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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