Anyone interested in a Volga Germans project? [closed]

Question

I am trying to start a new Special Project. There are many, many Mid-Westerners (US and Canada) that share relations with a very special group of people called "Volga Germans". These were a group of immigrants from parts of Germany who were invited by Catherine the Great of Russia, to migrate to and farm the land on the frontier of the Russian Volga River. They stayed here for some generations before fleeing turbulent times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where they were being force conscripted into the Russian Army. Many moved to the US and Canada.

The Objective of the Volga German Project is to use the collaborative powers of WikiTree to collect, organize, and trace the information of those families into one, easily referenced, location.

Our dream is to trace families alive today beyond their Mid-Western present, through their family's colonial days in Russia, and back to the Regions in Germany where they originated.

I realize that this will take much work and diligence on the part of the Project Members, but with some amount of dedication, we can acomplish much of this.

Anyone that wants in, let me know!!!

Trib

Comments

(Trib, I edited the title to help people find this topic a bit more easily.)

Sounds like a great project. Hope you find some takers. I *might* have something to contribute. I know that a batch of emigres from my ancestors home town in Germany went to the Russian area, but I don't know if it was the same time period. What is the time period you're talking about, and what were some of the town names along the Volga where these Germans settled?

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Jilliaine,

I appreciate that. Here is a list of settlements in Russia.

 

Anton, Balzer, Bangert, Basel, Bauer, Beauregard, Beideck, Bern, Bettinger, Biberstein, Boisroux, Brabander, Cäsarsfeld, Chasselois, Degott, Dehler, Dietel, Dinkel, Dobrinka, Dönhof, Dreispitz, Enders, Ernestinendorf, Fischer, Frank, Franzosen, Galka, Göbel, Graf, Grimm, Herzog, Hildmann, Hockerberg, Holstein, Hölzel, Huck, Hummel, Husaren, Hussenbach, Jost, Kamenka, Kaneau, Katharinenstadt, Kautz, Keller, Kind, Köhler, Kolb, Kraft, Krasnoyar, Kratzke, Kukkus, Kutter, Laub, Lauwe, Leichtling, Leitsinger, Louis, Luzern, Mariental, Meinhard, Merkel, Messer, Moor, Müller, Näb, Neu-Kolonie, Nieder-Monjou, Norka, Ober-Monjou, Orlovskaya, Paulskaya, Pfeifer, Philippsfeld, Pobochnaya, Preuss, Reinhard, Reinwald, Rohleder, Rosenheim, Rothammel, Schäfer, Schaffhausen, Schilling, Schönchen, Schuck, Schulz, Schwab, Schwed, Seelmann, Semenovka, Sewald, Shcherbakovka, Stahl am Karaman, Stahl am Tarlyk, Stephan, Straub, Susannental, Urbach, Volmer, Walter, Warenburg, Wittmann, Yagodnaya Polyana, Zug, Zürich...

 

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Some of the difficulties we will have with this project are that one colony will have several different names. However, they all started out very small and were organized based on religious beleifs (ie. Lutheran, Mennonite, etc...), surname and place of origin. So they were very organized.

I haven't had any takers, so let me know if you are interested in helping me start this project.

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Jilliane,

Sorry, I never responded to the time period you asked about. The Migrations started in 1763, and went on for about five years. Most of the families came from the Rhine region, north-central Prussia, and Bavaria in Germany. Most of those that went were either Lutherans looking for new opportunities and getting away from conflict, and Calvinists and Mennonites looking for religious freedom. Many of the migrants were set up in colonies according to their religion.

Trib

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Trib,

If that's an exhaustive list of towns, then "my" Schwenningen residents were not part of this.  Upon closer examination, they emigrated to Bessarabia-- Borodino or Alt-Postal-- in what is now Poland but was then part of Russia. It looks like they went in the early 1800s. Surnames included Schlenker, Jauch, Flaig

-- Jillaine

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Actually, Bessarabia is now known as Moldova. I am not sure about Borodino or Alt-Postal.

That is correct, though, they would not have been a part of the Volga German Colonies.

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http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Volga_German_Project#n381880

I have taken this project on from Trib and want it to be a great resource site.  Please help me do this!  There is information on the web and other places, but it's helpful to have it all in one place.  We would also welcome your pictures, memories, etc., and I'd like a question and answer site for Volga Germans for those who are searching for ancestors.

Any help anyone can give, or any questions you might have, I'd welcome them!  You do not need permission to post on the site and can open up free pages as you like too.  If the village you are looking for is not yet listed, let me know, and I will add it.

Thanks, guys!

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Hey Lana and all. Haven't logged into WikiTree for a bit, but I had to check on my Volga German Project to see how it was doing. Lana is doing an absolute amazing job. If any of you WikiTreers have Volga Deutsch ancestors don't ignore this gem of a person. Real passion about genealogy of her caliber is hard to find. It took me months to sort out what she found in a couple days. She answers any questions and does it accurately. Take advantage of her presence while she's here before some millionaire hires her to write n encyclopedia of Russo-German History or something. Thank you again Lana for taking such good care of my project. Ot is mmagnificent! Trib

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Thanks, Trig!  Glad you feel I'm doing your project some justice.  It'd be a lot better with more input from others!

I'd sure like to meet that millionaire!  (My experience with millionaires, though, is that they like to KEEP their money!)

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I'm not trying to be a kiljoy, but doesn't AHSGR already do this?  They have an extensive website and museum.

Wouldn't this be duplicating efforts already made?

Answer 1

So glad this project is getting underway!