Almost every city has its own symbol that represents mysticism, secrets, and urban legends. As a rule, it's an abandoned building. In Chelyabinsk this, undoubtedly, important and responsible role was assigned to the building of the former Elevator of the State Bank. And not for nothing. Abandoned construction of the early XX century stands almost in the heart of the city, riveting the attention of fans of mysticism, paranormal and other adventurers. Its undoubtedly grim and frightening appearance drew the attention of not only citizens, as in 2014 "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" added it to their created specifically for foreigners list of the creepiest building in Russia. Elevator snatched the second place.
Elevator has several legends.The first fable narrates a story about the “Banker’s Treasure”. According to the legend, treasure is hidden somewhere in dungeons; it was hidden by a man who worked for the State Bank. He owed a large sum of money to creditors in grain operations. Creditors would not let him live in peace, and at some point the banker decided to commit suicide; to prevent anyone – especially creditors – to get hold of the wealth he’d acquired, he hid it in the walls of the Grain Elevator. Of course, there's no reliable information about the existence of the man – let alone, treasure – but the legend lives and still attracts the hapless treasure hunters from the neighborhood. It should be noted that no one had any success. A fickle goddess Fortune must really hate them as she bestowed the not with treasure but a nervous breakdown. To prevent further pilgrimage to the “banker’s gifts”, all the passages to the Grain Elevator were sealed.
Another entertaining fable involves the “King Rat”, a giant rat that lives in the Grain Elevator and rules the whole of a “rat world”. The rat itself was never seen, but this doesn't prevent the diggers from believing in its existence.
Rumor has it that the Grain Elevator is the abode of all the Satanists of the city, and it's where they conduct their ceremonies. Is that really true? Perhaps we’ll never find out.
What was the real purpose of the Grain Elevator?
Historically, the grain elevator is an agrarian facility complex designed to stockpile or store grain.
At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, Chelyabinsk became a strategically important transit point of the Trans-Siberian railway. Construction of the railroad gave a push to a new phase of life in the city, associated with the development of capitalism in Russia and the growth of the urban population. The construction of the Grain Elevator is connected not only to the Trans-Siberian railway, but also to the Stolypin agrarian reforms in the late XIX - early XX century. As a result, about three million people moved to the Urals. A powerful resettlement movement in the early XX century contributed to the development of the agricultural sector and mining industry. Due to the expansion of the market, Trans-Urals Region and Altai quickly became the breadbasket of the country. Main exports items were agricultural products. The Russian Empire in 1910-1912 was the leader in grain export. However, on the eve of the World War I, the USA began to increase export opportunities. Russia, as a grain empire, had to answer the challenge of the USA by industrialization of agricultural production, namely the creation of an extensive network of grain elevators. November 25, 1910, the Council of Ministers decided on the construction of a network of state grain elevators.
Together with the first movement on the Trans-Siberian railway in 1893 in Chelyabinsk opened a branch of the State Bank, which began to actively credit commercial and industrial firms of the Southern Urals, including for bread and agricultural equipment. For the purpose of the government's agrarian reform, the state Bank paid attention to the development of grain operations.
The question of the construction of a grain elevator in Chelyabinsk arose in 1913. In February meeting it was decided to allocate 22 acres for the building. In April 1913, the engineer the grain elevator construction Zhukov proposed to allocate a land plot for free, which, in his opinion, would speed up the building process. The Exchange Committee came out with a proposal to the City Duma. As a result, 3 tithes of land were allocated for free. By the fall turned out that a grain elevator wold be built by the administration and not credit partnerships, as previously assumed. The construction of the grain elevator began in 1914, and in 1916 the main building was built. In 1918-1919 mechanisms were established, but in the first years the grain elevator was utilized mainly as a granary. Since 1924, after the grain elevator was given to the State Bank, it was used as intended until late 1990s.
