Address
18, Istomina Street, Zaporizhzhia
The Mennonite girls' school building in the Rosenthal colony is a monument of architecture from the early 20th century. This gem of Mennonite architecture in the city was built in 1904 in the Art Nouveau style with elements of Dutch Renaissance and late Baroque.
The first floor had 4 classrooms and living quarters for the teacher. On the second floor, there were large, wide metal stairs with beautiful cast railings. On the steps, you can read the names of patrons "Lepp and Valman". The second floor had a large auditorium - a hall for morning sermons. The hall also had a stage for holding meetings and literary evenings.
One of the founders of the school was Katarina Valman - the wife of the famous industrialist Andreas Valman. She donated 10,000 rubles to build this school. In 1910, the school teacher Petro Buzuk created the first Khortytsia Society of Nature Protectors in the Russian Empire here. The school has survived to this day in its original form, except for the replaced roof.