City estate of A. L. Knop

The estate in Kolpachniy lane was built in 1900 by order of Andrei (Johann-Andreas) Lvovich Knop , son of Johann Ludwig Knop, who moved to Russia from England in 1839 as a representative of De Jersey & Co. From 1846, Knoop began importing English steam engines for textile factories, in which he achieved great success, and in 1852 founded the “Trading House L. Knoop”. In 1877, Emperor Alexander II bestowed Baron's title on Knope for the development of Russian-English trade, and his sons Andreas (Andrei Lvovich) and Theodore (Fedor Lvovich) accepted Russian citizenship. Knot's affairs were extremely successful: his enterprise had an almost monopolistic position on the Russian market, and the sale of equipment on the condition of receiving shares by the end of the 19th century made it co-owner of more than 100 manufactories. In those years, the saying “Where the church is, there is pop, and where the factory is, there is Knoop” ^{[1] [2]} .

To accommodate his estate, Knop chose Kolpachny Lane, where the Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was located, whose whole family was its congregation. Not far from the manor in China-town was also the “L. Knop Trading House”. After the death of Knop, the sons inherited his enterprises and possessions and divided the vast urban estate: plot No. 7 with his father's house, rebuilt in 1869 according to the design of architect Boris Freidenberg , transferred to Fedor Lvovich, and in section No. 5, Andrei Lvovich in 1990-1901 built a mansion on the project of Karl Treiman . Knoop-sons devoted much of their time to patronage of arts : Fyodor assisted mental hospitals and the prison committee, and Andrew was chairman of the Peterpaulkirche community and one of the main donors to the construction of a new church building in 1903-1905 ^{[1] [2]} .

With the beginning of the First World War, the Knaps, like other German businessmen, came under persecution. After the 1917 revolution, most of the representatives of this family emigrated, others were exiled to Siberia and shot. The mansion of Andrei Lvovich Knop was nationalized, initially there was located the representative office of the Ukrainian SSR , then it was replaced by the Committee on Higher Technical Education at the USSR Central Election Commission, the reception room of the GOELRO chairman Gleb Krzhizhanovsky was located in the building. Since 1936, the house number 5 on Kolpachnomu lane occupied the Moscow city committee of the Komsomol . After the start of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, they received statements from volunteers, issued vouchers to the front, formed air defense teams, sanitary squads and reconnaissance and saboteurs detachments that worked in the rear of the enemy. Among those who went to the front from here were Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya , Natalya Kovshova , Maria Polivanova ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

The estate of Andrei Lvovich Knop was built in neo-gothic style with elements of the late English Gothic . The main building was styled as an English castle with a faceted toothed turret and gable figured completions, the facade of which was decorated with shields with baronial emblems. The interiors of the building were also designed in the style of English Gothic, richly decorated with ancient tapestries and collection weapons. The ensemble included a fence, a gatehouse and a house power station, made in a similar style ^{[1] [3]} .

In the mid-1990s, a scientific restoration of the facades and interiors was carried out in the mansion to house the receptions of the Yukos company. By agreement with the company, the Department of Cultural Heritage of the City of Moscow organized excursions to the building, which visitors could familiarize themselves with the pre-revolutionary interiors that had been preserved. Also in the former mansion Andrei Knop held cultural and exhibition events. In 2017, the building became the property of Global Realty, the main owner of which was a Cyprus offshore company, and the offices were occupied by offices ^{[1] [3]} .

In March 2017, the building owners submitted to the Department of Cultural Heritage the project for the reconstruction of the building and the justifying state act of historical and cultural expertise, submitted for consideration. The proposed project suggested lowering the ground level on one of the facades by 3.4 meters for equipping the new basement with monolithic reinforced concrete walls, changing the roof structure, organizing additional windows and doors and replacing a significant part of the building's floors in order to ensure the stability of the design ^[3] .

Despite the conservation status of the building, state experts called it permissible to make significant changes to the exterior and interiors of the architectural monument as part of the “adaptation for modern use”, as well as to unite the estates of Andrei Lvovich and Fyodor Lvovich Khnopov into a single complex, despite different years of construction, different architects and a different artistic decision. In April 2017, the Moscow City Planning and Land Commission approved projects for the reconstruction of the estates ^{[3] [4]} .

• Photos of the interiors of the main manor house