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History > Immigration > Germany

Immigration to Germany

The first immigration to Germany came at the end of the First World War, as the German ethnic minority became a target of Russian animosity. On March 3, 1918 the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty with Germany was signed. On the basis of articles 21 and 22 of the Treaty the Russian Germans could return to their home country within 10 years. Emigration took place in March and November of 1918. Many of the emigrants were well-off and they feared for their future with the Bolsheviks. Emigration in greater numbers did not occur because of opposition from the Soviet authorities.

One of the most notable emigrants during this time was Johannes Schleuning (born in Neu-Norka), a pastor and a leading advocate of civil rights. In April 1919, Schleuning founded the Verein der Wolgadeutschen (Association of Volga-Germans) in Berlin and became its chairman. 

By the early 1920s, emigration from Russia had become nearly impossible under the Soviet regime. Only those who survived the famines, war, deportation, and repressions would have an opportunity to leave Russia decades later. Members of the Brill, Spadi (Spady) and Weidenkeller families from Norka arrived at the displaced persons camp at Frankfurt on the Oder in September 1922 along with others from Norka.

With the Russian government's refusal to reinstate the Autonomous Volga German Republic in the late 1980s, many felt it was time to leave Russia and return to their ancestral homeland. A second wave of mass migration to Germany began in 1987.

With growing West German support and pressure (including financial incentives offered to Moscow) approximately two million Russian Germans from the former Soviet Union have immigrated to Germany from 1987 to the present. Their relocation is understandable in the light of their twentieth-century experience under Russian authorities and the promise of a better life in the land of their ancestors.

Sources

Fröschle, Harmut, "Deutsche Pioniere in aller Welt." AULA, Dec. 2002. p. 33. The article was provided and translated by Prof. Dr. med. Wolf-Dieter Schleuning.

Koch, Fred C. The Volga Germans: In Russia and the Americas, from 1763 to the Present. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1977. Print.
Last updated August 17, 2016.
Copyright © 2002-2023 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
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    • Reviews
    • Contact
  • People
    • Founders
    • Personal Histories
    • Notable Norkans
    • Stories
    • Photo Identification
    • Photo Gallery
  • Community
    • Village Life
    • Entertainment
    • Agriculture
    • Climate
    • 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