In modern Russian, words and terms taken from other languages are very often used. This is especially true of business speech and the specifics associated with a narrow focus in professional activities. But recently, this process has acquired a slightly different tendency - the terms from a long forgotten pre-revolutionary past come back to us. Such "new old" words include the term "public office", which for many years has existed in dictionaries marked "obsolete". So what does he mean? And why did he return to modern Russian?
Public place: definition and characterization
In the Russian Empire, state institutions were called the official place in which officials received the population on various issues. By this term was understood not only the institution itself, but also the building occupied by it. Often people were confused by various departments, such as chancery and reception, calling them all one concept - "public place".
These institutions had their own work schedule and a certain hierarchical structure, which, however, did not prevent the development of corruption and bureaucratic lawlessness, which was often mentioned in historical sources. There were very common cases when the required paper could not reach the addressee from the applicant, since it went a long way from one public place to another. Often, officials asked for cash rewards for quickly delivering the petition to the right office.
These institutions existed until the revolution. Subsequently, they were abolished as unnecessary and reorganized into other state organizations.
History of public places
Many people believe that such a concept as a “public place” arose only in the sixteenth to seventeenth century. But in fact, these institutions in a slightly different form existed already in the fourteenth century. Usually they were located in the Kremlin - the most protected place in the city. It was built on a hill and was surrounded by a wall, it was here that the premises for the reception of city residents were located.
By the sixteenth century, public places had finally taken shape in a separate state body and began to be located in specially constructed buildings for this. In some cases, several different facilities were located in the same room. It could be a law office, the judiciary and the offices of local government officials. Almost all issues with the population until the beginning of the twentieth century were resolved through public places.
Public places: importance in the life of the Russian Empire
Do not underestimate the importance of state institutions in the history of Russia, because in many remote provinces they were the only means of communication between the population and the authorities. Therefore, their appearance and content were clearly regulated at the legislative level. The recommendations stated:
- the number of officials in the offices;
- interior decoration of premises;
- availability and categories of information leaflets;
- Description of special items to protect documents and money.
Such scrupulousness proves the special importance of public places in the system of state institutions. They were represented by three species:
- city government offices;
- county
- provincial.
Each given institution performed its functions and was subordinate to higher authorities.
Were there public places in every city?
The number of public places on the territory of the Russian Empire is impossible to find out, but it is believed that they existed in all cities. Even the small county town had several similar institutions. The great Gogol even wrote about this in the comedy The Examiner. The public places of the city in this work appear before us in the form of a combination of bureaucratic vices and money-grubbing. It is known that the author sought to show all the realities of life in an ordinary town. This is now the most striking evidence of the large number of public places in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Construction of public places: a new milestone in the architecture of the Russian Empire
Since the sixteenth century, the construction of special buildings for public institutions has become widespread. By the nineteenth century, this construction took place in remote Siberian cities, where they were an example of a style that set the tone for all other buildings. Most of the effort went to the provincial government offices. In many former Siberian provinces, they have survived to the present day and have the status of architectural monuments.
To create their creations, architects of that time used classic Russian traditions, sometimes combining the stylistics of different Russian regions. Almost every building of the public places was made in the style of Russian classicism. Subsequently, it was reconstructed and received additional elements related to later currents. The resulting symbiosis and mixing of styles is a unique example of architectural thought in the Russian Empire.
Use of the term in the modern world
The term "public space" began to return to colloquial speech at the beginning of this century. Initially, he appeared in regulatory papers in connection with mass repairs of buildings owned by government bodies in cities and regional centers. But now the phrase is not used in such a broad sense as before. In official papers, it denotes waiting places located in state institutions. They are subject to special requirements for comfort and material and technical base. According to the rules and regulations, public places should include rooms for waiting, informing and receiving people. In addition, they should be comfortable and have separate sanitary rooms for visitors.
It is worth noting that this term has not yet returned to use, but the process of its implementation is slowly moving forward. After all, it is usually from official documents that concepts smoothly pass into the status of words often used in the people.