Those who settled at the same time in the geographically isolated colony of Riebensdorf to the west of the Volga German area are considered part of this group as well because of familial and religious connections with the colonies along the Volga and the settlement time period - but that is a single exception. We have chosen to define the Volga German geographical area as that region along the Volga River near Saratov which was settled by the aforementioned immigrants who responded to Catherine's 1763 Manifesto and were settled in the original 106 mother colonies. Source: 'Das Manifest der Zarin' by Victor Aul. Illustration of a portage by the colonists en route to the settlement area on the lower Volga River. Since the establishment of the first colony in 1764, the descendants of the original Volga Germans settlers have migrated to other parts of Russia, Asia, North and South America, Africa, and Australia as well as back to Europe. Over time, these minority ethnic groups assimilated into the dominant German cultural of the colonies and all became known collectively as Wolgadeutsche (Volga Germans). Initially, there were enough colonists from France that a French colony ( Franzosen) was established and enough Swedes for a mostly Swedish colony ( Schwed). The Germans were joined by French, Swedish, Danish, Austrian, Swiss, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, and English immigrants and were settled together among the colonies. They too joined the migration to the Russian Volga from 1763 to 1772 and 106 colonies were established.Ĭatherine the Great's 1763 Manifesto attracted the attention of other European ethnic groups as well. A number of these ethnic German immigrants had first migrated to Denmark in the early 1760s, but after only a few years determined that they no longer wanted to remain there. The majority (about 95 percent) of those who settled in the colonies established by Catherine the Great along the Volga River were ethnic Germans from the war-ravaged German states where religious strife and economic hardship had created a climate ripe for immigration. Surnames with Confirmed Pre-Volga Origins.Where did my ancestors live before migrating to Russia?.

Vogla river etymology