Engels,_Saratov_Oblast

Engels (Russian: Э́нгельс, IPA: [ˈɛnɡʲɪlʲs]) is a city in Saratov Oblast, Russia. An important port located on the Volga River across from Saratov, Engels is the administrative center of the oblast, and is connected to it with a bridge. It is the second-largest city in Saratov Oblast with a population of 202,419 (2010 Census).Historically a major center for Volga Germans, the city was known jointly as Pokrovsk (Pokrovskaya sloboda (until 1914), Pokrovsk (until 1931)) in Russian and as Kosakenstadt in German, until it was renamed after German Marxist theoretician Friedrich Engels in 1931. Engels served as the capital of the Volga German ASSR from 1918 until its abolition in 1941.