The Building of the Regional Customs Office for Radio-Electronic Security of Customs Infrastructure Facilities of the Federal Customs Service of Russia
The building at 23 Novaya Basmannaya Street, Building 1, which now houses the Regional Customs Office for Radio-Electronic Security of Customs Infrastructure Facilities (RTU REBOTI), is not only a functioning administrative facility but also a monument to early twentieth-century Moscow architecture. Established by Order № 371 of the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation, dated 23 June 1997, the Office has occupied this building since 2004. The history of the building and its former occupants, however, extends back more than a century and is closely connected with the development of Moscow’s real-estate market, educational institutions, and industrial cooperatives. The four-storey building, with a semi-basement, was erected in 1901-1902 to a design by the architect Alexander Vasilyevich Ivanov. A prominent master builder whose work was associated with both Saint Petersburg and Moscow, Ivanov made a significant contribution to the architectural development of the capital. He took part in the reconstruction of Kitai-Gorod and several central squares, and also designed the National Hotel at the corner of Tverskaya and Mokhovaya Streets. The building was originally constructed for the Varvara Joint-Stock Company of Property Owners. This was one of the first companies in Moscow to specialise exclusively in the construction of tenement houses furnished with a full range of modern amenities and utilities. In addition to building, the company purchased real estate and leased out premises. From the outset, therefore, № 23 was conceived as a commercial residential development designed to meet the high standards of its time. In 1903, shortly after its completion, the building ceased to function solely as a residential property and was converted for use as a private girls’ school, or women’s gymnasium. From 1909 onwards, the institution was headed by Felitsia-Louise Frantsevna Manebach, the daughter of François Jacob Mansbach, a Belgian national, trained as an engineer and director of the Miller Parquet Factory. The school was known as the F.F. Mansbach Women’s Gymnasium and remained in the building until 1913. Through Felitsia Frantsevna’s efforts, the standard of education at the gymnasium became sufficiently high for the Ministry of Public Education to grant it the same rights as state gymnasia. As a result, its graduates were entitled to enter institutions of higher education without taking additional entrance examinations. Among the members of the teaching staff was Evgenia Karlovna Fleckenstein, the mother of Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, the future General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Following the Revolution and the closure of the gymnasium, the function of the building changed. In the 1920s, it housed the All-Russian Union of Dairy Cooperatives, reflecting the broader process of nationalisation and the conversion of former private premises to new institutional uses. The architectural appearance of the building also changed over time. Originally, it consisted of two storeys above the semi-basement; the two upper storeys were added later, apparently in the 1920s. The present four-storey structure is therefore the result of several construction phases, each of which contributed to its current appearance. The building’s present use by the customs service brings to a close a long sequence of historical transformations. From a tenement house to an educational institution, from a cooperative organisation to a departmental office, the building at 23 Novaya Basmannaya Street remains an active part of Moscow’s urban infrastructure while preserving the memory of several important stages in the city’s development.
Address: Moscow, Novaya Basmannaya str., 23, building 1
