Gen Tales

The Volga Germans

Immigrants in the land of their birth

The Volga Germans (sometimes called Saratov Germans) lived in settlements founded in the Volga River Valley of Russia, where more than 30,000 German Lutherans took up residence between 1764 and 1772 at the behest of Catherine II. She offered to waive taxes and not require military service for 30 years. It also served as a means of escaping the aftermath of the Seven Years War in Europe.

Immigration

The 900-mile voyage from Germany, often from the port of Lübeck, to Kronstadt, Russia, took 9 days, or up to 3 months if the weather was uncooperative. As the contracted German immigrants arrived, they were paraded past the Tsarina’s residence near St. Petersburg in Oranienbaum and made to recite an oath of allegiance to the Russian Crown. Then, instead of being allowed to settle and ply their trade where they fit, they were made to build their own temporary accommodations while waiting to be assigned to settlements in the Volga Valley based on their religious affiliation. The reasoning for this seems to lie in the purpose for acquiring the settlers — the preceding Tsarina, Elizabeth, had the idea that Russia needed a buffer against Turkey, and the agricultural opportunities in the river valley required workers.