1893–1918
1890–1895Idea and opening
7 events
A dedicated candle works was proposed
According to a published study, a meeting of military clergy considered a permanent fund for clergy and their families; of three proposals, it chose a dedicated candle works and formed a five-member commission.
- A. A. ZhelobovskyChair of the commission established to create the works · 1834–1910
Knowledge boundary: The event is reported by a 2024 regional article based on archival and printed materials; the meeting minutes remain the primary source.
View evidenceThe case for the works appeared in print
According to the study, Archpriest Dmitry Nikitin published an article in issue 23 of the Military Clergy Herald, setting out the case for the works and preliminary financial calculations.
- Dmitry NikitinCommission member and author of the article arguing for the works
Knowledge boundary: The article is known through a secondary account; issue 23 remains the primary source for verification.
View evidenceThe candle-works project was authorised
The candle-works project for churches of the military and naval departments followed petitions No. 5444 of 30 July and No. 7558 of 14 October 1892 by Protopresbyter A. A. Zhelobovsky; the Holy Synod authorised the works.
- A. A. ZhelobovskyInitiated the works through two petitions in 1892
Knowledge boundary: The available record does not give the date of the Synod decree or details of the design process.
View evidenceOpening of the church candle works in Zelino
The church candle works of the military and naval departments opened in Zelino under the administration of the Protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy. The source records wax candles, but names no other goods.
Knowledge boundary: The source does not establish the works’ later history or the identity of historic buildings with present-day properties.
View evidenceWax was sourced from the Lüneburg wax bleachery
According to the study, during the 1890s the works sourced wax from the Lüneburg wax bleachery near Hamburg.
Knowledge boundary: Exact years, volumes, contracts and continuity of supply remain unknown; the publication does not identify a separate supplier legal entity.
View evidenceThe works passed to the Spiritual Board
After its debt was repaid, the works passed under the Spiritual Board of the Protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy.
Knowledge boundary: The sources identify the end of 1895 but do not give the exact transfer date.
View evidence1896–1917Military clergy candle works
4 events
The works operated under the Spiritual Board
The works continued candle production and accepted returned candle ends; no verified account of the full product range or year-by-year operations is yet available.
Knowledge boundary: The interval shows the established administrative frame, not proof of uninterrupted operations on every day or in every year.
View evidenceA management committee was established
According to the study, the Holy Synod established a three-clergyman committee at the Spiritual Board in Saint Petersburg; K. I. Khokhlov is named as the first overseer of the works.
- K. I. KhokhlovFirst overseer of the candle works
Knowledge boundary: Only the role in managing the works is supported; biographical and portrait evidence has not been established.
View evidenceThe first seven years were assessed
According to the study, 3,941 poods of candles had been made since opening, the works paid for itself in three years, and net profit for the first seven years was 60,000 roubles.
Knowledge boundary: The figures are reported by a secondary publication; the underlying accounts are not available on this website.
View evidenceThe works’ income supported charitable purposes
According to the study, profits supported widows and orphans of the military clergy, grants, a funeral fund and the construction of almshouses.
Knowledge boundary: The publication lists uses of funds but does not provide one common period or a complete set of accounts for all sums.
View evidence1917–1941Nationalisation
4 events
The candle works stopped operating
According to technician Andrianov’s December report, the works had not operated since 23 July 1918.
Knowledge boundary: This does not establish permanent closure. The cause and subsequent operation are unknown; a related act mentions a lack of benzine but does not prove a causal link.
View evidenceTechnician Andrianov recorded the plant and its capacities
The report lists thirteen labourers and three employees, manual candle making, a 1908 boiler, two extractors, two Worthington pumps, a saw frame, electric light, three wagons and about 150 sazhen of rail.
Knowledge boundary: The day field in the date line is blank. The report supports the equipment classes and rated capacities, but not operation at the moment of survey, specific models or spatial arrangement.
View evidenceVSNKh transferred the wax industry to Tsentrozhir
The VSNKh resolution of 25 January 1919 transferred the wax industry to Tsentrozhir and nationalised diocesan candle works. The Zelino works had already been under the Labour Department since May 1918.
Knowledge boundary: The sector-wide resolution and the works’ initial Soviet supervision are separate events.
View evidenceThe Staritsa Wax Extraction Works in a 1939 publication
B. V. Ositiansky’s article reported that the works was administered by the Kalinin Beekeeping Office, had comb-foundation and extraction shops, and normally employed 50–60 people.
Knowledge boundary: The figures and assessments concern the condition reported by the author in 1938–1939; they do not establish uninterrupted operation, present buildings or the current site.
View evidence1941–1945Great Patriotic War
1 events
The works was restored after destruction
In 1943, the Staritsa Wax Extraction Works was restored and commissioned. It produced industrial wax and comb foundation for agriculture.
Knowledge boundary: The sources do not establish the date of destruction or the full extent of reconstruction.
View evidence1945–1991Post-war operation
3 events
Personnel files preserve the history of factory management
A Tver State University publication describes six directors’ personnel files in TCDNI fond R-62, documenting appointments, departures and the factory’s personnel administration.
Knowledge boundary: The publication gives the files’ composition and archival references; personal attribution requires verification against the archive records.
View evidenceThe works joined the regional beekeeping system
The Staritsa Wax Extraction Works operated as a unit of the Kalinin Regional Beekeeping Office, producing comb foundation, press wax and extraction wax.
Knowledge boundary: The archive files support the period’s production profile, but not uninterrupted output of every product; the photograph’s date, operation and workers’ names are unknown.
View evidenceProduction figures for 1954 were published
A journal table reports 77.6 tonnes of extraction wax and 33.3 tonnes of artificial comb foundation against plans of 60.5 and 33.0 tonnes respectively; the article also lists extraction equipment.
Sorted wax refuse
Artificial comb foundation
Extraction wax
Natural wax
Wax alloy
Floor mastic
Financial figures · thousand roubles
Product value
Profit
PlanActual
Knowledge boundary: The table was visually checked against the journal page but is not a substitute for accounts; its figures apply only to 1954. Catalogues identify issue 11, while the page footer reads issue 10.
View evidence1991–2025Modern Russia
5 events
The works was granted 3.4 hectares of land for permanent use
On 17 September 1992, the Staritsa District Council of People’s Deputies granted the wax extraction works in the Pankovo Rural Council area of Staritsa District 3.4 hectares of land for indefinite (permanent) use for production purposes. Certificate No. 73, dated 6 January 1993, formalised the right.
Knowledge boundary: The certificate establishes that the works existed as an independent land user in the Pankovo Rural Council area around 1992–1993. It does not establish present cadastral boundaries, continuation of the right, legal succession or identity with present-day properties.
View evidenceThe complex and five historic buildings were recorded
Archive record 8312 contains a complex card and five component cards: two service buildings, a workers’ house and two production buildings.
Knowledge boundary: All six cards are dated 1996. They do not establish identity with present cadastral buildings, present condition or construction dates.
View evidenceTechnical passports were compiled for two buildings
The project working archive contains technical passports for two production buildings compiled on 24 April 2007.
Knowledge boundary: The document date is not a construction date; the passports do not establish identity with historic buildings or describe condition in 2026.
View evidenceA former worker’s recollections were published
The Staritsa Herald published an account by former worker A. S. Bibicheva, who recalled a workforce of about 50, extraction, press-wax, comb-foundation, fitting and sewing shops, the processing of wax residues and shipment of technical wax by rail.
- A. S. BibichevaFactory worker whose testimony about Soviet production was published
Knowledge boundary: This is memory testimony containing approximate figures; it does not establish uninterrupted operation of every shop or the exact period of each process.
View evidenceA consolidated study of the works was published
The Staritsa Herald published a synthesis of archival and printed evidence about the creation and operation of the candle works.
Knowledge boundary: The article is a secondary synthesis; primary documents retain priority for disputed dates and figures.
View evidence2025–presentRevival
1 events
The project is researching and preserving the historic site
The Zelino 1893 project is assembling sources and preparing a programme for preservation and future use of the historic site.
Knowledge boundary: The record does not establish resumed production, completed restoration or the buildings’ technical condition.
View evidenceSources and method
Each event links to its sources. Secondary accounts are identified as such, with material limitations alongside each conclusion.
- Staritsa Herald: “Let the candle burn!”. Olga Prikhodko. “Let the candle burn!”; a publication based on archival and printed materials sections “A good cause”, “The candle was lit”, “Believe, my friends…” and “Today”. Open source
- Study of the history of the Staritsa candle works. Academic publication based on published departmental materials section on petitions No. 5444 and No. 7558 of 1892.
- Military Clergy Herald, issue 7. Military Clergy Herald, 1893, issue 7 pp. 219–221. Open source
- Military Clergy Herald: notices on candle-warehouse branches. Military Clergy Herald. 1893. Issues 14, 15 and 18 issue 14, pp. 420–421; issue 15, pp. 454–455; issue 18, pp. 547–548. Open source
- Technician Andrianov’s survey of the candle works. State Archive of Tver Region (GATO), fond R-646, inventory 1-1, file 195, folios 7–8 folios 7–8; paragraphs 1–19 and conclusion. Open source
- Tsentrozhir telegram to the Tver Gubernial Council of the National Economy. State Archive of Tver Region, fond R-646, inventory 1-1, file 195, folio 17 typed telegram text; sent mark of 29 January 1919 and received mark of 31 January 1919.
- B. V. Ositiansky, “The Staritsa Wax Extraction Works”. Pchelovodstvo, 1939, issue 1, pp. 17–18 pp. 17–18; complete article. Open source
- Tver Centre for Contemporary History Documentation. TCDNI archive reference TCDNI, fond R-62, inventory 1, file 74, folio 44.
- I. Ionov and N. Evseenkov, “The Staritsa Wax Extraction Works”. Pchelovodstvo, 1955, pp. 17–19; catalogues: issue 11 and N. Ionov, page: issue 10 and I. Ionov pp. 17–19; 1954 table and equipment section. Open source
- Tver State University publication on the personnel files of the Staritsa Wax Extraction Works directors. Path into Research: proceedings of the international conference of young scholars at Tver State University’s Faculty of History. Tver, 2022, pp. 252–257. pp. 252–257; TCDNI, fond R-62, inventory 3, files 2, 30, 32, 33, 36 and 51. Open source
- Certificate No. 73 for indefinite (permanent) use of land. Primary document formalising the grant of land to the wax extraction works decision dated 17 September 1992; area 3.4 hectares; production use; Pankovo Rural Council area, Staritsa District.
- Inventory cards in archive record 8312. A complex card and five component cards supplied by the regional heritage authority six two-page cards; date, title, dating and description fields. Open source
- Technical passports for production buildings. Two technical passports in the project working archive title and date fields; 8 and 7 pages.
- Staritsa Herald: “Priceless pages of memory”. Olga Prikhodko. Interview with Alexandra Stepanovna Bibicheva passage on work at the wax works and the photograph captions. Open source
- Zelino 1893 public work register. Published status of the project’s research and preparation tasks sections on archive work, surveys and project preparation. Open source