Another Generation of Germans from Russia

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Christmas Party

We had a wonderful get together for Christmas, with good food and Folk Dance Utah's great entertainment.  Special thanks to Pat and Shirley Ansley for the meat and the facilities.  Also, thanks to the Springville Community Presbyterian Church for letting us use their beautiful church. Chapter members collected toys and books that were donated to Toys for Tots, sponsored by the US Marine Corps Reserve. It's always special when we can meet and enjoy one another's company.

Chapter News

Plans are underway for the chapter to gather for the annual Christmas Party. Saturday Dec. 8, early arrivals 10:00, eat around 12:00.

It will be held at the Springvillle Community Presbyterian Church.

A ham will be provided, along with rolls. 

We are gathering toys for the Toy for Tots program.  Do not wrap you donation, you may donate wrapping paper if  you wish.

Next chapter meeting will be at the Sandy Library Feb. 2, 10:00.

Germanic Genealogy Journal, Vol. 20, No.3 Fall 2017

“There Once Was a Town,” by Roger P. Minert, PhD., A.G.

There simply must be something left – a foundation, broken bricks, cobblestone, something.  The search for his friend’s family (Fred Froehlich of Logan, Utah) in the Bavarian village of Silberhof was challenging. Records were not available.   Extensive searching of various maps indicated where the village had once existed.

The German government had ordered evacuations of the 40 square mile area so the U.S. Army could establish a training area in 1938. The Wildflecken Training Range was occupied by the Army as part of their South German occupation zone and used as a gunnery range until 1994.

The Wildflecken Training Area is located directly north of Bad Bruckenau and immediately west of Wildflecken. It is 30 miles east-northeast of Frankfurt/Main, 25 miles north of Wurzburg, and 14 miles south-southeast of Fulda. The area measurers 7.08 miles north-south and 6.92 miles east-west at the widest points. The official location of Silberhof is 9 degrees, 52 minutes East longitude and 50 degrees, 22 minutes North latitude.

Towns within the Widflecken Training Area include; Altglashutten, Borrenberg, Ebertshof, Kippelbach, Neuglashutten, Reussendorf, Rotherain, Schmelzhof, Silberhof, and Werberg.

Apparently the phenomenon of disappearing villas was common. Fortunately in most cases the records of parish churches or civil registrars in those towns still exist and the work of compiling family histories can continue.

A list is being compiled of towns, villages, and settlements in the Federal Republic that have been removed from the maps – literally destroyed without a trace

Dr. Minert details his consultation with experts at the FHL, libraries around the U.S. and Germany and numerous publications.

Germanic Genealogy Society, PO Box 16312, St. Paul, MN  551116-0312

www.ggsmn.org

Thanks for the support.

Dee Hert

Membership Chair

RootsTech

For information on RootsTech, check out this website.

https://www.rootstech.org/

Alexanderhöh

NAMES

Alexanderhöh, Alexandrhöh, Alexanderdorf, Alexander-Hey, Alexandrovka, Uralsk

LOCATION

46°51' E 51°16' N

HISTORY

      Alexanderhöh was a daughter colony that originally consisted of two colonies--one named Alexanderdorf and the other named Höh. The two colonies were located next to one another on opposite sides of the Nachoi River (Nachoistrom), a tributary that branched off the Greater Karaman River (Großer Karaman Fluß) east of Mariental. Alexanderdorf was founded in 1848 by 19 families from the mother colonies of Schwed, Schäfer, Urbach, Stahl am Karaman, and others.
      Höh was founded later (evidently 1860) by colonists from the mother colonies of Schwed, Stahl am Karaman, Rosenheim, Fischer, Enders, and others. About the same time (i.e., in the first half of 1860), the names of the two colonies were combined into Alexander-Höh, which from then on became the name of the combined daughter colony.
      According to the 9th Revision for Stahl am Karaman, the following families moved to Alexanderdorf: Michael Stahl (b. 1794), Konrad Stahl (b. 1797), Johannes Zitzer (b. 1773), Friedrich Zitzer (b. 1801), Heinrich Seibel (b. 1793), Friedrich Elberg (Ölberg?, b. 1810), and Christian Elberg (Ölberg?, b. 1814).
      In 1877-1878, 10 families departed for America.

CHURCH

      The Lutheran church in Alexanderhöh was built of wood in 1888 in the Kontor Style. It reportedly seated 800 parishners.
      The congregation in Alexanderhöh is part of the Lutheran parish headquartered in Weizenfeld where there was a resident pastor.

Caucasian Line

NAMES:  Caucasian Line (North Caucasus)

HISTORY:  The Caucasian Line describes one of the fortified frontiers established in Russia to guard and expand the borders of the empire. The Caucasian Line began in 1735 with the construction of a fortress at Kizlyar, near the Caspian Sea. In response to the 1739 treaty between Russia and Turkey, a series of fortresses were then constructed from Kizlyar eastward along the front range of the Caucasian Mountains eventually reaching the mouth of the Kuban River as it enters the Sea of Azov.

As a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774), the Russians began expansion into the North Caucasus region. Count Pavel Potemkin, cousin of Grigori Potemkin who was a favorite of Catherine the Great, was named viceroy over the Caucasus and arranged for the expansion of the Caucasian Line. According to Dietz, by a decree of 27 October 1778, a number of colonists were relocated to the Caucasus in settlements that were being established along the Caucasian Line. There are many families in the 1798 Census of the Volga colonies that are noted to either be or have been "on the Caucasian Line."

In 1809, a group of colonists from Sarepta and Anton settled in the colony of Karras near Pyatigorsk. Dietz continues to report that a number of colonists had moved to the Caucasus without authorization in 1850. They reported that 593 families had declared their desire to relocate to the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. Although the Kontora forbid this movement, the colony of Alexandrovskaya was founded there near the Nalchik fortress. By 1840, there were five German colonies in this area. The colony of Michaelsdorf was founded near Vladikavkaz in 1861. According to Dietz, 736 male and 567 female souls moved from the Volga colonies to the Causasus between 1838 and 1871.

In the second half of the 19th century, a wave of migration from the German colonies in the Black Sea region occurred and by the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 there were more than 100 German colonies in the North Caucasus.

NORTH CAUCASUS COLONIES SETTLED BY VOLGA GERMANS

Alexandrovskaya
Johannesdorf
Kana
Karras
Michaelsdorf
Nikolayevsk

What Is Your Family Story

Author Karen Schutte, a second generation Volga German, shares her family's stories of immigration in a four volume set of historical novels.

Village Discussions

I have to say that the village meeting I attended was well worth the time.  I so appreciate the effort and resources that Nick and Barb Bretz shared with us.  I felt  my trip was worth it because of the connections I made in that meeting.  A third cousin that I'd never met before was extremely helpful and generous, giving me three family pictures and sharing a story I'd never heard. 

The Immigrant Woman

Norma Pipkin gave an outstanding presentation at the convention. She portrayed her great great grandmother, reenacting a time when Germans from Russia left to come to an unknown country to secure a better life.

Convention Cooking Classes

New Potatoes in Butter Cream Sauce

Maultaschen

Finding Your Ancestor's German Origins

Maggie Hein has a wealth of knowledge and gave many helpful hints for finding your ancestor's German origins.

The Storm

Welcome to the AHSGR Convention in Hays, Kansas.

Volga German Haus

This is a replica of the size and type of  home early Volga German settlers built. When the first immigrants arrived to establish their villages, they quickly constructed small dug-out sod shelters.The sod shelters were used until a more permanent house of native limestone rock could be built. The interior contains two rooms: a small room containing the  mud stove and the cooking utensils, and a large room that served as the living, dining, and sleeping area.

Kansas Artist

This guy is amazing!  He has studied the Volga villages that he paints and truly catches their spirit.  I enjoyed visiting with him, such an interesting character.  Thanks, Michael Boss, for your beautiful art.