Germans from Russia Historical Geography: Difference between revisions

The ''Family History Library Catalog'' is based on Russian Empire jurisdictions as they existed before World War I (prior to 1914) regardless of later changes during the era of the Soviet Union. Soviet places that are now outside the Russian Republic are also cataloged under their present location, such as, POLAND, ESTONIA, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, BELARUS, UKRAINE, MOLDOVA, GEORGIA, and ARMENIA. The northern part of East Prussia is also listed in the catalog under the old German Empire (1871) jurisdictions, for example, GERMANY, PREUßEN, OSTPREUßEN, KÖNIGSBERG. The ''Family History Library Catalog'' uses the older guberniias for most of the Empire, but places in the Ukraine are listed under both their Empire guberniias and their Soviet oblasts.  

The boundaries of the Russian Empire have changed many times since German-speaking people began settling there in large numbers starting in 1763, including borders of some areas where Germans settled. The earliest German settlements were along the Volga River in old Russia, near St. Petersburg, and near Belovesh in the Ukraine. As Russia expanded, Germans were also encouraged to settle newly acquired Russian lands sometimes called “New Russia.”  

'''''Soviet Union and World War II.''''' At the start of World War II in 1940 the Soviets annexed Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, but lost them back to Romania when the Nazi-Romanian alliance invaded in 1941. All Soviet territory claimed in 1940 was recaptured and restored to the Soviets at the end of the war by treaty in 1947. The Soviets also took over the northern part of the German territory of East Prussia including Königsberg/Kaliningrad, the eastern part of Poland including central Lithuania, western Belarus and Volhynia, eastern Galicia, and a part of eastern Czechoslovakia called Transcarpathia (Subcarpathian Rus’). German settlements are located in all of these areas, but those from East Prussia, Galicia, Transcarpathia, and Bukovina are normally not considered Germans from Russia because they were first acquired during the Soviet era.  

In addition provinces [''guberniias''] have been reorganized, changed names and boundaries, and local place-names have changed. You may need to determine previous boundaries and jurisdictions to locate your ancestors' records. German-speaking people tended to give German language names to places they settled even when Russian names for those places already existed. Gazetteers and histories are helpful sources of information about a these changes. The following list describes the location of selected guberniias.  

'''''Yaroslavl''''' [Jaroslavl] Province and city on the Volga River about 250 km northeast of Moscow. In the St. Petersburg Consistory. Now Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine.  

The following list describes various groups of Germans from Russia, as well as several groups that settled eastern Europe, but are not considered Germans from Russia.  

'''''Zipser Germans''''' settled near the Carpathian mountains in northern Hungary in the 12th Century. They are not Germans from Russia.  

== Historical Atlases ==

Magoscsi, Paul Robert. Historical Atlas of East Central Europe. A History of East Central Europe; v. 1. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995 (FHL book 940 H2ho v. 1; computer number 714420). Excellent maps and text about the geographic history. The maps of “Germans in East Central Europe ca 1900" and “The evolution of German settlement” on page 105 are especially helpful.  

. Ukraine: A Historical Atlas. University of Toronto Ukrainian Studies; no. 1. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985. (FHL Q book 947.71 E7m; computer number 409943). Detailed maps, including “Minority populations in 19th century Ukraine” on page 18 showing German settlements. Maps often show areas beyond the Ukraine including most of the areas where Germans settled in Russia.  

Other sources about boundary changes are found in the Family History Library Catalog under:  

[[Category:Germans_from_Russia]]