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The colony of Norka (Russian = Норка) was documented on several maps beginning in the 1760s. The village is known as Nekrasovo today.
Current map of Norka (now Nekrasovo, Saratovskaya oblast, Russia) from Google Maps.
Current map of Norka (now Nekrasovo, Saratovskaya oblast, Russia) from the Russian Yandex Maps. This maps shows current street and geographic names.
A searchable Google Map showing all of the Volga German colonies.
A searchable Google Map showing German Settlements by the year founded.
Map of the Volga River drawn in 1662 showing frontier town of Saratov and the surround region. This map represents the Volga German settlement area approximately 100 years before the colonists arrived.
Map showing the area around the frontier town of Saratov in 1745, prior to the settlement of the Volga Germans beginning in 1764. No settlements are shown in the area where Norka was established in August 1767. Source: "Delineatio Fluvii Volgae a Samara usque ad Tsaricin" from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.
"Volga River from Samara to Tsaritsyn. Map of 1745." Source: http://www.etomesto.ru/map-saratov_1745/
A map published in 1765 titled "A most accurate map of those parts of the Astracan government upon the river Wolga where in the new colonies are settled, taken from original drawings & observations made in a late survey of those countries". Source: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53039154g
The map produced by Johann Reis titled "Deutsche Kolonie im Wolgagebiet 1768." Lithographie im Russichen Militaerhistorischen Archiv, Moskau. This map can be purchased from AHSGR (Map #62).
A map of the colony of Norka from the book "Einwanderung in das Wolgagebeit 1764-1767, Band 3" by Igor Pleve. The image is part of a larger lithograph from the Russian Military History Archive in Moscow and is dated 1768. See the full map above.
Overlay of a 1767 map of Norka on a 2012 Google Earth satellite image of Norka.
1773 map of the Volga German colonies from the expedition of Peter Simon Pallas, a German botanist and zoologist. From the book titled "Reise durch vershiedene Provinzen des Russichen Reichs; 3 Theil, 2 Buch." The colony of Norka is circled and shaded in gray.
Early map of the Volga German settlements. The colony of Norka (K. Norka) is shown center left. This map appears to be a version of the Pallas map from 1773 shown above.
Hand drawn map of the Volga German colonies.
Saratov Province in 1792 from the website: http://genze.webstolica.ru/mesta-zhitelstva-genze/povolzhe/saratovskaja-gubernija
Map of Southern Russia in 1812. Norka is located in the area near the second "A" in SARATOV. The Volga German colonies were on the eastern frontier of Russia at this time.
Map of Saratov Province 1823
Map titled "Karte des europäischen Russlands" dated 7 March 1855. Used with permission of the Basel Mission Archives Reference (BMA ATL-31.011.0010). The map shows the various Lutheran consistories, including Saratov and Moscow.
Map of the Saratov (German = Saratow) region by Adolf Steiler in 1882. The pink area shows the German settlement area at this time. Norka is shown as one of the larger settlements in the region.
Map of the Saratov region from "Саратовский календарь на 1889" (Saratov Calendar 1889 - page 83). The colony of Norka (Hopka) is shown southwest of Saratov.
A map depicting the "Races of the Lower Volga". This map is apparently from a book titled "Russia in Europe" and was published around 1890. Source: Steve Schreiber.
From "Deutsche Colonial-Atlas." Map titled "Deutsche Colonization im Osten. II. Aug Slavischem Boden". (German colonization in the Slavic east) - 1897. From the David Rumsey Map Collection. The colony of Norka is shown near Saratov (Saratov), Russia.
1878 map titled "Ethnographic map of Russia (southern sheet)". Used with permission of the Basel Archive Ref. number: BKARVAR-31.011. German settlements are shown in red. The Volga settlements are located in the upper right quadrant and Norka is shown. Click map for a larger image.
A French map from 1882 showing the German colonies in Russia. Source unknown.
Ethnic Map of the Volga Region (1901). German settlements are shown in blue. Source: Russia : Full Geographical Description of Our Country (St. Petersburg: A.F. DeVries, 1901): n.6.
A detailed map of Norka (#49) drawn from the memory of Conrad Brill at age 90 which represents his recollection of the village up to October 1921. The map is available for purchase from the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR).
1934 Soviet map of the Autonomous Volga German Republic. This section of the map shows Norka (Hopka) and the surrounding villages of Neu-Messer, Neu-Dönhof, Huck and Dönhof. Click to view a larger image.
Section of 1934 contour map (see above) depicting Norka and the surrounding area including the street layout, church location and other geographic features.
Map from the Russian encyclopedia titled, "Historic and Geographic Dictionary of the Saratov District," compiled by A. N. Minkh, a member of the Saratov Scientific Archive Commission, and published in Saratov in 1898. Norka (Russian = Hopka) is circled.
Map of Saratov Province from the Soviet era.
Map of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans in 1935. Norka is circled in red. A proposed railroad is shown on this map running from Saratov to Millerovo. Due to the outbreak of WWII the rail line was not completed.
This 1936 map of Norka (Russian spelling = Hopka) was obtained by Alexander Schreiber of Moscow, Russia. According to native Norkan, Konrad Urbach, until the late 1930's there were no street names in Norka. All streets were numbered (such as street number 6, street number 7 and so on). On the plan above, the street numbers are visible as well as the number of houses on each (for example: N7=201). This map also shows the street names given in the Soviet era. Please note that North is at the bottom of this map, not the top.
Map of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans in 1938.
Map of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans from 1935 to 1941. Source unknown. Norka is circled by a black line.
Map of the Volga German ASSR in 1941
Map of the territory of the former Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans after its liquidation in September 1941. The republic was split between the Saratov and Stalingradskoy (now Volgograd) Provinces.
Deportation route traveled in 1941 from Saratov to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Most of those deported from Norka traveled on the southern route.
The route traveled to Kazakhstan and Siberia during the deportation of ethnic Germans from Norka in 1941.
Map showing German settlements in Europe. The Volga Germans were located the furthest to the east in the area around the cities of Saratov and Engels.
Map of the Volga German Mother Colonies by Dr. Karl Stumpp. With the exception of Balzer, Norka is the largest colony shown on this map.
Russian road map circa 2003 showing Norka (now Nekrasovo) circled in red. The city of Saratov (Capatob) is shown to the northeast and is highlighted in yellow.
1993 map of ethnic groups in Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. German settlements are shown in blue. The area where many people from Norka were deported is circled in red.
Map of Lomonosov (formerly Oranienbaum) showing the Grand Palace of Catherine II (section A-1). The canal which led from the Baltic Sea to the palace can be clearly seen although it no longer is open to the sea. The Volga German colonists arrived on the mainland through this canal after their initial landing at the island fortress of Kronstadt. Courtesy of Steve Schreiber (2006).
Last updated November 21, 2023