On This Day, 12 July 1767

Location of Laub on
Karte der deutschen Siedlungen im Wolgagebiet
(Map of the German settlements in the Volga region, AHSGR map #6)

Laub, also known as Tarlyk, was founded on the Wiesenseite (meadow side) as a Lutheran colony on 12 July 1767 by LeRoy and Pictet, a co-operative company commissioned by Catherine the Great to recruit and settle Germans in Russia.  

The colony started out with 68 households with a total of 201 residents. Within the first 100 years, the population had grown to 2,105 residents.  By 1926, there was an agricultural kolkhoz (collective farm) founded with loans, a school and a library. 

Neighboring colonies were Jost to the northwest and Dinkel to the east. 

Laub (Lauwe) circa 1930. Photo courtesy of Germans from Russia Heritage Society. 

Location of the Volga colony Laub, now known as Chkalovskoye, Saratov, Russia

Learn More: 

Center for Volga German Studies - Laub
Germans from Russia Heritage Society - Laub
LeRoy and Pictet

Volga German Institute - Laub
Wolgadeutsche - Laub

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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