This is a complete list of maps with their descriptions that are maintained by and associated with this site. Please note that everything below the double line may not have been updated recently and is pending incorporation into a new atlas due for release in late 2023. All of the information in the maps below the double lines is included in the map links under the German Settlements in the Imperial Russian Empire by Province/Region.
A new map tutorial is now available (July 2023).
Last updated 29 December 2023.
* map updated in December 2023
Germans from Russia Settlement Locations Map
Germans from Russia Settlement Locations Map*
This map contains the locations of German settlements in the Imperial Russian Empire and its subsequent Soviet states, and the locations of deportation/exile/resettlement during and after WWII. It spans from about 1700 through mid-1950s and is inclusive of all ethnic Germans who uprooted from their Germanic homelands and heeded the call to colonize the Russian Empire. The former empire spans the modern-day, independent countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
German Settlements in the Imperial Russian Empire by Province/Region (2023)
Those without links do not have seperate maps as of yet, but the colonies are included in the larger area and province maps.
Provinces
German Enclaves
German Mennonite Colonies
Provinces
German Enclaves
German Mennonite Colonies
Chortitza Colony, Molotschna Colony, Markuslandt Colony, Memrick Colony, Nepluyevka Colony, Neu Rosengart, Schlachtin Colony, Schönfeld Colony, Tcheroglas Colony, Yazykovo Colony, Zagradovka Colony
Special Regional Map
Provinces
German Enclaves
Provinces
Provinces
German Mennonite Colonies
Kuban Colony, Olgino Colony, Tempelhof Colony, Tersk Colony, Suvorovka Colony
Provinces
German Mennonite Colonies
Barnaul Colony, Pavlodar Colony, Savitaya Colony, Shumanovka Colony, Usman Colony
Provinces
German Mennonite Colonies
Aulie-Alta Colony, Turkestan Colony
Below these lines, potentially outdated maps. ________________________________________________
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Maps of German Settlement in Imperial Russia by Province and Enclave
Asiatic Russia The colonies east of the Ural mountain range in the historic West and North Siberia and Turkestan (Central Asia) today span modern-day Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Colonies in these areas were re-settlements by Germans who already lived in Russia, most of which came from the Volga and Black Sea areas, but there were some from Volhynia also. Note that the colonies on this map of Siberia are of voluntary resettlement of Germans in Russia, although there are a few deportation locations being added as they become available.
Black Sea Region The earliest Black Sea colonies were established between 1787 and 1793. When Catherine the Great's grandson, Tsar Alexander I, issued a new manifesto in 1804 inviting Germans to colonize the newest acquisition of Russia around the Black Sea, many Germans took the Crown of Russia up on its offer. The Black Sea colonies are made up of several colony groups from areas around the Black Sea.
Central Asian Colonies Beginning in 1881, Germans from the Volga and Black Sea resettled in new colonies and in some Russian cities in the Transcaspian and Syr-Darya obasts of Russia. German settlement in Russian Turkestan abruptly stopped in 1903, while other areas in Central Asia and Siberia continued to be settled by Germans from Russia.
Dobrudscha Colonies The historical area known as Dobruja, which is now Romania and Bulgaria, was an area to which Germans migrated rather than immigrated. In other words, they had already left Germany behind a generation or two prior. They came from South Russia, from the areas of Bessarabia, Kherson, Jekaterinoslav and Taurida, and also from Russian Poland, Volhynia, Galizien, Bukovina and Hungary.
Don Cossacks The German colonies established in the Don region were all daughter and chutor colonies whose founders came from the Mariupol, Hoffnungstal and Molotschna colonies. The name of the area has changed over time, beginning with the Province of the Don Cossack Host (Russian: Область Войска Донского, Oblast’ Voyska Donskogo). At the time Germans started settling into the area in 1870, it was called the Don Host Province.
Saint Petersburg Colonies The Russian government founded three German colonies near the capital of Saint Petersburg, just southeast of the city. Many early German immigrants (1764-1767) who would go on to the Volga, first came through Saint Petersburg. The 13 Mother colonies grew quickly, and by the 1830s, they were founding daughter colonies, including those in the area of Nowgorod. Russian cities in the area also integrated 2,068 German colonists.
Vistula Colonies of Central Poland Beginning in 1600, Germans colonists settled along the Vistula River in central Poland, then known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Later the area went through the Partitions of Poland, in which Austria, Prussia and Russia through a period of years divided up Poland until the country itself no longer existed. Following the Napoleonic Wars, in 1815, the area was again divided with much of this area going to Russia. It became known Congress Poland. It would later officially become a part of Russia. These colonies were mapped and published by historian and ethnographer Albert Breyer in 1935.
Volga Region The German immigrants that came to the Volga region were among first colonists to take up Catherine the Great on her manifesto. They came from Hesse, the Rhineland, the Palatinate and Württemberg. They are also among the most well researched and documented group. Within the Volga Region are the Am Trakt colonies near the Tarlyka River (settled 1854-1875), the Samara colonies to the northeast (settled 1859-1879), and the Astrakhan colonies along the delta of the Volga River.
Volhynia Region Volhynia is a historical area in northwest Ukraine bordering Poland and Belarus. German immigrants to Volhynia came not at the invitation of the Russian crown but rather by the invitation of wealthy landowners. Because of this, they received no settlement help and did not have same privileges or regulations that other German immigrants had in the Volga and Black Sea areas. Settlements began between the first and second partitions of Poland with the earliest recorded in 1783 with the heaviest migrations into the area in 1831 with a second wave beginning in 1863.
Maps of Enclaves/Colony Groups
Different sources use different names for enclaves or groups of colonies that refer to a distinct area of settlement that is different ethnically and culturally from its surroundings. Comparing multiple authoritative sources, the following group names (among others to come) are used to reflect the names that researchers and genealogists might encounter. The idea that they are both descriptive and yet still granular.
Am Trakt Colonies The Am Trakt colonies were founded between 1854 and 1875 by Prussian Mennonites who became subject to military conscription in 1847. Permission was granted by the Russian government for 100 families to settle. Although situated within the Volga German colonies, these colonies were closed, and there was little interaction between the Am Trakt colonists and the Volga German colonists. In 1880, a split in the church prompted the entire colony of Hahnsau to immigrate to Central Asia and found colonies there. This became known as the Great Mennonite Trek.
Astrakhan Colonies The German immigrants who settled in the lower and delta Volga areas were some of the first to arrive in Russia. They are often forgotten in the pages of Germans from Russia history.
Batschka Colonies Batschka (Bačka) is one of the Donauschwaben colony groups. It is both a geographic and historical region in the Pannonian basin of central Europe situated between the Danube River to the west and south and the Tisza River to the east. Historically in the counties of Bács-Bodrog and Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun of Hungary, today it is split between the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia and Bács-Kiskun county in Hungary. The Germans, known as Donauschwaben or Danube Swabians, who were recruited by the Habsburg Monarchy (1526-1804) to colonize the Batschka occurred primary during the Josephinische Ansiedlung (1782-1787) wave of settlement, although some had come during the the Maria Theresianische Ansiedlung (1744-1772) period.
Belowesch Colonies The six Mother colonies of the Belowesch district near Kiev were founded in 1766 by 147 families from Upper Hesse. These were among the earliest German colonies founded in Russia. Included among the first colonists were craftsmen, including shoemakers, tailors, locksmiths, carpenters, masons, saddlers, cloth weavers, millers and bakers. The colonies were located on good, fertile land, but their downside was that they were isolated from other German colonies and commerce. Daughter colonies would begin to be established in 1802 in the same area, and more would form in 1830s in Maruipol, North Caucasus, Crimea, Orenburg (Ural) and possibly in Volga.
Beresan Colonies The Beresan river valley was where 600 German immigrant families settled between 1809-1810. The 12 Mother colonies were settled between 1809 and 1819.
Bessarabian Colonies German immigrants who settled in Bessarabia were colonists who had initially immigrated to central Poland between 1796 and 1806. The Napoleonic Wars made life very difficult for the German settlements because they were in the path of the Napoleon's invasion of Russia. When the Russian invitation came to re-settle in Bessarabia, more than 1,500 families made the move between 1814-1815. The 25 Mother colonies were founded between 1814 and 1842.
Bukovina Colonies (Austria) Bukovina is a historical geographic area in east central Europe located on the northern slopes of the Carpathian mountains and the adjoining plains, currently straddling Romania and Ukraine. Formerly a part of Moldavia, in 1775, it became a part of the Austrian Empire. Germans settled colonies and also joined many villages that already existed, some of which became more German in character. The earliest colony settled was in 1777 and the last in 1913.
Caucasus Colonies The Caucasus colonies were first established in the south, what is now Georgia and Azerbaijan, by German Pietists. There were 8 Mother colonies established between 1817-1820. Daughter colonies began being established 1842 in both the South and North Caucasus regions. Daughter colonies continued to be crop up as late as 1924.
Central Asian Colonies The first German colonies in Asiatic Russia were founded in 1882 in Russian Turkestan, settled by religious dissidents from Molotscha and Volga Mennonites. The settlements were widely scattered few, with no new colonies established after 1903.
Chortitza Colonies The first Mennonite colonies in the Black Sea region, the Chortitza colonies, were established in 1789 on the Dnieper River. Mennonite leaders responded to recruiters and negotiated a special agreement with the Russian government. Their numbers grew rapidly, and by 1848, there were 7,217 families. The 18 Mother colonies were all founded between 1789-1824.
Crimean Colonies German immigrants who arrived in the Odessa area in the fall of 1803 had considerable experience with wine making. The Russian authorities settled them in Crimea where the climate and conditions were favorable for the production of wine. The wine they produced was some of the best in Russia. The Mother colonies were founded between 1804 and 1810.
Dobrudscha Colonies The historical area known as Dobruja, which is now Romania and Bulgaria, was an area to which Germans migrated rather than immigrated. In other words, they had already left Germany behind a generation or two prior. They came from South Russia, from the areas of Bessarabia, Kherson, Jekaterinoslav and Taurida, and also from Russian Poland, Volhynia, Galizien, Bukovina and Hungary.
Don Cossacks The German colonies established in the Don region were all daughter and chutor colonies whose founders came from the Mariupol, Hoffnungstal and Molotschna colonies. The name of the area has changed over time, beginning with the Province of the Don Cossack Host (Russian: Область Войска Донского, Oblast’ Voyska Donskogo). At the time Germans started settling into the area in 1870, it was called the Don Host Province.
Galizien Colonies (Austria) Galizien (Galicia) is a historical geographic area in east central Europe which now straddles southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. It was formed as a result of the first partition of Poland in 1772 when it became a part of the Austrian Empire. Within the first 30 years, at least 100 ethnic German colonies had been established in the area.
Glückstal Colonies The Glückstal Colonies original settlement was in the town of Grigoripol in 1804-1805. Because of frictions with the Armenians in the area, the government re-settled the Germans in the village of Glinoi (renamed Glückstal) trading places with the Moldavians. The re-settlement occurred in the spring of 1809. Another 293 families arrived in the summer of 1809 and founded three other Mother colonies. The four Mother colonies were founded between 1809-1810.
Hoffnungstal Colonies Württemberg Separatists founded the colony of Hoffnugstal in the winter of 1817. They intended to go to the South Caucasus but were asked to found a colony in the Odessa area. It remained an isolated colony for several years in both geographic location as well as separate from other German Protestants. The five Mother colonies were founded between 1818 and 1831.
Jewish Agricultural Colonies There were many Jewish settlements in southern Ukraine, including in the Kherson and Yekaterinoslav governorates, among others. Karl Stumpp included these colonies on his maps because they were co-settled with German Mennonite families that served as model farmers to the Jewish farmers. Mennonite farmers, in particular Johann Cornies of the Molotschna colonies, were very methodical and successful farmers, introducing dryland farming, the use of fertilizer and crop rotation, among other farming practices still in use today.
Kherson Colonies This map consists of German colonies in the Kherson Governorate that are not otherwise a part of a well known colony group, such as Beresan, Glückstal, Hoffnungstal, Liebental and Kutschurgan colony groups.
Kronau Colonies The Kronau colonies were located to the east of the Ingulez River, across from the Zagradovka colonies. These were daughter colonies of Molotschna residents with a mix of Catholic and Protestant confessions.
Kutschurgan Colonies Beginning in 1808, the Kutschurgan colonies were founded along the Kutschurgan river, a tributary of the Dniester, primarily by Catholic families from Alsace, Baden, Palatinate and Württemberg. By 1820, the six Mother colonies combined had grown to a population of 2,243. By 1859 the area had grown to 7,272, after which Daughter colonies began to be established. These were often established by Kutschurgan sons, but sometimes Catholics from the Liebental or Beresan areas with join in the establishing of new Daughter colonies. The Mother colonies were all founded between 1808-1809.
Liebental Colonies The Liebental group of colonists were recruited from southwest Germany. Most went to Odessa while they waited for land to be assigned to them southwest of the city. Forty families in Lustdorf were artisans and were given half the land as other colonists because they were expected to practice their trades. Daughter colonies would become important to this group due to a large class of landless families that would develop. The 10 Mother colonies were all founded between 1804-1806.
Mariupol Colonies The Mariupol colonies are located on the north shore of the Sea of Azov next to the Chortitza, Molotschna and Don areas and across the sea from the Caucasus. Twenty-two Mother colonies were founded between 1823 and 1842, followed by daughter colonies and many chutors up until 1926, the last known founding date. Most colonists were from West Prussia and Danzig and spent several years in Molotschna before the tract of land near Mariupol became available to them.
Molotschna Colonies A large tract of land east of the Molotschna River was assigned to create additional Mennonite colonies that the Chortitza area could not accommodate. By the 1860s, the population had grown to 4,000 families, many of whom were landless. Daughter colonies arose and were scattered across the Black Sea region. The 43 Mother colonies were all founded between 1804-1836.
Poltava Colonies German farmers began arriving in the Russian province of Poltava (Poltawa) in the mid-1700s. It would be another 50 years before larger numbers arrived. In 1808, at the invitation of Tsar Alexander II, Germans with experience in weaving, knitting and brick making were invited to settle the cities of Poltava, Kremenchug and Kostyantynohrad. They would make significant contributions toward the construction and textile industries in the province until the Industrial Revolution came to Russia in the 1880s.
Prischib Colonies The Prischib colonies were founded beginning in 1804 in response to an influx of new German immigrants. The tract of land was west of the Molotschana river, opposite a newly founded Mennonite settlement. The 23 Mother colonies were founded between 1805-1825.
Saint Petersburg/Nowgorod Colonies The Russian government founded three German colonies near the capital of Saint Petersburg, just southeast of the city. Many early German immigrants (1764-1767) who would go on to the Volga, first came through Saint Petersburg. The 13 Mother colonies grew quickly, and by the 1830s, they were founding daughter colonies, including those in the area of Nowgorod. Russian cities in the area also integrated 2,068 German colonists.
Samara Colonies Northeast of the original Volga colonies and just north of the city of Samara in the newly created Samara Province (1851-1928), a number of colonies were settled between 1859 and 1870 by Mennonites from West Prussia and Protestants from Poland and Silesia. The original 10 Mennonite colonies were called the Alexandertal Colony.
Siberian Colonies Between 1890 and 1914, substantial numbers of Germans who already lived in Russia from the Volga and Black Sea areas re-settled into new colonies in Siberia. Because of this, all of the colonies in what was then considered Siberia were daughter colonies. By 1914, the German population had rose to 100,000. Note that the colonies on this map of Siberia are of voluntary resettlement of Germans in Russia. They do not include the deportation locations of the 1940s.
Schwedengebiet Colonies The Schwedengebiet was a tract of land above the Dnieper River east of Berislav, originally given to 200 Swedish families freed from serfdom. Their journey to the area was disastrous. Two-thirds of those died or deserted before arriving. Of the 70 families who arrived, more than half died in the first two years. Since the Swedes were not occupying all of the land available, the Russian government gave the rest to German immigrants, who also failed at their first attempt to settle this area in 1786. The second attempt between 1804-1805 was a bit more successful.
Taurien Colonies This map consists of German colonies in the Taurida Governorate that are not otherwise a part of a well known colony group, such as Molotchna, Prichib, Crimea and parts of the Chortitza colony groups. Taurida included the Crimean peninsula as well as the mainland between the lower Dnieper River and the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Ural (Cis-Ural) The Ural colonies are located east and northeast of the original Volga colonies and west of the Ural Mountains. The colonies settled there were all daughter colonies founded between 1890 and 1912. They include the Neu-Samara Mennonite colonies, the Orenburg Mennonite and Protestant colonies, the Ufa colonies (Catholic, Mennonite, Protestant), the Aktyubinsk colonies founded on privately bought land by Black Sea and Volga colonists.
Vistula Colonies Beginning in 1600, Germans colonists settled along the Vistula River in central Poland, then known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Later the area went through the Partitions of Poland, in which Austria, Prussia and Russia through a period of years divided up Poland until the country itself no longer existed. Following the Napoleonic Wars, in 1815, the area was again divided with much of this area going to Russia. It became known Congress Poland. It would later officially become a part of Russia. These colonies were mapped and published by historian and ethnographer Albert Breyer in 1935.
Volga Colonies The German immigrants that came to the Volga region were among first colonists to take up Catherine the Great on her manifesto. They came from Hesse, the Rhineland, the Palatinate and Württemberg. They are also among the most well researched and documented group. The Volga Mother colonies founded between 1764 and 1767 were in the Astrakhan Province (1717-1929). On 25 December 1769, the Saratov Province was created from the Astrakhan Province. After that date, all of the Volga colonies were a part of the Saratov Province (1769-1923).
Volhynia Colonies Volhynia is a historical area in northwest Ukraine bordering Poland and Belarus. German immigrants to Volhynia came not at the invitation of the Russian crown but rather by the invitation of wealthy landowners. Because of this, they received no settlement help and did not have same privileges or regulations that other German immigrants had in the Volga and Black Sea areas. Settlements began between the first and second partitions of Poland with the earliest recorded in 1783 with the heaviest migrations into the area in 1831 with a second wave beginning in 1863.
Yekaterinoslav Colonies These are colonies located in what was historically the Yekaterinoslav Governorate (1802-1925). They are in modern day Dnipropetrovs’ka Oblast surrounding the city of Dnipro (formerly the city of Yekaterinoslav). This map contains scattered colonies that don't readily fit into other colony groups thus far. As with other areas with scattered colonies, they may be moved into more appropriate colony groups in the future as research continues. Most of these are daughter and chutor colonies.
Zagradovka Colonies The Zagradovka colonies were to the west of the Ingulez River on 60,000 acres. The land was purchased by Leo V. Kochubey in 1871 for the purpose of establishing daughter colonies for the Molotschna Mennonites. There were 16 colonies settled between 1872 and 1883. Another colony to the north, Nikolaidorf, considered itself a part of the Zagradovka settlement except administratively. It was sold in 1908 to Russians.
Deportation Locations
Deportation Locations
This map contains known deportation locations of Germans living in Russia in the 1930s and 1940s.
Map of German Settlements by Year Founded
German Settlements by Year Founded
Only about 49% of the German villages in the historical Russian and Austrian empires located so far have verified founding dates/years available. Those that are available are plotted out on this map to show how the groups of settlements grew over time.
Germans Settlement in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary German colonies in the empire of Austria-Hungary (1718-1917) are represented by the historical areas of Bukovina, Galizien and Batschka in the Donauschwaben region. Bukovina is located on the northern slopes of the Carpathian mountains and the adjoining plains, currently straddling Romania and Ukraine. Galizien is straddles southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. Batschka is primarily in Serbia and southern Hungary. While these areas were never a part of the Russian Empire, as a neighboring empire, there was movement of Germans between the two. Many German-Russian families from West, South and Southwest Russia have ties to these areas in Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Germans from Russia Settlement Locations in America
Germans immigrants helped colonize the Imperial Russian Empire beginning with the invitation of Catherine the Great in 1763. After the German colonists' special privileges were revoked in 1872, they began leaving Russia. One of the countries they immigrated to was the United States. It has been nearly 150 years since the first Germans from Russia arrived in United States, and generations upon generations of their descendants still live here. The research behind this project and the resulting map strives to answer one question about these immigrant Germans from Russia and their descendants: Where did everyone go?
Other Map Projects
Below is a list of other map projects related to German settlements in Russia. These are not maintained by this site, but they are interesting and may be of value to your research.
Map of German Settlements in Nikolajew Map of German colonies in area of modern Mykolaiv, Ukraine. This area was home to the Black Sea Germans. The map is organized by religious confession and includes some surnames of Germans who lived there. Map and research by Julia Silber and Viktor Drobny from Ukraine. This map is actively updated.
Map of Mennonite Colonies Map of Mennonite colonies organized by type of colony across all of Russia. It includes villages founded by Mennonites (majority population), other villages Mennonites lived at one point (minority population), chutors (guts) and forestry land. Interestingly, the site states that young Mennonite men chose to live and work in forests as an alternative to doing time in the military, and some of these forests are on this map. Map and research by Andreas Tissen and Viktor Petkau. This map is actively updated.
Map of the Great Mennonite Trek to Central Asia This map is a companion to Walter Ratliff's book Pilgrims on the Silk Road (Wipf & Stock, 2010), and it focuses on the Mennonite Trek to Central Asia in the 1880s by families in South Russia who sold their land and migrated to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Ratliff and a group of colleagues (scholars and descendants) took a trip in 2007 from Bethel College, Kansas and retraced the steps, gathering settlement coordinates along the way. You can also find more about his research on his website.
Eastern Armenia Churches and Their Records
A map of towns in Armenia in the former Russian Empire with churches grouped by denomination and district (uyezd). Each town includes the name of the place as it was in the Russian Empire, the district, the denomination, a link to the church records at FamilySearch and the coordinates for the place. Many also have a link to the entry in the online version of the Spiski Naselennykh Mest Rossiiskoi Imperii (gazetteer of Imperial Russia circa 1880). Map by Camille Andrus. This map is currently being updated.
Maps of the 2019 Volga German Tours
Sergej Koretnikov's maps of the Volga German Tours in 2019 included markers for the locations of former buildings and other landmarks in the colonies that were visited on the tour. Instead of just one pin for Yagodnaya Polyana, there are six – one for each of the following landmarks: the old cemetery, the German school, the new cemetery, the old German school, the old mill and the site of the church. Using the power of the precision of GPS to mark more than just the town is a great way to include historical context to modern maps. There were three tours resulting in three maps: Tour A, Tour B, Tour C.
Germans from Russia Settlements Worldwide This map in progress aims to plot every place that Germans from Russia lived, from their origins in the Germanic states, to the generations who lived in the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union, to their migrations worldwide up to the present day. Although still in progress, you can clearly see how far and wide the descendants of Germans from Russia have migrated since the mid-1700s. Map by Justin Ehresman.
Historic Map of Germans from Russia and Eastern Europe Settlement Locations
A very large collection of locations where Germans lived in both Russia and Eastern Europe. There is a lot going on with this map, and while it's not the easiest to navigate, it's worth spending some time with it. You can browse it if you know where you're going, but ideally, the site's instructions suggest that you search the spreadsheets first, find the colony, then click on the map link to take you directly to it. From the icon on the map, click on other icons to link to more information, view the entry in CompGen's GOV (historical gazetteer), or view the place on historic maps (external sites). There is a lot of good colony information in here. Well worth your time. Map by Otto Riehl, data by Dennis Bender.
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