Prostitution is known to be the oldest profession. It has long existed in Russia. But this despicable craft flourished in magnificent colors in the times of Peter the Great …
Bandersha Dresdensha
In the Middle Ages, Russia lagged behind Europe somewhat in terms of development - industry, education and science were in their infancy. And the same "backward" country was also in debauchery - this case was not put on a grand scale, as in the West. Prostitution existed, but at the same time it was considered a grave sin, in contrast to the more developed countries, where it was quite legal. And there could be no question of any brothels - "conniving women" worked individually, waiting for clients in taverns - pretending to traders or wanderers.
The situation changed completely during the time of Peter I. He decided to rebuild the country in a Western way, in which he partially succeeded. During the construction of St. Petersburg, crowds of lonely and detached men - soldiers, workers, foreigners - poured into the new capital. At the same time, there were few women, and they enjoyed great success - which they did not fail to take advantage of. Foreign women were in special demand, very different from Russians in their unprecedented costumes and manners.
In the middle of the 18th century, prostitution had already flourished in full bloom, although it was still condemned by the authorities and religion. However, there were so many foreign prostitutes that brothels began to appear in the country.
The organizer of the most famous and scandalous among them was the German Anna-Kunigunda Felker, nicknamed Dresdensha. At the age of 22, she arrived in Russia to serve Major Biron - officially as a maid, but in reality she provided him with services of a completely different kind. A year later, she married compatriot Friedrich Felker, but he was soon called up for military service. Left alone, lively Anna decided to earn a little extra money on pandering - she had many foreign girlfriends of easy virtue. When Felker arrived home, he was dumbfounded to see what his apartment had become. He accused his wife of adultery and got a divorce without any problems. But it turned out to be only for Anna - being free, she got down to business with tripled energy.
She rented a house in a busy place - Voznesenskaya perspective. The house was located very well - the Izmailovsky regiment was located nearby, where foreign officers served, nearby - the Morskaya Sloboda and the English Embankment, where foreign merchants rented housing, as well as the Moscow tract, a famous trading place.
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She settled a lot of women and girls in her house - she approached the selection of "personnel" wisely - several times she went to Germany, where she described to the German women the delights of life in Russia and the opportunity to earn untold wealth.
Practical German women agreed to her terms, and soon the Felker house became famous throughout the city. She called him "Modny", but Petersburgers quickly renamed him "Merry". Here music was constantly thundering, there were violent feasts, and anyone who looked at the light could choose a woman to their liking - the “assortment” was wide: German women, Polish women, Russians …
The girls were constantly changing so as not to bore customers, and there was no end of visitors. You could buy a girl and spend the night with her right in the "Merry House", or you could order her at home - for a month or more. A girl disguised as a maid or a servant got to the new owner and did not work at all around the house.
The fame of the Dresdensha house was so wide that not only middle officers and ranks, but also the upper strata of society - the princes Golitsyns, Tatishchevs, Naryshkins, Durnovo, Korsakovs began to look at it. The aristocrats preferred exclusively foreign women, sporting the most fashionable and luxurious outfits.
Kalinkin house
Naturally, the authorities were interested in this brisk institution, but Felker knew how to find a trip to everyone - officials and police officers received bribes in money and could go to the "Merry House" at any time to have fun. But still the Anna Felker brothel was destroyed in a scandal.
One of the German women who worked for Dresden was dragged into prostitution by deception - Anna promised her a job as a maid in Russia, but instead the girl had to fulfill the whims of drunken officers. Once the deceived victim wrote a petition addressed to Empress Elizabeth - she often drove to Peterhof past the Felker brothel, and submitted it to one of the Empress's posters.
Elizabeth came into a terrible anger and gave an order for the immediate arrest and expulsion from Russia of the keepers of secret dens.
Anna-Kunigunda Felker was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. At first, Dresdensha did not admit anything - she claimed that she was engaged in ladies' manicure and confectionery. But severe bodily torture was applied to her, and after the iron "cats" Anna confessed to her criminal acts. Moreover, she posted the names of everyone who used the services of her brothel - including very famous and dignitaries. Not only the girls were punished "for lewdness", but also their clients. It turned out that among them were well-known women in society - there was also male prostitution in Anna's house.
In addition, Anna posted the addresses of other brothel houses known to her. Mass raids began - the police found many corrupt women, mostly foreign women. Each of them was required to indicate the names of their clients, and then they were arrested as well.
In three weeks, about 500 foreign women and 15 Russians were taken into custody. The foreign women, having heard about the round-ups, tried to escape from St. Petersburg by sea, but the commandant of the port received an order to detain all suspicious women.
All the caught prostitutes did not have enough space in Petropavlovka - and they were transported outside the city limits, located at the mouth of the Fontanka Kalinkin house, a former spinning manufactory. The torture began, the women were shackled. Many of the prostitutes could not stand the test and died - including Anna Felker, who had fleeting consumption in her dungeons.
And the scandals over her brothel continued - although it was destroyed, the founder died, and the prostitutes sat in shackles.
The famous architect Trezzini once acquired from Felker a certain girl Garl, whom he fell in love with and even gave birth to his child - and he kept her with him. The police investigating the Felker case arrested Trezzini and the girl and even the child - and did not release them immediately. An employee of the Manufacturing College Ladygin and an employee of the Academy of Sciences, astronomer Popov, were forcibly married to the seduced girls.
When the investigation was completed, all foreign prostitutes were sent home, and the Russians were exiled to the Orenburg province.
In Europe, everyone was extremely outraged by this matter - despite the fact that Empress Elizabeth herself had the fame of a libertine and surrounded herself with countless favorites.
But a few years later, everything returned to normal - new brothels appeared, which the authorities turned a blind eye to. And then prostitution was legalized - just like abroad …
Author: N. Trubinovskaya