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Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Wunsch
First Settlers List: Village of GALKA [Ust-Kulalinka]
The following surnames are mentioned: Albrecht, Arndt, Bauer, Baum, Beichel, Bender, Berg, Bernhard / Bernhart / Bernhardt, Betz, Bikkart ?, Bloch / Block, Born / Bornn, Braun, Brunner, Busch, Dalinger / Dahlinger, Deiner, Denner, Ebel, Eichman / Eichmann, Eiflender, Elsasser, Engel, Ernst, Fisher / Fischer, Flath, Flor / Flohr, Frank, Freidenberger, Fuchs, Gackel, Gebel, Geen ?, Geier, Gelbach, Gelhorn?, Gelwer ?, Gemsemer ?, Gras / Grass, Gutschmidt / Guthschmidt, Hartwig, Heck/Keck, Hein, Heinz / Heintz, Hellebach, Helmer, Holstein, Just, Kaiser, Keil, Kerbs, Klein, Kloss / Klosz, Kober, Krug, Ladner?, Lehman / Lehmannn, Leonhardt, Lorenz, Lundgrun, Lutz, Martin, Meier, Meierhofer, Meininger, Meng, Muller, Nagel, Nickel / Nikkel, Pikart ?, Quint / Quindt, Reich, Reis / Reiss / Reisse, Rexius, Riffel, Ritter, Ruf / Ruff, Schanzenbach, Schenk, Schick, Schimpf, Schmidt, Schneider, Schwab, Schwemmer, Schwind / Schwindt, Sinner, Stadler, Steinbrecher, Steinert, Steinwein, Sturtz, Thaut, Tiel / Thiel / Thiele , Volker, Walz/ Waltz, Weber, Wegert, Weigand / Weigandt, Weisheim, Weisner / Weismer, Wolf / Wolff, Wollert, Wunsch, Ziegler, Zisch, Zulauf
Movement of the colonists to or from the following villages is mentioned: Buidakov Buyerak [Schwab], Golii Karamish [Balzer], Gololobovka [Donhof], Gryaznukha [Kraft], Klushchi [Moor], Lesnoi-Karamish [Grimm], Krestowoi Buyerak [Muller], Makarovka [Merkel], Nizhnaya Dobrinka [Dobrinka], Oleshna [Dietel], Shcherbakovka, Ust-Gryaznukha [Gobel], Ust-Solicha [Messer], Verkhnaya Dobrinka [Dreispitz], Verkhnaya Gryaznukha [Kraft], Verkhnaya Kulalinka [Holstein], Vodyanoi Buyerak [Stephan]
In 1909 the height of fashion in women's wear was rubber galoshes worn as a protective covering over one's shoes. It did not rain in Galka. Galoshes were superfluous in the extreme. They were not sold locally in stores in which purchases could be made on credit. So, Galoshes were purely decorative; a cash only purchase in a store in a much larger town. A hausfrau with superfluous Galoshes was flaunting her husband's status. Galoshes were only worn on Sunday and only to attend church. They must not have a speck of dirt on them!!
My aunt said the women folk of our family had none. In fact in the winter the family didn't even have enough shoes for everyone to go out of doors at the same time!!
Galka, in 1904, was the first Volga colony to vote for private land ownership.
A student at the University of Leipzig, Maximilian Julius Pretorius, wrote a well researched thesis for his doctoral degree in economics. A relative was living in Saratov, who had previously lived in Galka. This gave him an entry to the village. He lived there for a period in 1904. He made a careful study, firsthand, of all aspects of the village economics and wrote the definative discourse on economics of the Volga German colonies. It was his intention to write a follow up study after a few years of private ownership of the village lands. Unfortunately he died in World War I. His thesis was published in the original German in 1912. Both the German and an adequate English translation are available from Jayne Wunsch Dye (father born in Galka), at Jaynedye@me.com .
The exodus of Volga Germans had begun about 1875 but few had the money to relocate. Their sources of cash were sale of crops and work at trades. Owning land of your own allowed rental or sale of that land. Voila, passage money for your whole family.
As an aside, in Galka in 1904, the most ostentatious fashion statement was galoshes for the wife. These could only be purchased in a large city and, unlike as in Galka,, had to be a cash purchase. It DID NOT RAIN in Galka. Galoshes were quite redundant, worn only to Church on Sunday, and never allowed to have a speck of dust on them.
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