Two Volga Mother colonies were founded on this day, 13 July 1767.
Näb was founded as a Lutheran colony by Baron Ferdinand de Canneau de Beauregard, a settlement agent hired by Catherine the Great, on 27 June 1766. It was one of 18 colonies settled very closely together along the Wiesenseite that ran from Schaffhausen to Katharinenstadt (Marx).
Urbach was founded as a Lutheran colony by LeRoy and Pictet, a co-operative company commissioned by Catherine the Great to recruit and settle Germans in Russia. Urbach was the home of one of the largest Volga German oil mills, processing 8,000 tons of sunflowers a year.
There was some emigration from Urbach to the Caucasus area in 1780, and daughter colony Neu-Urbach (Urbach Station) was founded 1859.
 |
| Location of Näb on Karte der deutschen Siedlungen im Wolgagebiet (Map of the German settlements in the Volga region, AHSGR map #6 |
Näb was founded as a Lutheran colony by Baron Ferdinand de Canneau de Beauregard, a settlement agent hired by Catherine the Great, on 27 June 1766. It was one of 18 colonies settled very closely together along the Wiesenseite that ran from Schaffhausen to Katharinenstadt (Marx).
The population of the Näb was never very large. This was probably because of the number of other colonies near it, but it was the Lutheran parish, and as of 1926, the soviet seat with 1,618 residents, cooperative store, agricultural kolkhoz (collective farm) and a school with grades one through four.
 |
| Location of the Volga colony Näb, now known as Ryazanovka, Saratov, Russia |
 |
| Location of Urbach on Karte der deutschen Siedlungen im Wolgagebiet (Map of the German settlements in the Volga region, AHSGR map #6) |
Urbach was founded as a Lutheran colony by LeRoy and Pictet, a co-operative company commissioned by Catherine the Great to recruit and settle Germans in Russia. Urbach was the home of one of the largest Volga German oil mills, processing 8,000 tons of sunflowers a year.
There was some emigration from Urbach to the Caucasus area in 1780, and daughter colony Neu-Urbach (Urbach Station) was founded 1859.
 |
| Location of the Volga colony Urbach, now known as Furmanovka, Saratov, Russia |
Learn More:
Center for Volga German Studies - Näb, Urbach
Geschichte der Russlanddeutschen (History of Russian Germans) - Baron Canneau de Beauregard
LeRoy and Pictet
Geschichte der Russlanddeutschen (History of Russian Germans) - Baron Canneau de Beauregard
LeRoy and Pictet
2017 marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Mother colonies along the Volga River. There are many events throughout the year to commemorate the anniversary, and the Germans from
Russia Settlement Locations project joins in the celebration of this rich Volga German heritage.
The German immigrants that came to the Volga region were among first colonists to take up Catherine the Great on her manifesto. They came from Hesse, the Rhineland, the Palatinate and Württemberg. They are also among the most well researched and documented groups of German colonists in Russia. Thus far, the Volga Mother colonies settled between 1764 and 1767 are the only colonies that have precise dates they were settled.
For more historical and current events related to Germans from Russia, see our calendar page or link to our public Google calendar.
# # #
