The city that creates and is created. Post-reform Orenburg as a daily life space of merchants
The article explores the problem of mutual influence of citizens and urban space on the example of Orenburg in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century. The specific composition of the merchant community in the post-reform Orenburg and distinctive features of merchants' influence on the city development are analyzed on the basis of archival data and information from published sources. The article lists the most common types of merchant households, and shows the correlations between the personalities of mansion and estate owners, their professional activities and group psychology. The author comes to the conclusion that the Orenburg merchants with their various migratory statuses and as a group with peculiar ethnic, religious composition have significantly influenced the urban space, forming it in accordance with their own demands and tastes. The developing urban environment, in its turn, shaped new generations of Orenburg entrepreneurs.