect area, a whole residential town appeared over several decades after the opening of the "Ludwig Nobel" plant. The idea of building quality housing for factory employees was quite innovative for that time. Here, for a modest fee, employees had apartments with all amenities: bathtubs, central heating. The houses were separated by shady gardens. The town includes thirteen residential buildings and several administrative buildings, including a school. Housing here was only given to qualified factory workers. Nobel Lane runs through the residential area. The street was named in 2011. The form "Nobelsky" (not "Nobelevsky") was chosen as historical: in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the adjective derived from the Nobel surname sounded exactly like this. In St. Petersburg, there were Nobel Street and Nobel Road.

In 2015, memorial plaques were installed on the facade of building No. 20, block 8, in memory of the Nobel family’s activities in St. Petersburg. The first plaque features the profiles of Ludwig and Emmanuel Nobel, father and son,

and the second contains a brief history of the lives of three generations of the dynasty. The memorial project was designed and implemented by sculptor Zurab Tsereteli.

The residential town was built in several stages. Between 1893 and 1895, blocks 3–5 and 11 were constructed, designed by Viktor Alexandrovich Shreter, who participated in the creation and reconstruction of a huge number of St. Petersburg buildings. Further construction work in the town was overseen by Roman Fedorovich (Robert Friedrich) Meltzer.

The completion of the town’s construction was carried out by Fyodor Ivanovich (Johann Friedrich) Lidval. According to his designs, several more blocks and an income house facing Lesnoy Prospect were built here.

One of his main buildings was the residential building at No. 20, existing since 1911. The Art Nouveau style building was created by Fyodor Lidval (https://reveal.world/story/dohodnyj-dom-emmanuila-lyudvigovicha-nobelya). The house was considered the most comfortable among those intended for factory employees. Most apartments were five-room, with fireplaces and other historical details, many of which have been preserved to this day.

Sources:

https://www.citywalls.ru/house6091.html

http://www.vybnews.ru/news/2022-08-08/gorodok-nobeley-na-vyborgskoy-storone-i-zavod--lyudvig-nobel/