Books - Volga German Genealogy Research
The following books can be purchased from the AHSGR Store:
1798 Census of the German Colonies Along the Volga - Economy, Population, and Agriculture
by Brent Alan Mai
Translation of 1798 Census information, including narrative of economic, religious, educational and structural makeup, colony movement, agricultural information. Lists 38,800 individuals by name (including maiden), age, colony of original settlement, and household. Complete with indexes, including surname, colony, movement by surname and movement by colony.
AHSGR Family History List
by AHSGR
A listing of the family histories in the AHSGR library.
Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767, Vol's. I - IV
by Igor Pleve
These books address the earliest period of German settlement in the Volga Region of Russia for which information is available. These detailed lists of the first settlers who responded to the Manifesto of Catherine the Great include information about their ages, occupations, families, and PLACE OF ORIGIN in the German states. Contains the long-awaited lists of original settlers to the Volga Region as compiled in 1767-1768 for the following villages: Volume I ~ Anton - Franzosen; Volume II ~ Galka - Kutter; Volume III ~ Laub - Pruess; and Volume IV ~ Reinhardt - Warenburg.
The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763-1862
by Karl Stumpp
Professor Stumpp’s monumental work is the fruition of forty years of research. It is of inestimable value to genealogical researchers, since it contains alphabetical lists of thousands of names of German immigrants to Russia, many with vital statistics, place of origin in Germany, and locality of settlement in Russia. The information is nearly complete for Black Sea immigrants, less definitive for Volga Germans. Most valuable is a list of mother colonies of the Volga and Black Sea, giving both the German and Russian name of each village, its governmental district, religious denomination, year of founding, and population statistics. The book also includes fifty pages of compact and authoritative history of Unser’ Leute and a packet of eight 16" x 20" maps.
Frank: A German Colony on the Volga
by Igor Pleve
This monograph consists of the family lists of 1798 and census revisions of 1811, 1816, 1834, 1850, and 1858.
From Catherine to Khrushchev: The Story of Russia's Germans
by Adam Giesinger
Professor Giesinger’s book is the most complete, authoritative, and well-written history of the Germans from Russia to have appeared in English. He deals in detail with all German settlements in Russia and all religious groups among them from 1553 to the present. The final chapter covers emigrants from Russia to the Americas. The book includes a useful chapter locating individual colonies within their geographical and governmental districts, twenty-seven pages of maps, and a bibliography of nearly 200 items.
The German Colonies on the Volga: The Second Half of the 18th Century
by Igor Pleve
This book traced the history of the Germans on the Volga in the second half of the eighteenth century, and it presents a rich source of archival material. Special attention is paid to the development of the mechanism of inviting and settling foreign colonist on the Volga. The economic situation of the colonist is examined in detail. The causes of the initial situation of the immigrants in their first years of residence in the Saratov region and their successful economic activities during this time are revealed. The system of government in the colonies is also researched in detail. Presented for the first time is one section of one of the so-called "Kuhlberg Lists" (for the ship Anna Catharina), which list passengers arriving in May, June, and August 1766. Also presented for the first time are the lists of first settlers of ten German colonies on the Volga: Seewald, Kautz, Schuck, Leichtling, Kamenka, Vollmer, Preuss, Merkel, Rothhammel, and Kratzke. Many situations presented in this book allow us to look anew at the history of Germans on the Volga. It is a fascinating book for a wide audience who are interested in the history of the Volga Germans.
The German Colonies on the Lower Volga
by Gottlieb Beratz
This English translation is a must for those interested in the proud Volga German heritage. First published several decades ago, it has been described as the most reliable work on the early years of the German Volga Colonies, based on materials in the Archives at Saratov and in the Colonies. Offered by AHSGR since mid-1991, The German Colonies on the Lower Volga has become one of AHSGR’s bestsellers.
German Migration to the Russian Volga (1764-1767) - Origins and Destinations
by Brent Alan Mai and Dona Reeves-Marquardt
This book is the culmination of several years work by the authors locating, translating, and transcribing manuscripts to verify the previously published compilations and to look for additional clues about the origins and destinations of the Volga Germans. In addition to translations of the marriage lists previously published in part Büdingen, Danzig, Lübeck, Roßlau, Schlitz, and Wöhrd, an additional 72 marriages from St. Jacob’s Lutheran Church in Lübeck were located, 3 in Fränkisch-Crumbach, and 57 in Friedberg will also be included. The book includes three indices: (1) by name of individuals; (2) by German origin place name; and (3) by Russian colony destination. The gazetteer of the Volga German colonies that was published in the 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga: Economy, Population, and Agriculture (pages 11-30) has been updated and will also be included in the new book. It is also possible that a set of maps will be provided with the publication. This new book cross references the newly available Russian manuscripts with those from German sources. The corpus of the new book is the translations of the German manuscripts already discussed. However, since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, many manuscripts from Russian sources have been made available to researchers of the Germans from Russia. The 1767 census documents, often called "Original Settlers Lists," are available for 57 of the 104 colonies extant at that time. This book is a valuable update for genealogy researchers.
German Russian Handbook
by Ulrich Mertens
A reference book for Russian-German and German-Russian history and culture with place name listing of former German settlement areas. Items included: Detailed time lines, discussions of deportations, martyrology, Russian and Soviet currency, and many other topics make this a veritable vademecum for the research of Germans from Russia. It combines information from many fragmented sources into a single integrated listing of all localities where Germans settled in Russia, "from the largest cities to the smallest chutors" in the Volga, Black Sea, and Mennonite regions, as well as in Volhynia.
The German-Russian Handbook , originally titled, Handbuch Russland-Deutsche by Ulrich Mertens, is an impressive hard bound book translated by Brigitte von Budde and Alex Herzog, Edited by Allyn Brosz, Alex Herzog and Thomas Stangl.
Index to Place Names Found in "From Catherine to Khrushchev" by Adam Giesinger
compiled by Margaret Freeman
A 41-page booklet that is useful to anyone needing to locate places quickly while using Dr. Giesinger’s book.
Index to Stumpp Maps
by AHSGR
This index was compiled as an aid in identifying the locations of German colonies in Russia as found on the maps drawn by Dr. Karl Stumpp. The map on which the colony is located is in the next-to-last right-hand column, and the specific quadrant is given in the last column. There are times when Dr. Stumpp listed a village on his index but did not show the location on the map and hence gave no quadrant number.
Kolb: A German Colony on the Volga
by Igor Pleve
This volume lists information on various German Russian families from the Volga colony of Kolb, based on censuses from 1798 to 1858. The material has been gathered, compiled, and edited by Dr. Igor R. Pleve of Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia.
The Khulberg Lists
by Ivan Khulberg
This book includes important information about more than 20,000 colonists and ships, commanders, and arrival information.
The “Kuhlberg Lists” were compiled by Titular Counselor Ivan Kuhlberg as the colonists arrived in Oranienbaum. More than 20,000 persons in 6,500 families are documented in the Kuhlberg lists. They are compiled by ship, with the date of arrival in Russia, port of departure, the name of the ship, and the name of the skipper. The name and surname of the colonists are listed, the composition of the family (age of children is indicated), location from where they came, religious confession, and place where they desired to settle.
Transport of the Volga Germans from Oranienbaum to the Colonies on the Volga 1766-1767
by Brent Alan Mai
Translation of nine early transport lists, with information on German families traveling to the Volga in 1766 and 1767, although exact dates of transport are not indicated. Includes information on the number of people traveling within groups to new villages, as well as surname and religious affiliation.
