hidden europe 60

Changing Places

by hidden europe

Summary

Had you noticed that humble Staines, a riverside town south-west of London, has changed its name? It is now called Staines-upon-Thames. Moving upmarket one might say. But the Canadian village of Swastika is resolutely resisting suggestions that a name change might be in order.

Thirty years ago this spring the people of Karl-Marx-Stadt in East Germany went to the polls twice. On 18 March 1990, they took part in the nationwide elections for the Volkskammer — the Berlin legislature which presided over the affairs of the German Democratic Republic. Five weeks later, they were back in the polling booths, where they voted to change the name of their city from Karl-Marx-Stadt to Chemnitz. It had been called Chemnitz until 1953 when, on the 70th anniversary of Marx’s death, the city name was changed to Karl-Marx-Stadt.

The disappearance of Karl-Marx-Stadt from the map of Europe was part of a flurry of renaming in the 1990s. Another 1990 change was the eastern Ukrainian town of Gotwald, named after the Czech Communist leader Klement Gottwald, reverting to its original name Zmiiv (Зміїв). The following year, Leningrad morphed into St Petersburg. That latter change applied merely to the city itself. The wider area around Russia’s second city is still called Leningradskaya oblast (Leningrad region).

Related articleFull text online

Of maps and men: Landranger sheet 57

With place names like Pendicles of Collymoon and Nether Easter Offerance, Ordnance Survey Landranger Sheet 57 fires the imagination. Maps tell stories, as do old men in pubs. Like the Tartan traveller we met in the Tyrol who tried to persuade us that Garibaldi had Scottish ancestry. From Baldy Garrow it is but a short step to Garibaldi.

Related articleFull text online

Admiralty Handbooks: Baedekers with a Twist

Some of the best academic minds in Britain spent the Second World War writing guidebooks about far-flung places. We explore a clandestine area of professional geographical endeavour which resulted in the Naval Intelligence Guides – often called the Admiralty Handbooks.

Related articleFull text online

Flint country: stories set in stone

Laurence Mitchell introduces us to the many ways in which flint has shaped the cultural landscape of East Anglia. The distinctive stone that glistens in fields and is ground by the tides on the region’s beaches is used in many of East Anglia’s fine churches. Flint inflects the region’s history.