Bergtal, Kyrgyzstan

During our expedition across Kyrgyzstan, we stumbled upon a truly unexpected place — a village inhabited almost entirely by ethnic Germans. Just a short drive from Bishkek lies Rotfront, a small rural settlement that was once known as Bergtal.

This quiet community has a remarkable story. More than 100 years ago, German Anabaptists (Mennonites) fled religious persecution in Europe and made their way to Central Asia, eventually establishing Bergtal in what is now Kyrgyzstan. Despite being thousands of kilometers from their homeland, they managed to preserve much of their language, traditions, and culture through generations.

As we arrived in Rotfront, we suddenly noticed people who clearly didn’t look Central Asian, light-haired, European features, speaking fluent German. Curious, we started chatting with a few locals on the street and eventually found our way to a small museum dedicated to the history of the German settlers in Rotfront. The visit offered a fascinating glimpse into a lesser-known chapter of Central Asian history, one where cultures, faith, and migration intertwined in an unexpected corner of Kyrgyzstan.

Join us on this journey to witness the last Germans of Kyrgyzstan. 

 

— From the description of the episode “Exile Germans Of Central Asia” on the “Little Chinese Everywhere” YouTube channel.

I watch a few travel vlogs on YouTube. When this episode showed up, I thought it was so good, I just had to share it. Yan (Chinese) and Flo (German) are on a motorbike trip across the Silk Road and stumbled upon a former Mennonite colony in Kyrgyzstan: Bergtal or Rot-Front. There they are treated to a tour of the local museum by fourth generation resident and descendant of German Mennonites, Eugen Giesbrecht. He explains the history of Mennonites, who they are, what they believe, and their migration through Russia to Central Asia. He even talks about the Great Mennonite Trek, although he did not use that term when describing it. The video is in English and German with subtitles in English (for the German) and Chinese (for everything, I guess), with a little bit of Russian thrown in there (strangely enough, not translated at all). 

Here is a bit more about the village. 

Bergtal, Semirechensk Oblast, Russian Turkestan was founded in the very late 1800s or possibly even the early 1900s, mainly by German Mennonites, some of whom had migrated to Central Asia during the Great Mennonite Trek in the 1880s. According to the GRanDMA OnLine the Prussian/Russian Mennonite Genealogy database, the first birth recorded thus far was in 1909. The Russian language Wikipedia article states that the first settlers were Hermann Janzen, Dietrich Hamm, and the Suckau, Martens, Koop, and Thielmann families.

The village was renamed Rot-Front in 1927.

Other surnames associated with Bergtal/Rot-Front were the following, all taken from GRanDMA: Balzer, Bergen, Derksen, Deuck, Driediger, Dyck, Enns, Epp, Esau, Fast, Froese, Gerzen, Giesbrecht, Hamm, Hertel, Janzen, Kammerer, Kehler, Keller, Ketler, Kliever, Koop, Kroeker, Loewen, Mantler, Neumann, Penner, Peters, Quiring, Reger, Reimer, Rempel, Rogalski, Sawatzky, Schmidt, Siemens, Suckau, Thielmann, Voght, Wall, Warkentin, and Wedel.

Places connected to those who live/lived here (birth or marriage) include the following as they are recorded in GRanDMA: 

Prussia (mostly from Meyers Gazetteer Online):
Koczelitzke, Gross Werder, Prussia
Marienburg, Gross Werder, Prussia
Montauerweide, Stuhm, Prussia
Schoensee, Gross Werder, Prussia
Zwanzigerweide, Stuhm, Prussia

European Russia: 
Grossliebental, Ukraine
Kamenka, Orenburg, Russia
Kantserovka, Orenburg, Russia
Koeppental, Am Trakt, Russia
Lindenau, Molotschna, South Russia
Martynovka, Volhynia
Medemtal, Am Trakt, Russia
Neu Schoensee, Sagradovka, South Russia
Neubergthal, Nepluyevka, South Russia
Neuhorst, Chortitza, South Russia
Orenburg Colony, Russia
Osterwick (Neu-Osterwick), Chortitza, South Russia
Petrovka, Orenburg, Russia
Pleshanovo, Neu Samara, Russia
Romanovka, Orenburg, Russia
Rotstern, Orenburg, Russia
Sagradovka Colony, South Russia
Schoenau, Sagradovka, South Russia
Schoeneberg, Chortitza, South Russia
Stepanovka, Orenburg, Russia
Susanovo, Orenburg, Russia (to be added to map)
Waldheim, Molotschna, South Russia
Zhitomir, Volhynia (to be added to map)

Asiatic Russia: 
Gnadenthal, Aulie Ata, Turkestan
Gruenfeld, Kyrgyzstan
Korneyevka, Omsk, Russia
Mirnau, Altajski Kray, Russia (to be added to map)
Nakhodka, Primorskiy Kray, Russia (to be added to map)
Nikolaipol, Aulie Ata, Turkestan
Saran, Qaraghandy, Kazakhstan (to be added to map)
Schoenthal, Barnaul, Asiatic Russia
Slavgorod, Altayskiy Kray, Russia

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No Kings

Okay, look. It’s true that Germans from Russia haven’t been in the United States since 1776 and weren’t here for the American Revolution.

Over 150 years ago when our ancestors arrived in the U.S., they became a part of the immigrant population that helped make the country what it is. They became citizens first by choice and subsequent generations by birth. They have been a part of U.S. history for more than half of the country’s existence.

In the declarations of intent to become U.S. citizens, our ancestors signed and swore to support the Constitution and “renounced all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince [a monarch of a small state], potentate [a monarch or ruler, especially an autocrat, one who has absolute power], state, or sovereignty [a supreme power or authority]” of which they were at the time a citizen or subject. Many included “particularly to the Czar of Russia” or “Nicolas II, Emperor of all the Russias.”

A favorite ask in genealogy circles is this: “What question would you like to ask your ancestors if you could?” My question to my ancestors who were the subjects of the the German principalities of the Holy Roman Empire; the kingdoms of France, Prussia and Hungary; and the emperor of Russia is this: “How did you know when it was time to leave?”

After the freedoms the German colonists had in the Russian Empire were revoked, they had two choices that would determine the fates of their families: stay or leave. They had no vote that would affect anything outside of their villages and volosts. Their voices did not matter.

But today, yours does, thanks entirely to the choices your ancestors made.

We’re all proud of our Russian German ancestors and grateful for the chances they took when they did. Now it’s time to make them proud of us and decide the fates of our families. Don’t let them down.

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Summary: Geography of German Settlement in the Russian Empire

This series of posts is from a presentation entitled “German Geography of the Russian Empire 1721-1914” that I gave in the summer of 2025 at the conferences of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) and the Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS). At a high level, it explores the territorial growth of Imperial Russia and shows its significance to German settlement and migration across the empire in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Geography of German Settlement in the Russian Empire

VIII. Summary

Here is the full illustration map of known German settlement within the areas of Russian territorial growth between 1700 and 1917. All along the edges of the empire, there were Germans. (Live map here.)

My father always said never hesitate to go where there is opportunity. Imagine how many other fathers represented above said the same thing.

Originally, I had wanted to present this all as a single timeline, but Russia tested many of its borders at once. As you can see below, it would have meant jumping all over the map. 

Year	Event Leading to Territorial Growth	Impacted Region(s)
1700	Great Northern War (1700–1721)	Baltics & Finland
1703	St. Petersburg founded	Baltics & Finland
1712	St. Petersburg capital city of Russia	Baltics & Finland
1721	August: Treaty of Nystad  October: Russia declared an empire	Baltics & Finland
1732	Russian America (1732-1867)	Russian Far East
1740	Kamchatka annexed	Russian Far East
1741	Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)	Baltics & Finland
1743	Treaty of Åbo	Baltics & Finland
1763	Russo-Circassian War (1763-1864)	Caucasus Region
1768	Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774)	Black Sea Region
		Caucasus Region
1772	First Partition of Poland	Eastern Europe
1774	Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca	Black Sea Region
		Caucasus Region
1783	Crimea annexed by ukase	Black Sea Region
1784	Treaty of Georgievsk	Caucasus Region
1787	Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792)	Black Sea Region
1792	Polish-Russian War	Eastern Europe
1792	Treaty of Jassy	Black Sea Region
1793	Second Partition of Poland	Eastern Europe
1794	Kościuszko Uprising	Eastern Europe
1794	City of Odessa founded	Black Sea Region
1795	Third Partition of Poland	Eastern Europe
1800	Russia declared possession of Georgia	Caucasus Region
1803	Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815)	Baltics & Finland
		Eastern Europe
		Black Sea Region
1804	1st Russo-Persian War (1804-1813)	Caucasus Region
1806	War of the 4th Coalition (1806–1807)	Baltics & Finland
1806	Russo-Turkish War (1806-1812)	Black Sea Region
1807	Treaty of Tilsit	Baltics & Finland
1807	Grand Duchy of Warsaw	Eastern Europe
1808	Finnish War (1808–1809)	Baltics & Finland
1809	Treaty of Fredrikshamn	Baltics & Finland
1812	Treaty of Bucharest	Black Sea Region
1813	Treaty of Gulistan	Caucasus Region
1815	Treaty of Vienna	Baltics & Finland
		Eastern Europe
1817	Caucasian War (1817-1864)	Caucasus Region
1826	2nd Russo-Persian War (1826-1828)	Caucasus Region
1828	Treaty of Turkmenchay	Caucasus Region
1828	Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829)	Caucasus Region
1829	Treaty of Adrianople	Caucasus Region
1830	November Uprising	Eastern Europe
1847	Fort Raim constructed	Central Asia & Western Siberia
1850	Founding of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur	Russian Far East
1853	Siege of Ak-Mechet	Central Asia & Western Siberia
1856	Second Opium War (1856-1860)	Russian Far East
1858	Treaty of Aigun	Russian Far East
1860	Convention of Peking	Russian Far East
1860	Amur region annexed	Russian Far East
1864	Siege of Chimkent	Central Asia & Western Siberia
1865	Siege of Tashkent	Central Asia & Western Siberia
1868	Siege of Samarkand	Central Asia & Western Siberia
1873	Khiva captured	Central Asia & Western Siberia
1875	Treaty of St. Petersburg	Russian Far East
1876	Annexation of Kokand	Central Asia & Western Siberia
1877	Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878)	Caucasus Region
1878	Treaty of San Stefano	Caucasus Region
1884	Merv captured	Central Asia & Western Siberia
1905	Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)	Russian Far East

As interesting as that timeline is, breaking it up into regions made more sense to me even if there was some overlap. If you saw me present this, note that each post in this series is a little longer with more details and narration. There are only so many words I can say at a reasonable pace of 120 words per minute. This only means that I chose too large a topic for the time allotted. But I felt that without seeing the big picture, you miss the pattern of German settlement. It clearly parallels territorial growth in the Russian Empire and is not always presented as such in maps where only clusters of German settlement are shown with no context of why there and not somewhere else.

I hope found this series and all the maps that illustrate it useful in your understanding of the geography of German settlement in the Russian Empire.

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Related Posts and Sources:

1. Geography of German Settlement in the Russian Empire 
   I. Introduction (posted 20 September 2025)
   II. The Baltics & Finland (posted 21 September 2025)
   III. Eastern Europe (posted 22 September 2025)
   IV. The Black Sea Region (posted 23 September 2025)
   V. The Caucasus Region (posted 24 September 2025)
   VI. Central Asia and Western Siberia (posted 25 September 2025)
   VII. Russian Far East (posted 26 September 2025)
   VIII. Summary (posted 27 September 2025)
2. Images from the series Geography of German Settlement in the Russian Empire

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Last updated 27 September 2025