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.
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.
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.