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History > Report by Peter Simon Pallas 1773

A Report by Peter Simon Pallas - 1773

Peter Simon Pallas was born in Berlin on September 22, 1741. He was the son of Simon Pallas, a Professor of Surgery. He studied with private tutors and took an interest in natural history, later attending the University of Halle and the University of Göttingen. In 1760, he moved to the University of Leiden and received his doctor's degree at the age of 19. Pallas became one of the universally distinguished naturalists of his time.
Peter Simon Pallas
Peter Simon Pallas. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
While employed as a professor for natural history in Berlin, he traveled to St. Petersburg in 1767 at the personal request of Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great). Here he was appointed Assistant of the Russian Academy of Sciences and was commissioned with a five-year exploration (1768-1773) through the central Russian provinces. His reports from this expedition were published in three volumes under the title Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen Des Rußischen Reichs (Travels through various Provinces of the Russian Empire). The reports covered a wide range of topics, including geology and mineralogy, reports on the native peoples and their religions, and descriptions of new plants and animals.

During his expedition through central Russia, Pallas visited the German colonies of Norka and Huck in August 1773. He was clearly impressed with what he saw when he recorded these comments only six years after the founding of Norka:
"These colonies have since their founding produced their own grain not only for food, but for sale. They have procured for themselves all sorts of convenience and have even built their own granaries."
Pallas counted a total of 6,194 German colonist families with 25,781 people (13,441 males and 12,340 females) on his journey through the Volga colonies in 1773. The number of families was less than in 1769, but the population as a whole had grown considerably despite low life expectancy.
Pleased with the work that Pallas had accomplished, Catherine II rewarded him for his services with a property in the Crimea, to which Pallas retired in 1796. Shortly before his death, he returned to Berlin and died there on September 8, 1811. 
1773 Map of the Volga Region
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.

Sources

Pallas, Peter Simon. Reise Aus Sibirien Zurück an Die Wolga Im 1773sten Jahr. Des Dritten Thiels, Zwentes Buch. St. Petersburg: Kaiserl. Academie der Wissenschaften, 1776. 622-25. Print.

Pallas, Peter Simon. Reise Durch Verschiedene Provinzen Des Rußischen Reichs, Dritter Theil, in denen Jahren 1772-1773. Frankfurt und Leipzig: Johann Georg Fleischer, 1778. Print.
Last updated August 6, 2020.
Copyright © 2002-2023 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
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    • Homesites
    • Geographical Description
    • Government
    • Social Structure
    • Health
    • Education
    • A Land of Ethnic Diversity
    • Cottage Industries >
      • Sarpinka
      • Mills
    • Language
    • Population
    • Military Service
    • Crime and Punishment
  • History
    • Timeline
    • Origins of the Colonists
    • Catherine's Manifesto 1763
    • Why go to Russia?
    • Recruitment 1766
    • Planning 1764-1766
    • Marriages Prior To Emigration 1766
    • Voyage to Russia 1766 >
      • Ship Transport 1766
    • Journey 1766-1767
    • Founding of Norka 1767
    • Early Years 1767-1769
    • Norka 1769
    • Pallas Report 1773
    • Pugachev Raid 1774
    • Norka 1775
    • Norka 1798
    • Norka 1811
    • Napoleons Soldiers
    • Norka 1834
    • Daughter Colonies 1850s >
      • Neu-Norka
      • Oberdorf
      • Brunnental
      • Rosenfeld (am Jeruslan)
      • Neu Hussenbach (Gaschon)
    • Privileges Lost 1871-1874
    • Immigration 1875-1924 >
      • To the United States >
        • Colorado
        • Ft Collins Colorado
        • Globeville Colorado
        • Mason City, Iowa
        • Culbertson, Nebraska
        • Lincoln, Nebraska
        • Sutton, Nebraska
        • Burlington, Oklahoma
        • Weatherford, Oklahoma
        • Canby, Oregon
        • Portland, Oregon
      • To Canada >
        • Duffield, Alberta
        • Ponoka, Alberta
        • Spruce Grove, Alberta
        • Stony Plain, Alberta
        • Vegreville, Alberta
        • Arcola, Saskatchewan
      • To Germany
      • To South America
    • Famine 1891-1892
    • Norka 1898
    • War & Turnoil 1904-1906
    • World War 1914-1918
    • Revolution & War 1917-1922
    • Soviet Rule 1918-1941
    • Famine 1921-1924
    • Famine 1932-1933
    • The Great Terror 1936-1938
    • Deportation 1941
    • Repression 1941-1956
    • Cultural Loss 1957-2006
    • A Culture in Peril
    • Recent Times
  • Traditions
    • Food and Drink
    • Clothing
    • Holidays >
      • New Year
      • Fastnacht
      • Lent
      • Easter
      • Ascension Day
      • Pentecost
      • Founder's Day
      • Harvest Festival
      • Jahrmarkt
      • Christmas
      • Anniversaries & Birthdays
    • Crafts
    • Games
    • Folk Medicine
    • Superstitions
    • Nicknames
    • Folk Music
    • Church Music
    • Prayers
    • Baptism
    • Confirmation
    • Communion
    • Weddings
    • Funerals and Burials
  • Religion
    • Planning and History >
      • Norka Reformed Church 1767-1864
      • 1909 Norka Parish Report
    • Pastors >
      • Johann Heinrich Fuchs
      • Johann Georg Herwig
      • Johannes Baptista Cattaneo
      • Lukas Cattaneo
      • Emanuel Grunauer
      • Friedrich Börner
      • Christian Gottlieb Hegele
      • Christoph H Bonwetsch
      • Gottlieb N Bonwetsch
      • Wilhelm Staerkel
      • Woldemar Sibbul
      • David Weigum
      • Friedrich Alexander Wacker
      • Emil Pfeiffer
    • Church Practices >
      • Parochial Certificates
    • Church Buildings
    • Church Organs
    • Bell Tower
    • Brethren Movement
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Research Resources >
      • Arrival Records 1766
      • Descendant Charts
      • German EWZ Records
      • Soviet Gulag Records
    • Maps
    • Glossary
    • Bibliography
    • Periodicals >
      • Die Welt-Post Letters
    • Related Links