26 May 2017

On This Day: 26 May 1765

On this day, 26 May 1765, the Volga Mother colony of Holstein was founded on the banks of the Galka River.  A Lutheran colony, it was a part of the Galka parish.

Holstein was one of the Lower Volga colonies, a cluster of nine Lutheran villages settled between 1764 and 1767 on the west side of the lower part of the Volga River.

For more information about Holstein, visit the following sites: 
Center for Volga German Studies - Holstein
Volga German Institute - Holstein
The Lower Volga Project - Holstein


Holstein, currently known as Verkhnyaya Kulalinka, Volograd, Russia.




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.







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