![Zürichtal was renamed Zolotoe Pole – the golden field – in 1945.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/zurichtal-titel-300x225.jpg)
Two Swiss villages on the Black Sea
Ukrainians are fleeing westwards into the unknown, with some also heading to Switzerland. More than 200 years ago, Swiss settlers migrated east to Ukraine and established two Helvetic colonies: Zürichtal in Crimea. And Shabo near Odessa.
Emigrants from the Knonau district
The Swiss settlement flourishes
![Zürichtal around 1910](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/zurichtal-um-1910-300x189.jpg)
![Zolotoe Pole in 2012](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/bgut-ukraine-krim-layout-03-300x200.jpg)
Zürichtal becomes Zolotoe Pole
![Not much is left of the former Swiss colony today. The “golden field” is used mainly as pasture land for the few remaining inhabitants’ cattle.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/zurichtal-goldenes-feld-300x200.jpg)
Ukrainians in Switzerland
![Two former Swiss colonies on the Black Sea: Zolotoe Pole and Shabo in what is now Ukraine.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/karte-ukraine-300x202.jpg)
The Tsar’s Swiss winegrowers
![Portrait of Frédéric César La Harpe, around 1870.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/portrait-von-frederic-cesar-la-harpe-um-1870-gbe-88982-lm-772711-292x300.jpg)
![Winemaker couple from the Canton of Vaud in regional costume, around 1800.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/winzerpaar-aus-dem-kanton-waadt-mit-regionaler-tracht-um-1800-gbe-90906-lm-16711713-300x244.jpg)
![Monument at the site of the Swiss settlers’ cemetery in Shabo, 2012. Vineyards in the background.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/denkmal-am-ort-des-friedhofs-der-schweizer-siedler-in-schabo-2012-300x200.jpg)