It's very exciting to locate very old German colonies in Russia, and these are among the oldest.
There has been a lot of interest recently about the Belowesch colonies among both Volga and Black Sea German researchers. This group of colonies was founded at the same time the early Volga colonies were founded. Unlike other areas, they remained quite isolated. The interest from Volga researchers centers around the colonists who founded these villages travelled from the same locations in Germany and at the same time as colonists headed to the Volga. The long list of village names from Dale Wahl on Odessa3 even notes Volga villages with the same names as the Mother colonies in Belowesch. And the Black Sea researchers are interested because Belowesch daughter colonies of the same names were established up in Mariupol beginning in the 1830s.
I asked Dennis to have a look, and, as usual, he turned them around in record time. He loves special requests. Special thanks goes to Maggie Hein and Carolyn Schott for providing enough info to find them quickly, including a small map by Karl Stumpp included in an article about the colonies in the 1955 Heimatbuch der Ostumsiedler. It was good enough to get the job done! I've added a link to our Sources page, and there's also a link below.
So we have a new map of the Belowesch Colonies. There are six Mother colonies founded in 1766, although Stumpp had varied years for them. Most sources agree the Mother colonies were all founded in the same year; perhaps another case of "settled" before "founded" applies here. Four of the colonies were Lutheran and two were Catholic, and nearly all of the 147 families were from Upper Hesse. Stumpp reported that 25 of these families were craftsmen, including shoemakers, tailors, locksmiths, carpenters, masons, saddlers, cloth weavers, millers and bakers. The first daughter colony, Kreschtschatik, was established in the same area in 1802, 42.4 miles east (68.2 km) east of of Belowesch. In addition to the daughter colonies in Mariupol, there would eventually also be daughter colonies in the areas of Crimea, North Caucasus and Orenburg (Ural).... and possibly Volga if the long list is correct.
Today, only three of the colonies still exist, and two of them, Groß-Werder and Klein-Werder, have grown together into current day Zelenivka, Chernihivs'ka, Ukraine.
There has been a lot of interest recently about the Belowesch colonies among both Volga and Black Sea German researchers. This group of colonies was founded at the same time the early Volga colonies were founded. Unlike other areas, they remained quite isolated. The interest from Volga researchers centers around the colonists who founded these villages travelled from the same locations in Germany and at the same time as colonists headed to the Volga. The long list of village names from Dale Wahl on Odessa3 even notes Volga villages with the same names as the Mother colonies in Belowesch. And the Black Sea researchers are interested because Belowesch daughter colonies of the same names were established up in Mariupol beginning in the 1830s.
I asked Dennis to have a look, and, as usual, he turned them around in record time. He loves special requests. Special thanks goes to Maggie Hein and Carolyn Schott for providing enough info to find them quickly, including a small map by Karl Stumpp included in an article about the colonies in the 1955 Heimatbuch der Ostumsiedler. It was good enough to get the job done! I've added a link to our Sources page, and there's also a link below.
So we have a new map of the Belowesch Colonies. There are six Mother colonies founded in 1766, although Stumpp had varied years for them. Most sources agree the Mother colonies were all founded in the same year; perhaps another case of "settled" before "founded" applies here. Four of the colonies were Lutheran and two were Catholic, and nearly all of the 147 families were from Upper Hesse. Stumpp reported that 25 of these families were craftsmen, including shoemakers, tailors, locksmiths, carpenters, masons, saddlers, cloth weavers, millers and bakers. The first daughter colony, Kreschtschatik, was established in the same area in 1802, 42.4 miles east (68.2 km) east of of Belowesch. In addition to the daughter colonies in Mariupol, there would eventually also be daughter colonies in the areas of Crimea, North Caucasus and Orenburg (Ural).... and possibly Volga if the long list is correct.
Today, only three of the colonies still exist, and two of them, Groß-Werder and Klein-Werder, have grown together into current day Zelenivka, Chernihivs'ka, Ukraine.
The following maps have been updated with the new colonies:
Learn More:
Belowesch Colonies in Chernigov
The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862, p. 91 and 823-851
From Catherine to Khrushchev, p. 92-93
The German Settlements in the Belovezh Parish in Chernigov Province
Map of the colonies of the Belovezh District in the province of Chernigov.
The German Settlements in the Belovezh Parish in Chernigov Province
Map of the colonies of the Belovezh District in the province of Chernigov.
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