J.A. Rosenstrauch (1768-1835), a German immigrant who owned a fashion shop on Kuznetskii Most, was an eyewitness of Moscow’s occupation by Napoleon.  His memoir of these events, until recently unknown to historians, is published here for the first time.  It tells a dramatic tale of the horror of war, the brutality of Napoleon’s army, the class conflicts among Russians, and the Moscow fire.  The accompanying biographical introduction describes the author’s career in Germany and Russia, during which he was an actor, merchant, freemason, Lutheran pastor, and acquaintance of leading figures of the Russian court.  Rosenstrauch was thus both a memoirist of 1812 and a colorful figure whose life reflected many facets of the society and culture of his time.

This is the inaugural volume of the series Archivalia Rossica, a new joint project of the New Literary Observer publishing house and the German Historical Institute in Moscow. The mission of the series is to publish hitherto unpublished sources on Russian history of the 18^th to early 20^th century from archives in Russia and abroad. The source texts will appear both in the original language and in Russian along with in-depth scholarly commentary. The volumes will also include rare or previously unpublished visual materials.