Marianin, Volynsk, Volhynia U

See Dermanke for combined report.

Marienberg, Odessa, Kherson

See Glückstal Colonies Research Association

Marienbrunn, North Caucasus

Arthur E. Flegel F010 / L

See Alexanderfeld, North Caucasus for combined report.

Mariental, Samara, Volga

Mariental Web Site

Thelma Mills M357

See Louis for combined report.

Markosowka, North Caucasus

Arthur E. Flegel F010 / L

See Alexanderfeld, North Caucasus for combined report.

Merkel, Saratov, Volga

Darrell Kautz K338

I am continuing compilation of a third volume of Merkel-related material. The first volume, In the Shadow of a Bell Tower, is permanently out of print. New contacts have provided more family information. I have not encountered any new research material this past year, though Brent Mai has apparently acquired and translated some Merkel census records.

Printing issues of the Alexander Bauer articles (Die Welt Post 1924-1929) remain unresolved, with my intent to pursue new options regarding this priceless material in the coming year. There were 20 years (1904-1924) of similar articles by Mr. Bauer in the Dakota Freie Presse that would make excellent research material, if translated.

I hope, someday, to access more of the American Volga Relief Society papers in the possession of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Michalochka, Shepetovka, Volhynia U

See Dermanke for combined report.

Moor, Saratov, Volga

Moor Web Site

Irma Waggoner

Wayne Bonner B269
Data entry

See Balzer for combined report.

Mühlberg

See Shcherbakovka

Mühlhausendorf, Swedish Colonies, Nikolaev, Kherson

Karen Wright

Although I have been village coordinator for just a few weeks, I have gathered information on this village over the past three years. This is a predominantly German Lutheran Village and many of the villagers married into the Swedish families in the neighboring Swedish village of Alt-Schwedendorf.

Materials that I have gathered to aid in my research are:

Karl Stumpp's books on the Emigration From Germany to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862

1942 Village Report

The family names I have traced from this village are: Glubrecht, Geissler, and Stuhlberg.

Over the next year, I plan to organize a trip to the Ukraine to visit the Swedish villages.

Neudorf, Glückstal, Odessa, South Russia

Gregory Dockter D112

See Glückstal Colonies Research Association for combined report.

Neu-Glückstal, Glückstal, Odessa, Kherson

See Glückstal Colonies Research Association

Neu-OberMonjou, Samara, Volga, Russia

Neu-OberMonjou Web Site

Kevin Rupp R311 / L

There was no news this year.

Neu-Schilling I, Samara, Volga
Neu-Schilling II, Samara, Volga

Schilling Web Site

Gary Martens M405

See Schilling for report.

Neu-Straub, Saratov, Volga

Neu-Straub Web Site

Lillian Larwig L188

I have had very little activity during this past year. One big moment is that I have had the opportunity to be in contact with Alwina Maiber who now lives in Germany. One of her family names is Straub. She remembers being in Neu-Straub as a child and thinks her Straub family founded Neu-Straub. According to all I've researched, Neu-Straub is not a daughter colony of Straub. Alwina's description of Neu-Straub, as she remembers it from childhood, fits the village description as I saw it when I visited there. Alwina writes in German. She has written one book, and she is on her second book about her early life in Russia. If anyone is interested in contacting her, I can give you her mailing address and her phone number in Germany.

I have the 1857 Neu-Straub census for family names Keil and Heintz. Russian researchers have said there was no complete census.

Neu-Yagodnaya, Samara, Volga

Neu-Yagodnaya Web Site

Laurin Wilhelm W022 / L

Combined report for Neu-Yagodnaya, Schoendorf, Schoental.

Schonedorf, Schoentlal, and Neu Jagodnaya were daughter colonies, primarily of Jagodnaya Polyana. About two-thirds of the settlers came from Jagodnaya Polyana. The other third of the settlers came mainly from Pobochnoye. The mother colonies lay across the Volga west and about 100 miles to the northwest. These daughter colonies were founded in 1855 and 1856.

I have received a few inquiries this past year, but it has been slow. The villages existed only about 85 years, before all the German farmers and families were forcibly deported in the fall of 1941 to Kazakhstan and Siberia. The farm animals were abandoned in the barnyards to fend for themselves. The wood from the houses and barns was burned for firewood, unless new refugees, often Ukrainians, Poles, or Russians, occupied the houses.

There are not a large number of descendents from these villages, and those folks seem little interested in researching their families. Until more records are forthcoming or available to researchers, especially Village Coordinators, not much more research will be done on my villages.

Nieder-Monjou, Samara, Volga

Nieder-Monjou Web Site

Michael Grau

Steven Grau

Throughout the past year, we received seven queries or correspondence concerning the following Nieder-Monjou surnames: BISTERFELT, BISTERFELDT, FUNK, HERBER, HICKS, MEIER, MÜLLER/MILLER, NIEDECKER, SCHMIDT, and ULRICH.

We have determined that the RIEFFER / RÜFFER's of Nieder-Monjou and Beauregard were originally from Wallroth, Kreis Schlüchtern, Hessen-Nassau, Preußen.

An ANSCHÜTZ surname chart has been on order since 1999 and a BETZ surname chart has been on order since 2003. There has been no word on their estimated completion dates.

We anticipate that the original settlers list for Nieder-Monjou will be published in volume three of "Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767". We anxiously await its publication.

We continued to research families from Nieder-Monjou, primarily those who immigrated to central Kansas.

You may visit the Nieder-Monjou web site listed above.

Oberdorf, Saratov, Volga

Oberdorf Web Site

Teri Helzer H491

The village of Oberdorf researchers have had an exciting 2005. Early in the year, I received the 1858 Oberdorf Revision List and translated it. The Revision List helped many researchers link their ancestors back to the Oberdorf mother colonies (Dobrinka, Galka, Grimm, Holstein, Kutter, Norka, Schwab, Shcherbakovka, and Stephan).

Surnames found on the 1858 Oberdorf Revision List are:

Asmus Balzer  Daubert Elsasser Fass Felker (Völker) Frisorger Fritzler Gebel Ginter Graf Grauberger Grenz Heinze  Herber Kaiser Kandlin  Karst Keln Kerbel Kerbs Kimmel Klaus Kling Kuhlmann Kuxhausen

Lorenz Lotz Maier (Meier) Martin Reifschneider Rudolf Ruff Rusch Schaefer Schick Schimpf Schmer Schmidt Schmunk Schneider Sigfried Stehle Stirtz Völker (Felker) Walter Weber Weingand Witmann Wolff

For further information regarding the 1858 Oberdorf Revision List, please contact the village coordinator at the link above.

A small quantity of Church Records also became available in 2005. The Church Records were scattered across a few years from late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, and subsequently did little to enable most researchers to link back to the 1858 Revision List. Most researchers are still missing a generation between the 1858 Revision List and the above-mentioned Church Records.

Due to the movement of the colonists, several researchers have ordered and received Church Records for not only Oberdorf, but also Erlenbach and Unterdorf. Many of these records have been forwarded to me, and I have indexed in excess of 800 names found on church records (marriage, birth, and death books) from Oberdorf, Erlenbach, and Unterdorf. Full extracts are available to anyone with a connection to these families in those colonies free of charge. The extracts include variable details such as relationships, dates of birth, dates of death, and places of birth as applicable to the record. I have continued to solicit the donation of additional records to add to the index of Rosenberg Parish Church Records. Carol Evans, Betty Guenther, Heide Langenbeck, Willard Keller, and I donated the records that have been indexed thus far. All inquiries regarding these records associated with villages other than Oberdorf are shared with the other Rosenberg Parish Village Coordinators as applicable, in addition to other researchers seeking same.

A complete list of indexed records can be found on the Oberdorf web site. There are many names indexed besides the surnames listed below.

Complete packages of Rosenberg Parish church records per village for surnames ordered and received to-date:

Oberdorf

Becker 
Meier 
Schaefer 
Schimpf 
Schmer 
Usinger (No records found)

Erlenbach

Becker 
Meier 
Schaefer 
Schimpf 
Usinger (No records found)

Unterdorf

Becker 
Keller 
Schmer

I have scanned all of the hard copy pages of the Revision List and Church Records and placed them on a CD for safekeeping.

Betty Guenther, an Oberdorf researcher has compiled and published Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church - A Brief History and Records from 1924-1958.

This attractive book is a must-have for anyone researching the Volga Germans who settled in the Saginaw, Michigan area. The book includes many photos and a brief history of the church by Jacob Eichhorn. Oberdorf researcher, Elaine Schneider copied the original records and assisted in the typing.

The indexes include Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, and Death Records for the years 1924-1958.

Order Information:

Send check ($23.00, which includes shipping and handling) payable to:

Betty Guenther
95 Anton Street
Sebewaing, MI 48759

I have continued to expand the Oberdorf web site, which has resulted in attracting new researchers. A popular addition is the Rosenberg Parish Brick Walls page created to assist those that are at a dead end in their research due to lack of records and contacts with researchers seeking the same ancestral lineage. I chose to include all Rosenberg Parish villages due to the movement between those colonies. All emails associated with the Brick Wall entries are forwarded to the author of the entry, in addition to the applicable Village Coordinator.

I have continued to extract Oberdorf people from ship manifests at the Ancestry web site and added those names to the Oberdorf spreadsheet.

The number of emails processed during the past year regarding Oberdorf is in excess of 230. Copies of all email are kept on a separate and private web site and are available to Oberdorf researchers.

Ober-Monjou, Samara, Volga

Obermonjou Web Site

Kevin Rupp

Ober-Monjou Mailing List

I have had only a few inquiries on this colony. This fall we obtained the 1857 census list that Russian researchers had said was not available. I also have the 1875, 1889, and 1893 marriage lists.

Orlovskoye, Samara, Volga

Carol Nesewich N087

HISTORY OF THE COLONY: Irma Eichhorn published a history in the Journal of AHSGR, Vol. 3, No. 1, (Spring 1980), pp. 23-38.

MAPS OF THE COLONY: The Journal article listed above included a map drawn by Dr. Johannes Rothermel, who lived in Orlovskoe from 1898-1918 and then from 1923-1930. Two additional maps are the work of Woldemar Lehmann, a former Soviet army officer who came to Germany. One map shows the village presumably during the 1920s and 1930s. The second map shows the kolkhoz land arrangements during the 1930s. The Lehmann maps are available to AHSGR members through Carol Nesewich.

SURNAME CHARTS are available for ERFURTH and BONACKER and may be purchased through AHSGR. No new family charts were received.

INQUIRIES FOR INFORMATION: There are not a large number of descendants from this village who seem interested in researching their families. There were only two inquiries this year.

The first was from a woman whose family settled in the same community in Illinois as mine and also attended the same church and schools. She is researching the surnames GERLINGER and ERFURTH. These families are found in the booklet "Unser Leute, Settlers in Northern Illinois" compiled by the Northern Illinois Chapter of AHSGR. I have sent her copies of the village maps and my ERFURTH surname chart and we are attempting to determine if there is a family connection.

The second request came from a woman seeking information on her DIEDE and BECKER ancestors. I was not able to be of much help but did suggest that the requester try to obtain information through AHSGR headquarters particularly from the 1834 Village Census.

Paulskoye, Samara, Volga

Paulskoye Web Site

Timothy C. Weeder W372

This year I received four requests for assistance, one being from GR's now in Germany. The resulting work broadened out to include an additional five individuals who were previously unaware of AHSGR's existence. The surnames involved were: Hoffman(n), Dortman(n), Rohrig (including a branch now known as Rarick), Wede, and Damm.

The only Paulskoye surname chart or family tree still to be completed remains the one ordered by an individual in February 2001. Recent e-mails suggest it is still in progress, but is delayed by the Engel's archive restoration.

Virginia (Ginny) Wede Hamblett of Oceanside, California generously donated two priceless artifacts this year. One is a 1968 list made by her father Henry Wede. It is a list of all Paulskoyer families in America that he knew about, and it indicates whether they were deceased or still living. Although Wede had lived in Bellwood, Illinois, the list of 54 individuals includes Paulskoyers residing in other locales/states also. The second item Ginny donated was a photograph of the church in Paulskoye. The date the photograph was taken is unknown. Thank you so much Ginny!

My efforts at locating passenger ship lists have been very fruitful this past year. This year I learned that many Paulskoyers chose to enter the United States through Portland, Maine. On a personal note, I have finally, after almost 10 years of searching, found my great-grandfather David Wede's passenger ship entry! For the record, he arrived 9 January 1912 in Philadelphia on the S.S. Haverford from Liverpool.

Finally, I want to report my success using the WWI Draft Registration Cards available at Ancestry.com. These documents have been an invaluable tool because in many cases it may be the only record indicating village birthplace if a passenger ship record cannot be located. There is much more information on those cards too such as date of birth, place of employment, home address, marital status, etc. These records may provide the first glimpse of an individual between the 1910 census or their passenger ship arrival, and the 1920 census.

Pfeifer, Saratov, Volga

Pfeifer Web Site

Rosemary Larson L033 / L

This has been a busy year. The first census I translated for Pfeifer was the 1834 census for Kevin Rupp. The 1834 census has 799 males and 719 females. Kevin has the 1834 census available.

Recently I completed the translation of the 1850 PFEIFER census. It is now published, available, and contains 2,250 souls…1,134 males and 1,116 females. This census contains the surnames of the spouses, making it a more comprehensive census. The index for the spouses is two pages whereas the male index is just one page. The script by the German enumerators writing in Russian Cyrillic was quite good and easy to read.

Argentina tops the list for inquiries about Pfeifer. Many queries also came from Pfeifer descendants in the U.S.

Some years ago, I published "Holy Cross Family Register, Pfeifer, Ellis County, Kansas". This publication lists the families of the parish from the inception of the parish until regular church services were no longer held some years ago. The church in Pfeifer is still used for special occasions.

The Pfeifer book is available.

Pobochnoye, Saratov, Volga

Pobochnoye Web Site

Laurin Wilhelm W022 / L

Combined report for Pobochnoye, Schoenfeld, Strassendorf.

Pobochnoye was founded rather late for a mother colony (1772), and is located approximately 40 miles northwest of Saratov. Pobochnoye means illegitimate, of lesser status, stepchild, etc. The German name for the colony was Nebendorf or "beside the village". Jagodnaya Polyana, a stepmother colony about 12 miles north, was founded in 1767. Schoenfeld was a daughter-colony founded in 1857 and was located about 100 miles southeast, or 65 miles east-southeast of Saratov on the Jeruslan River. Strassendorf, located about 15 miles south of Schoenfeld, was founded about 1860, or very late.

We have not had much research activity in these villages this year. However, a new trend seems to be developing. I have had two requests by people to research families from my villages on behalf of other older persons. The younger ladies seemed to have good research skills and were seeking information for older friends who apparently do not have good research skills. However, they were interested in researching their German Russian ancestry. My best documents for this are still the 10 Nov 1857 Pobochnoye Aussiedler List. This list of 1560 settlers, about one-half of the population of Pobochnoye, left between 1855 and 1857 to help found Schoendorf, Schoenfeld, and Schoental. Neu Jagodnaya and Strassendorf were founded from "Sproeslinge" (sprouts) of these and other villages.

I am getting old, rather grouchy, and nearly blind, so I do not do much research any more. I have been researching Pobochnoye and Schoenfeld for fifty years. I miss the excitement of finding new information in a census, church book, or other public record and tying it into the family history book. It seems that getting access and information out of the Russian Archives is mission impossible.

Reinhard(t), Samara, Volga

Jerry Sitzman

In early July 2005, I became the VC for Reinhardt and have since received the paper files held by my predecessor, Margo James.

One request for information about the Kraus family was received by letter. The requestor also supplied the genealogical information that she held. There were no inquiries about Reinhardt at the Oklahoma City AHSGR Convention Village Night.

I am compiling all available vital (BMD) information for Reinhardt, including data from the 1798 census, into a database program (TMG) and will also attempt to organize other genealogical information (photos, stories, village histories, etc.). I will also search online for passenger ship lists, census records, obituaries, naturalization records, and other sources of relevant information.

A primary goal is to expand the content of a sparse Village File. To this end, I'll be looking for Reinhardt surname charts, additional censuses, and submissions from those who may contact me.

Reinwald, Samara, Volga

Susie Weber Hess H339

See Krasnoyar for combined report.

Rosenberg / Umet, Saratov, Volga

Rosenberg Web Site

Dr. Richard McGregor M236

There has been only a small amount of activity on the Rosenberg village website this past year. This is much as it has been for the last three or four years. I attribute this partly to the fact that Rosenberg was relatively small and the number of families consequently smaller than most of the mother colonies, and partly to the fact that it is possible now to get back to the mother colonies much more easily than before.

The big acquisition this year has been the 1857-1858 Census information. Many years ago I receieved a list of surnames in the village at the time, with the mother colony of origin. This list is still on the website as it has been since 1999 when the website was created. I have been surprised how little access of the information there has been by descendants of those who lived in the village. In common with the other VCs, I have set a small price for the information in order to attempt to recoup the outlay made to purchase the information from Russia in the first place. It's possible that this charging system puts people off but I have no doubt that the other VCs, like myself, actually laid out the cost of these acquisitions ourselves.

Reviewing the information sent to me I find there have been no new family history books, but I have had copies of photographs from Manweiler and Kuxhaus descendants, and a great school photograph of Rosenberg from descendants of Maria Morkel. I have also had some information from Manweiler families, as well as from Shibbelhut, Seifert, Erdmann, Martin, Schwartzkopf, Rahmig and Kuhlmann families. Sometimes this information is in GECOM format but usually it is only general information contained within one or two e-mails. I had a useful correction to the detail on a Martin photograph, which has been on the website since it was launched and, for the most part, the pictures and any relevant information has been uploaded.

I would remind searchers that I maintain a file, now over 220 pages in length, which has all the information on Rosenbergers sent to me since I became VC a decade and a half ago. I am happy to look up families in this file and send out relevant data. The website has a lot of photographs and I do get occasional messages on the message board. I encourage message posters to contact me on the website e-mail address but surprisingly not all do so.

The website also contains copies of all the Newsletters I sent out before the creation of the website so altogether there is a wealth of information for searchers there.

Rosenfeld, North Caucasus

Arthur E. Flegel F010 / L

See Alexanderfeld, North Caucasus for combined report.

Rosenheim, Samara, Volga

Randi D. Bolyard

This year I received about five inquiries about Rosenheim, including one interesting overseas e-mail. It was from Mr. Stadler of Sao Paolo, Brazil asking where he could get a copy of a wedding certificate of a marriage that occurred in Rosenheim. I referred him to the Engels Archive, where he could possibly get a copy of the church record.

One of my frustrations over the last several years has been my inability to get the most current census data from Rosenheim. I have the 1834 and 1850 census data, but not the last one. I will continue to search out leads for this, as it would be so helpful to the people who contact me.

Rothammel, Saratov, Volga

Nicholas & Barbara Bretz B296

Joseph Gertge

Rothammel Mail List ~ email Kathy Frank Jones to join

Combined report for Rothammel and Seewald.

The highlight of our year was a trip in April to Russia. Nick, who is Chair of the Archives Committee of AHSGR, and I flew to St. Petersburg where we stayed for three days taking a tour of the city, tours to the restored palaces, and to St. Peter and Paul Fortress where most of the Russian monarchy from Peter the Great to Nicholas II are entombed.

After taking a night train to Moscow, we were joined by Ed Hoak, President of AHSGR; Jerry Siebert, Chair of the Editorial and Publications Committee; and Blair Hoffman, a member from California. We stayed two days in a hotel adjacent to Red Square. We toured the city and took a walking tour of the Kremlin before flying on to Saratov where we spent a week.

The primary reason for our trip was to make contact with officials in the archives and the universities in order to facilitate better communication and to establish a method for retrieval of information from those institutions. We met with Victor Rodionov, Minister of the Saratov Oblast Regional Archives as well as Elizabeth Erina, Director of the Engels Archive, and Dr. Alexi Voronethsev, Director of the Saratov Archives. While in both archives, we were shown books that contained information about the villages of Rothammel and Seewald. We visited with faculty members at Saratov State University and viewed a number of publications they have written about German-Russians. The society will have some of them translated and published in the AHSGR Journal or as monographs.

Our trip to the villages of our ancestors was secondary so we did not have much time in the area. We drove three and a half hours to the site of Rothammel, which doesn't exist any longer. We found evidence of homes that once stood in the village and the remains of the cemetery. The latest burial appeared to have been of Jacob Ivanovich Lechmann b. 1907 d. 1981. He appears on the Lechmann charts as son of Johannes. We were unable to locate the site of Seewald but imagine we looked out over it as we stood on the steppes of Russia, which very much resemble the hillsides of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. It was a very long but rewarding day trip.

Dr. Igor Pleve was our host for dinner at a Chinese restaurant near our hotel. He informed us of his new position as Minister of Education for the Saratov Oblast.

Ilmira Khansvyarova, owner of a travel agency in Saratov and speaker at the 2004 AHSGR Convention, arranged our Saratov portion of the trip. Ilmira had been a participant in a project of the Rotary Club where young Russians came to the US to learn entrepreneur skills. Our driver and the interpreters who accompanied us to the villages had been part of the same program. In fact, Anton, our driver, had spent time in Julesburg, Colorado learning about agriculture.

We took another night train to Volgograd where Dr. Lyudmila Koretnikova, a faculty member of the Volzhsky Institute of Humanities and also a speaker at the 2004 Convention arranged our trip. Her mother even came down from Saratov to prepare a delicious German meal for us. We met with Nikolai Smirnov, Director of the Volgograd Archive. While there we saw many books pertaining to Rothammel and Seewald such as census records, church records, tax records and even criminal records. More publications about German-Russians were seen at Volgograd State University. We learned that students there have begun to write papers about the villages, beginning with the formation to the demise or condition of the village today. It would be both beneficial to the student and to us if we could contribute money to help with this project. We also sat in on an English class at Volzhsky Institute. We are hopeful that Mila in conjunction with her students will be able to help us with translations. While at the archive, we were shown a book, "History and Geography Dictionary of Saratov Province" by A. N. Minkh Published: Saratov, 1898. It contains descriptions of the villages of which we had Mila translate those about Rothammel and Seewald.

It was a wonderful trip but not nearly long enough for us to spend time in the villages. Nick would like to go back and have time to visit with people from his villages. A complete report of our trip appeared in the Summer 2005 AHSGR Newsletter.

The highlight of the year for the villages was the purchase and translation of the 1834, and 1857 census for Rothammel and the 1857 census for Seewald. Each contains the census for the entire village and a copy of the description of the village mentioned above. Proceeds from the sale of these booklets will be used to purchase and translate church records that have been ordered. We understand that the Rothammel church records have been sent and the Seewald records will soon be copied. If you are able to help with the translations, we would appreciate your help.

"Genealogical Charts" have been purchased for Rothammel surnames as follows: Basgal, Bieber, Gertje, Hartmann, Kloberdanz, Lauer, Lechmann, and Matza. For Seewald: Artzer, Kaiser, Ingethron, and Ostertag. For Volmer: Ertle and Gartner. Ordered but not received: Appelhanz, Barbie, Frank, and Weingardt.

Over 30 obituaries have been shared by the mail list group. Please send obituaries from your files, both old and new, so they can be added to the AHSGR obituary files. We have noticed that there are very few Catholic obits in the files so if we add ours, researchers won't be disappointed as they search the SOAR database when it goes on line.

Kathy Jones continues to host our free mail list. Please contact her at address above to join. We have over 100 members so it is a very helpful tool in your research. We have had inquiries almost weekly from the mail list or from researchers who have found our names in the VC list. This past month we have been contacted by a researcher in Siberia looking for information on Bauer, Distel, and Artzer. We were able to give him information that takes those three lines back to the original settlers. They then sent us copies of records they had procured from the archives.

Our database, maintained by Joe Gertge, now contains almost 20,000 names and is expected to grow significantly over the next year as numerous charts and census records are incorporated. Please send Joe your family files to be added to the database so we can complete the linking of families. Joe's address is above.

A new video entitled, "A Soulful Sound - Music of the Germans from Russia" is available in the AHSGR Store. Maria Appelhans and her daughter, Rosalinda Kloberdanz are featured singing "Die Konigskinder". Maria won the Story Telling Contest at the 2004 AHSGR Convention. Her story, "Back Home on the Volga, 1937" was published in the Winter 2004 Journal. The booklet, "Rothammel on the Volga - Translation of Chronicle by Theresia Dahn" is still available.

Only a few from our villages attended the 2005 AHSGR Convention. We shared stories and showed some village photos from our trip. Let's try to have a large group attend the 2006 Convention in Lincoln.