3.8 Krasna and its surroundings
Krasna was pretty much centrally located within the German mother colonies of Ackerman District. There were no cities among these colonies. Cultural life and trade took place in the rural communities.
In the beginning the main villages of the area districts, called Wolosts, were Wittenberg/Alt-Posttal, Klöstitz and Sarata. (See 4.8, Administration) Tarutino, the largest and oldest of the villages with the oldest and largest market and seat of the welfare inspector until 1871, came to the foreground. It was long in competition with Arzis, which was situated in the center of the German settlement area, had better traffic connections which made it more easily accessible from the outlying communities. Sarata also played an important role, for it had a hospital, doctors and a retirement home.
After the turn of the century Tarutino became the undisputed main village of the Bessarabian German. There all the major institutions had their seat and the German newspapers of Bessarabia were printed there. Only the farm association (See 5.4 Associations, Councils and Clubs) moved its seat to Arzis a few years after its founding, for traffic reasons, since Arzis had a train station and Tarutino did not.
Tarutino had about 6,000 residents, Sarata 3,000. In the 20th century all three places had a considerable non-German population, as well.
A comparison: In 1940 Krasna had 3,511 Germans and 89 others. 1) Krasna was the second largest German settlement in Bessarabia. The largest community, Tarutino at this point had 3,746 German residents and 2,151 non-Germans.
Krasna was surrounded by the German colonies of Tarutino, Alt-Posttal, Katzbach, Alt-Elft, Paris, Friedenstal, Neu-Paris, Beresina and Klöstitz. The only non-German settlement, the Bulgarian village of Ciuleni (Tschemlek) was in the west.
| Neighboring villages of Krasna 2) | Distance from Krasna |
|---|---|
| Tarutino | 10 km |
| Alt-Posttal | 15 km |
| Beresina | 12 km |
| Katzbach | 8 km |
| Klöstitz | 14 km |
| Friedenstal | 11 km |
| Paris | 5 km |
| Neu-Paris | 5 km |
| Alt-Elft | 9 km |
| Ciuleni (only non-German village) | 9 km |
| These villages were important to Krasna | |
| Sarata Hospital, schools, teachers’ seminary and market | 40 km |
| Tarutino Market village for Krasna, important stores, doctors, a hospital, schools. In the 20th century, it was the main settlement of the Bessarabian Germans. | 10 km |
| Alt-Posttal Until 1871 Krasna’s district office | 15 km |
| Arzis Market, hospital, since 1827 seat of the farm Association, farmers’ school | 21 km |
| Beresina Train station for Krasna | 12 km |
| Klöstitz Mustering place for Krasna recruits in Russian times | 14 km |
| The Larger Villages in Bessarabia and the Region | Distance from Krasna |
| Kischinev Provincial capital of Bessarabia | 100 Werst ca. 107 km |
| Akkerman district city of district city of district Akkerman | 90 Werst ca. 96 km |
| Odessa Until 1871 Seat of the Welfare Committee, main port for grain | 140 Werst ca. 149 km |
| Ismail Port on the Danube | 90 Werst ca. 96 km |
| Tiraspol (official seat of the diocese 1848-1918), the bishops actually resided in Saratov, later in Odessa |
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| Jassy Bishop Seat since 1921 |
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