Historisches Ortslexikon der Wolgadeutschen, Band 1 (A-B)

By Olga Litzenberger

Language – German

This multi-volume historical local dictionary is dedicated to a phenomenon that no longer exists today, but left deep and clearly recognizable traces in Russia’s history in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is about the 300 or so settlements or colonies on the Volga that were founded in the 18th century. But what do we know about the so-called Volga Germans? What regions did their ancestors come from? What was their history and what was their culture? The clear structure of the individual articles allows the lexicon to be used as a practical reference work and makes it easier for all readers to find information who are interested in the history of the Volga German colonies in Russia. The contributions to each individual settlement are specifically subdivided into the following sections: geographical location, history and present, religion and church, archive sources for genealogical research. Volume 1 includes the development history of 22 German colonies and the history of the German population in 3 cities – Astrakhan, Arkadak and Balakowo. The edition is based on numerous archive sources, primarily from the archives of Saratov, Engels, Samara and Volgograd, as well as illustrations from various archives, museums and private collections, which serve to supplement the illustration of the content of the lexicon.

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