Chasselois was founded on 2 August 1766 by colonists who had been recruited by LeRoi and Pictet. It was named after the first mayor (Vorsteher) of the colony, Augustin Chasselois who was from Austria.
According to Christian August Tornow, the colony was called Schafhof during the first couple of years of its existance.
It was raided by the nomadic Kirghiz in 1774 and the colony was destroyed. The surviving colonists were resettled to other colonies, mostly to neighboring Louis, Mariental, and Graf.
Today nothing remains of the former Volga German colony of Chasselois.
The original settlers of Chasselois were of the Roman Catholic faith. There was no known religious structure in the colony before it was destroyed.
- 1767 Census of Chasselois.
- Erbes, Johannes. Deutsche Volkszeitung (23 August 1906).
- Orlov, Gregorii. Report of Conditions of Settlements on the Volga to Catherine II, 14 February 1769.
- Pallas, P.S. Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs. Theil 3,2, Reise aus Sibirien zurueck an die Wolga im 1773sten Jahr (St. Petersburg: Kaiserl. Academie der Wissenschaften, 1776): 612.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999): 249.
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Migrated From
Immigration Locations
Map showing the location of Chasselois.
Source: Carte des colonies Allemandes étables sur le Volga dans le territoire de Saratof (1788) by Pierre François Tardieu.
Volga German colony under attack by Kirghiz tribesmen.