Dvigatel Revolyutsii (colloquially — simply "Dvigatel") is the popular name for the eastern part of Leninsky District of Nizhny Novgorod, bounded by Taganskaya, Geroyskaya, Kompozitorskaya, Geroya Popova, Novikova-Priboy streets, and Dubki Park. The area takes its name from the Dvigatel Revolyutsii (Engine of Revolution) machine-building plant — the former Riga factory "Felzer and Co.", evacuated to Nizhny Novgorod in 1915 and known since 1993 as RUMO [1][2][3]. The name is also shared by a station on the Nizhny Novgorod metro on Lenin Avenue [4].

Name

The word "revolution" in the name is a Soviet-era addition: in 1922, the Felzer & Co. plant was renamed "Dvigatel Revolyutsii" (Engine of Revolution), and the settlement that had grown up around it took on the same name [1][5]. On this name, Yuri Melkonov, the author of an essay on the plant's history, remarked with a smile [1]:

In the street register of Leninsky District, the locality is listed simply as the "Dvigatel" microdistrict; neighboring it are the Karpovka and "Stroyploshchadka" microdistricts [3], as well as Molitovka and Stankozavod.

say what you will, the young revolutionaries were, in some respects, poets and romantics

— Yuri Melkonov, essay "Dvigatel Revolyutsii," 2004 [1]

The Felzer & Co. Plant in Riga

The plant was founded in Riga by engineers Karl Felzer, William Weir (Vir), and Professor Karl Lovis; the year of its founding is given as either 1873 [1][6] or 1874 [2]. Starting with 50 workers, by 1891 the enterprise had grown to 300 employees, and that same year the joint-stock "Society of the Riga Cast-Iron Foundry and Machine-Building Plant, formerly 'Felzer & Co.'" was established [2][1]. The plant produced cast iron goods, steam engines, refrigeration units, machine tools, and equipment for breweries, oil mills, distilleries, and sawmills [2][1].

In 1903 the plant acquired a license from the German firm MAN, in 1905 it produced its first diesel engine, and it soon became Russia's leading diesel manufacturer; by 1914 diesels accounted for 40% of its output. The majority of orders came from the Military and Naval departments: diesel engines and equipment were shipped to Saint Petersburg, where submarines and naval vessels were under construction [2][1]. In 1912 a controlling stake (56%) passed to the German company Augsburg-Nuremberg [1]. The plant's products were also known in Nizhny Novgorod through the All-Russian Exhibition; following that exhibition, the plant was granted the right to display the imperial eagle on its coat of arms — a hallmark of quality in those days [6][5].

Evacuation to Nizhny Novgorod

In the summer of 1915, with the threat of German forces capturing Riga, the plant was evacuated: a supreme order was signed in June, and within a month seven echelons of equipment and 50 railcars carrying workers — some 700 people in all — set off toward the Volga. That same summer, more than 170 enterprises were evacuated from Riga [1][2]. An essay about the plant describes the Riga station "Aleksandrovskiye Vorota" packed with trains: steam cranes loaded machine tools, metal discs and ingots of red copper — the mobilization reserve — were transported separately, and the rumble of artillery could be heard in the distance [1].

The official foundation date is given as October 17, 1915 [1][6]; the prayer service at the laying of the foundation was photographed by Maxim Petrovich Dmitriev, and the caption on his photograph gives the date as October 7, 1915 [7]. At the same time, Dmitriev photographed the construction of the main office building and the workers' settlement [8]. The Treasury allocated 663,000 rubles in non-repayable grants and 2,847,000 rubles in loans over 15 years for the construction; the first stage was brought into operation within 14 months, and as early as February 1916 the plant delivered its first output, with military orders reaching 1.8 million rubles [1][5][6].

One of the first buildings to be erected was the manager's house (now at Admiral Nakhimov Street, 22): it was the home of Franz Ivanovich Blaschke, the first director of the Felser & Co. plant. In the Soviet era the house was converted into apartments, then into a kindergarten and a guesthouse for visiting workers on assignment; in 2006 the residents were relocated, and in 2017 the building was demolished [6].

From "Felser" to "Dvigatel Revolyutsii"

After 1917 production came to a halt, and the Civil War made the plant's situation still worse [1]. In 1918 it repaired vessels of the Volga Military Flotilla that were stationed in the Molitovsky backwater — the Volgar-Dobrovolets, the Roshal, and the Krestyanin-Tovarishch [2]. In 1920, following the conclusion of peace with Latvia, more than 300 skilled workers left the plant [1]. In 1919 it was known as the "First Nizhny Novgorod State Machine-Building Plant," and on November 4, 1922, it was given the name "Dvigatel Revolyutsii" (Engine of the Revolution) [5][1].

Latvian names continued to appear in the plant's history afterward: an essay about it mentions the Finarti worker dynasty, Ya. Ya. Lorup, G. F. Autrup, R. P. Zarin, R. A. Stromberg, M. M. Grube, and many others [1]. The Riga plant was not the only one: in 1915 the Etna plant — the future Krasnaya Etna — was also evacuated from Riga to this area [5]. On the fate of the Gorky Latvian colony in the 1930s, see "Biographical Notes on Latvians…".

Names of the Plant
YearsName
1873/1874–1915, Riga"Felzer & Co."; from 1891 — "Society of the Riga Cast-Iron and Machine-Building Plant, formerly 'Felzer & Co.'" [1][2]
1915–1919"Felzer & Co." plant in Nizhny Novgorod [1][5]
1919"First Nizhny Novgorod State Machine-Building Plant" [5]
1922–1993"Dvigatel Revolyutsii" (Engine of the Revolution) [1][2][5]
1993–2021JSC "RUMO" — "Russkiy Motor" (Russian Motor); bankrupt since 2021 [2][9]
from 2018JSC "RUMO" — a new enterprise on part of the former site [2][9]

Diesels and Gas Engine-Compressors

In 1925 the plant produced the first Soviet diesel engine, rated at 400 hp. [1][5]. The compressor-free diesel BK-38, designed by Otto Nikolayevich Shtebler and built in 1926 [1][5] (the plant's chronicle records it as the first domestically produced stationary compressor-free diesel [2]), was manufactured in one-, two-, three-, and four-cylinder configurations with output of up to 140 hp; in 1941 such diesels powered the underground power stations of the gun batteries on the Moonsund Islands [1][2]. In 1928 the plant began producing licensed MAN engines, and in 1939 it added gas-generator engines running on small-cut firewood [2]. Diesels made by Dvigatel Revolyutsii were fitted to submarines of the Shchuka and Stalinets classes, which were built by Krasnoye Sormovo Plant [1].

In 1929 the plant was visited by M. I. Kalinin and V. V. Kuybyshev; in 1936 by People's Commissar of Heavy Industry Sergo Ordzhonikidze; and in 1937 by aviator Valery Chkalov, who toured the diesel and engine-compressor production lines [5]. From 1 May 1929 the plant published its own factory newspaper, Dvigatel [5].

In 1948, by a decision of the USSR Council of Ministers, the plant began producing gas-engine compressors — the first machines went to the oil fields of Nebit-Dag — and became the sole manufacturer of such equipment in the USSR and later in Russia; from 1950 onward, the plant produced the 10GK family of its own design, which remained in production until 2010 [2][1]. The G60 diesel engines were installed on the lead vessel Volgo-Don of the Navashino shipyard Oka, while the G70 engines were intended for large cargo and passenger river vessels, including motor ships built at shipyards in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary [2]. In 1967, the G-66 diesel engine was among the first in the Gorky Region to receive the State Quality Mark [5].

During the Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War, the plant was subordinated to the munitions ministry: it manufactured 120-mm mortars, gearboxes for T-34 tanks, and assembled rocket shells for Katyusha rocket launchers [1][5]. Among Gorky's enterprises, it served as the lead facility for assembling rocket shells and supplied 56% of all shells sent from the Region to the front [10][11]. From 1944, the plant began producing the 160-mm mortar designed by I. G. Teverovsky and delivered 9,845 such mortars to the front [11][10]. A diesel engine for the submarine S-13 was also produced here [10]. On 16 April 1942, the plant was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour [1][2].

On 5 November 1941, a one-ton aerial bomb struck the plant's power station: 17 people were killed, 46 were wounded, production came to a halt, and the annual plan went unfulfilled. The plant's director, Doctor of Technical Sciences Viktor Suslov, was charged with sabotage and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment; in 1943 he was sent to a penal battalion, served as a gun commander at the Battle of Kursk, and in 1944 his conviction was overturned [11]. After the raid, the plant was camouflaged to resemble part of the settlement of Karpovka: pathways were painted on the roofs of the workshops, and 7,000 m² of camouflage netting was stretched overhead. The heaviest raid came on the night of 22 June 1943: incendiary bombs destroyed several workshops, most of the warehouses, and the garage, triggering a major fire; the foundry was saved; four people were killed and 40 were wounded [11].

Defense output of the plant in 1941–1945 (per the plant's chronicle)
ItemProduced
Rocket projectiles1,351,688 units [2]
Mortars10,103 units [2]
Mines121,870 units [2]

RUMO: bankruptcy and new production

In 1993, during privatization, the plant became the open joint-stock company RUMO. The name — an abbreviation of "Russkiy Motor" (Russian Motor) — won an in-house competition; the finalists also included "DIZAR," "FELZERʺ," "ADRO," "ROSS," "RUSEN," "ENROS," and "ROSMO" [2]. In 1995 the plant signed a licensing agreement with MAN B&W, and subsequently produced pumps, UTM hot-water boilers, diesel-electric and gas-piston units, and gas-engine compressors for Azerbaijan [2].

By 2016, the plant had no orders, had accumulated months of wage arrears, and was mired in a shareholder conflict; bankruptcy proceedings began that same year [12][13]. In 2018, JSC RUMO was established on the basis of the assets of the open joint-stock company; in 2019 it leased 9 hectares of the roughly 48-hectare site, including the main mechanical assembly building, restored the workshops, and began producing equipment for the gas industry. In 2021, the RUMO-502 gas-piston engine was tested at the plant [2][13][14]. OJSC RUMO itself was declared bankrupt in April 2021 [9]; the industrial site was divided into dozens of plots (40 hectares and 37 plots, according to Interfax), and developers have been eyeing it for residential construction [14][9].

In autumn 2024, six buildings were put up for auction, including the plant's polyclinic, the main administrative office, and the sports complex of the vocational school on Partizanskaya Street [15]. In December 2024, the plant's property complex was sold at auction for 1.5 billion rubles — nine times the starting price — but the contract was rescinded in February 2025 because the buyer failed to pay [9][16]. The operating production facilities of JSC RUMO occupy three workshops owned by the company and were not included in the lot [9][16].

Workers' settlement and streets

The workers' settlement was built simultaneously with the plant: Dmitriev's photographs from 1915 show the main office, the settlement under construction, and the barracks [8][7]. In 1922, the settlement of the Felser plant, together with Molitovka, Karpovka, Borzovka, and the settlements of other plants, was placed under the district settlement of Kanavino; in 1935, the southern boundary of the new Leninsky District ran "from the territory of the Dvigatel Revolyutsii plant through the forest to the railway line" — railway branches to the Avtozavod and to the Dvigatel Revolyutsii plant passed through the district at that time [5].

The streets of the settlement were initially numbered: what is now Robespierre Street was called 14th Street until 1936 [3]. In 1936, they were given the names of writers, scholars, and revolutionaries, and the working-class quarters acquired an unusually literary and scientific toponymy for a factory outskirt — Pascal, Robespierre, Gleb Uspensky, Shakespeare, Novikov-Priboy [3]. In 1951, the "Novaya Stroyka" ("New Construction") settlement appeared, with youth dormitories belonging to the plant [5].

Streets of the Dvigatel Microdistrict and adjacent blocks
StreetFormer nameYearNamed after
Admiral Nakhimov StreetStakhanovskaya1949naval commander P. S. Nakhimov; the plant is located on this street (no. 13) [3][17]
Robespierre Street14th Street1936French Revolutionary figure M. Robespierre [3]
Pascal Street (and lane, 1962)—1936scientist Blaise Pascal [3]
Gleb Uspensky Street—1936writer G. I. Uspensky [3]
Novikov-Priboy Street (Stroyploshchadka microdistrict)Kuznechny Lane1936writer A. S. Novikov-Priboy [3]
Shakespeare Street (Karpovka microdistrict)—1936playwright William Shakespeare [3]
Rainis Lane (Stroyploshchadka microdistrict)—1962Latvian poet Jānis Rainis [3]
Grube StreetSadovaya1974M. M. Grube (1892–1945), first director of the Dvigatel Revolyutsii Plant [3]
Hero Popov Street (Karpovka microdistrict)Shosseynaya1965Hero of the Soviet Union I. P. Popov (1923–1943), who worked at the plant before the war [3][17]

Tram and Metro

In the summer of 1932, the tram line was extended from Molitovka to the new factories — Dvigatel Revolyutsii and the Machine-Tool Plant [5]. In 1989, tram route No. 21 "Dubki Park — Black Pond" opened, and in 2007 the tracks on Lenin Avenue between Novikov-Priboy Street and Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii Street were removed [5].

The Dvigatel Revolyutsii metro station opened on November 20, 1985, as part of the first section to enter service, "Moskovskaya" — "Proletarskaya"; its design name was "Zavod Dvigatel Revolyutsii" [4][5]. It stands on Lenin Avenue at the intersection with Norilskaya Street, with exits on both sides of the avenue [4][18]. The station is a shallow, three-aisle columnar design; the architects were A. D. Kopylov and Yu. N. Bubnov, with contributions from V. P. Dmitriev, Yu. S. Sazonov, and S. M. Yashin [4][18]. The "industrial-revolutionary" theme of the name is conveyed through metal column surrounds, applied lettering, and embossed work on the electrical cabinet doors; above the stairways hang two panels in Roman mosaic technique — one featuring a star and banner, the other a hammer and sickle against a backdrop of factory machinery [4][18]. The run to Zarechnaya station is straight, and the neighboring station is visible from the platform through the tunnel [4][18]. On June 16, 2014, the northern vestibule was flooded due to a burst water main [4].

Dubki Park and the House of Culture

Dubki Park occupies 19.5 hectares between Lenin Avenue and Admiral Nakhimov, Gleb Uspensky, and Novikov-Priboy Streets; it takes its name from an oak grove, and the park contains oaks over a hundred years old [19][20]. In the early twentieth century, the Monastery Forest stood here [20]. According to some sources, a recreation park for factory workers and local residents was established in the 1930s, with tree-lined avenues planted in the 1940s–1950s [20]; according to others, Dubki Park was laid out in 1953 [5]. In the 1960s, fairground rides were installed in the park and later removed; landscaping work began in 2008, a comprehensive reconstruction in 2018, and in August 2020 the park was transferred to the city's Parks and Gardens Directorate [5][20].

The House of Culture of the Dvigatel Revolyutsii ("Engine of Revolution") Plant opened, according to some sources, in 1953 [5], and according to others was built in 1955 [20]. In 1953, a monument to V. I. Lenin was unveiled on Admiral Nakhimov Street [5].

Schools, libraries, kindergartens

The microdistrict is home to School No. 160 (6 Admiral Nakhimov Street), opened in 1959 and granted secondary school status in 1967 [17][5]. The Dzerzhinsky Library opened in the Dvigatel Revolyutsii microdistrict in 1976, and in 2002 relocated to a new building at 4/4 Gleb Uspensky Street [5][17]. The microdistrict's streets are also home to kindergartens No. 256 and No. 275 (9B and 9A Taganskaya Street), No. 278 (3 Kompozitorskaya Street), No. 340 (1A Gleb Uspensky Street), the Raduga Young Technicians Club (17A Novikov-Priboy Street), and a vocational boarding school for people with disabilities (12A Geroya Popova Street) [17]. In 2020, a landscaped public garden opened near building No. 57 on [5].

Signs of the Times

In 1933, the first barbershop opened in a railway siding at Dvigatel Revolyutsii [5]. The plant produced more than just diesel engines: collectors are familiar with weights bearing the stamp "DRF" — "Dvigatel Revolyutsii Felzera" (Felzer's Engine of the Revolution) — with inspection marks dating from 1925–1927, as well as a water main manhole cover from the Felzer plant dated 1922 [21].

In front of the plant's main gatehouse (13 Admiral Nakhimov Street) stands a memorial to those who fell in the [10][17].

See Also

Sources

  1. melkon.lv — an essay by Yuri Melkonov on the history of the plant, 2004 — Engine of the Revolution (archive)
  2. aorumo.ru — JSC RUMO — company history on the official website — About the Company (archive)
  3. leninskiraion14.blogspot.com — CBS of Leninsky District — "The District Dear to Our Hearts": street names — Streets Named After Them (archive)
  4. wiki.nashtransport.ru — Our Transport Encyclopedia — Dvigatel Revolyutsii metro station — Dvigatel Revolyutsii (metro station, Nizhny Novgorod) (archive)
  5. leninskiraion14.blogspot.com — CBS of Leninsky District — "The District Dear to Our Hearts": district chronograph (archive)
  6. autotravel-nn.ru — the manager's house of the Felser & Co. plant — Felser & Co. Manager's House (archive)
  7. web.archive.org — PRO-NN — photograph by M. P. Dmitriev "Felser Plant. Prayer Service at the Laying of the Foundation" — Admiral Nakhimov Street, No. 13 — historical photographs (archive)
  8. runivers.ru — photograph by M. P. Dmitriev, 1915 — Felser Plant. General view of the construction of the main office and workers' settlement
  9. Interfax — results of the auction of OJSC RUMO assets, January 2025 — Auction winner paid 9 times the asking price — 1.5 billion rubles — for the ruins of the RUMO plant in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  10. leninskiraion14.blogspot.com — CBS of Leninsky District — "The District Dear to Our Hearts": the district during the war years — "Lenintsy" during the Great Patriotic War (archive)
  11. nn.aif.ru — AiF Nizhny Novgorod — on the camouflage and bombing of Gorky's plants, 2025 — Hide the Factory. How Gorky's Plants Were Protected from Fascist Air Raids (archive)
  12. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Kommersant (Nizhny Novgorod) — on the plant's situation in 2016 — RUMO Once Again Became an Engine of Revolution (archive)
  13. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Kommersant (Nizhny Novgorod) — on the resumption of production at RUMO, July 2020 — "Engine of the Revolution" to Start Up by Year's End (archive)
  14. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Kommersant (Nizhny Novgorod) — on the transition of OJSC RUMO to receivership, March 2021 — The Machine Builder Will Go Under the Hammer (archive)
  15. GIPERNN — GIPERNN — on the sale of plant buildings, September 2024 — The Sale of Buildings of the Bankrupt RUMO Plant in Nizhny Novgorod Has Begun (archive)
  16. Interfax — on the termination of the purchase agreement, February 2025 — The Purchase Agreement for Buildings of the Bankrupt Nizhny Novgorod RUMO Plant Terminated Due to Non-Payment (archive)
  17. leninskiraion14.blogspot.com — CBS of Leninsky District — "The District Dear to Our Hearts": district institutions — Leninsky District Today (archive)
  18. metrowalks.com — Metro Walks — Dvigatel Revolyutsii station
  19. leninskiraion14.blogspot.com — CBS of Leninsky District — "The District Dear to Our Hearts": parks and squares — The Enchantment of Native Land. Ecology of Leninsky District (archive)
  20. culture.ru — Kultura.RF — Dubki Park (archive)
  21. funtofil.livejournal.com — weights from the DRF plant and plant history — Felser & Co. Machine-Building Plant — "Engine of the Revolution" (archive)