Friends of the Center for Volga German Studies

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Friends of the Center for Volga German Studies

To support research into and preservation of the heritage, history, traditions and accomplishments of the Volga Germans. Web site: https://www.volgagermans.org/

About

The Volga Germans website serves as a global online home for family and historical research of this unique ethnic group that migrated from Western Europe to Russia from 1764 to 1767. Our Mission

Our mission is to support collaborative research into and the preservation of the heritage, history, traditions and accomplishments of the Volga Germans and their descendants around the world. Crea

tive collaboration among organizations and individual researchers interested in the Volga Germans and their descendants will generate a deeper appreciation of how this group has contributed profoundly to history, culture, language, politics and faith all over the world. Background

This website was initially created in 2009 by The Center for Volga German Studies at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. We are grateful to Concordia University for its generous support of the site for over 10 years. The university closed in April 2020 and the physical collection of materials was transferred to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. We are thankful to the many people who have donated their time, talents and contributions to make the website a content rich resource for those interested in this ethnic group.

05/06/2026

The page for Anton Becker, a settler in Norka, has been updated for new research by Steve Schreiber and Maggie Hein. The updated research traces this family back to the 1600s using records from five different German parishes. Descendants of this family later moved to Kolb and Brunnental. Details are available on our website.

Spelling Variations Bäcker Baecker Backer Baker Associated Colonies Norka Kolb Brunnental Place of origin Ronshausen, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Hessen, Germany Description Anton Becker was baptized in Ronshausen on 3 Nov 1705, the son of Johann Geörg Becker (1671-1740) from Ronshausen and Christina Herw...

05/03/2026

The German Origin location of the Duxberg (Tucksberg, Duchsberg) settler in Boregard has been documented by David F. Schmidt. Members of this family later moved to Boaro, Katharinenstadt, Cäsarsfeld, and Paulskoye. Details are available on our website:

Spelling Variations Tucksberg Duchsberg Associated Colonies Boregard Boaro Katharinenstadt Cäsarsfeld Paulskoye Place of origin Schwelm, Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany Blombacher Bach (now part of Wuppertal) Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany Description Caspar Wilhelm Tucksberg, son of ...

12/27/2025

New research on the Klein settlers in Frank: An Online Ortsfamilienbuch for Nieder-Wöllstadt has been published. This updates previous research on the family that settled in Frank.

Associated Colonies Frank Place of origin Nieder-Wöllstadt (Wöllstadt), Wetteraukreis, Hessen, Germany Description There are multiple lineages of the Klein (sometimes spelled Kleim) family that settled in Frank. They were believed to be related via a common ancestor, however new research has s...

07/06/2025

The German Origin location of two Schmidt brothers and a related Bock family, settlers in Boaro, have been documented by David F. Schmidt. Descendants of the Schmidt settlers later relocated to Katharinenstadt, Cäsarsfeld, and Stahl am Karaman Details are available on our website:

Associated Colonies Boaro Katharinenstadt Cäsarsfeld Stahl am Karaman Place of origin Gohrau, Oranienbaum-Wörlitz, Wittenberg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany Rehsen, Oranienbaum-Wörlitz, Wittenberg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany Description Two Schmidt brothers and their families immigrated to Russia from Goh...

06/28/2025

The German Origin location of the Stork (Storck) settlers in Anton has been documented by Maggie Hein. Details are available on our website.

Spelling Variations Storck Associated Colonies Anton Straub Place of origin Reinhards, Freiensteinau, Vogelsbergkreis, Hessen, Germany Hintersteinau, Steinau an der Straße, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, Hessen, Germany Hutten, Schlüchtern, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, Hessen, Germany Description Johann Conrad Storck, ...

03/20/2025

The German Origin location of Friedrich Altag (Altach), a soldier in Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grand Armée, and later a settler in Messer, has been documented by Maggie Hein. Details are available on the Volga Germans website.

Spelling Variations Ahldag Altach Associated Colonies Messer Franzosen Place of origin Kleinenbremen (Porta Westfalica), Minden-Lübbecke, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Description Friedrich Altag was a soldier in Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grand Armée and was taken prisoner by the Russian military d...

03/13/2025

The German Origin location of the Kempf settler in Urbach has been documented by David F. Schmidt. The family later moved to Stahl-am-Karaman. Details are available on the Volga Germans website.

Spelling Variations Kempff Kämpf Associated Colonies Urbach Stahl am Karaman Place of origin Wildberg, Calw, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany Description Jacob Bernhardt Kempf was baptized in Wildberg, Dekanat Nagold, Baden-Württemberg on 13 May 1736. He was ...

03/08/2025

The German Origin location of two Kessler brothers who settled in Preuss has been documented by Waldemar Masson. Details are available on the Volga Germans website.

Spelling Variations Keßler Associated Colonies Preuss Hölzel Dehler Place of origin Bommersheim (Oberursel), Hochtaunuskreis, Hessen, Germany Oberhöchstadt (Kronberg), Hochtaunuskreis, Hessen, Germany Description Johann Philipp Kessler (born 12 Jun 1674, died 10 January 1751) and Agatha Euler (...

02/20/2025

The German Origin location of the Hartwig settler in Straub has been documented by Steve Schreiber. Descendants later moved to Warenburg and Neu-Straub. Details are available on our website.

Spelling Variations Hardwig Hardtwig Hartwich Associated Colonies Straub Neu-Straub (Wiesenseite) Warenburg Place of origin Nauheim, Limburg-Weilburg, Hessen, Germany Description Johann Philipp Hartwig was born on November 2, 1728, in Nauheim and was baptized at the Lutheran church there on November...

02/17/2025

The German Origin location of the König settlers in Boaro (Boisroux) has been documented by David F. Schmidt. Family members later moved to Kano (Kaneau) and Stahl am Karaman. Details are available on our website.

Spelling Variations Koenig Associated Colonies Boisroux Kaneau Stahl am Karaman Place of origin Quellendorf, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany Description Heinrich Jacob König, son of Andreas König, was born 9 January and baptized 12 January 1713 in Quellendorf. Dorothea Maria Schumann, daughter of Samuel S...

02/10/2025

Not every family that settled in a Volga German colony can be found on the published First Settlers Lists (1767 Census). Here are some suggestions about why your family might be missing from those lists:

Documenting where your Volga German ancestors lived prior to their immigration to Russia isn't easy. I've previously written about some of the challenges of doing this research. The main source for identifying a possible origin location is the First Settlers Lists (1767 Censuses) for the Volga Germa...

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