Gnadentau was founded along the banks of the Yeruslan River in 1860 by Bergseite colonists resettling from Franzosen, Galka, Shcherbakovka, Stephan, Müller, Schwab, Dietel, Merkel, and Grimm.
In 1892, a home for the elderly and orphans was established in Gnadentau. It was called the "Bethel House of Mercy."
By 1910, the colony had a Lutheran church, 2 schools - parochial and district, 1 creameries, and 3 windmills.
Following the deportation of the Volga Germans in 1941, the settlement was renamed Verkhnii Yeruslan (Upper Jeruslan).
Gnadentau became a lead parish in 1876. A brick church building was constructed between 1884-1888.
The congregation was disbanded by the government in 1938. The building was then used as a granary and barn. On 29 October 2004, the church building was reconsecrated to hold worship services. Restoration of the building continues.
The following pastors have served the congregation in Gnadentau:
Gustav Adolph Thomson (1883-1888)
Richard Keller (1888-1890)
Johann Kosciol (1892-1924)
Johannes Schilling (1931-1934)
|
Year
|
Households
|
Population
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
||
| 1850 |
|
|
|
|
| 1857 |
|
|
246
|
|
| 1859 |
|
|
|
|
| 1888 |
172
|
1,167
|
587
|
580
|
| 1891 |
|
|
|
|
| 1894 |
|
|
|
|
| 1897 |
|
1,441*
|
726
|
715
|
| 1908 |
186
|
2,308
|
1,171
|
1,137
|
| 1910 |
207
|
2,332
|
1,179
|
1,153
|
| 1912 |
|
2,100
|
|
|
| 1920 |
282**
|
2,186
|
|
|
| 1922 |
|
1,893
|
|
|
| 1926*** |
354
|
2,017
|
955
|
1,062
|
Gnadentau (Wolgadeutsche.net)
Gnadentau Original Settlers (Jeruslan Nachrichten)
Gnadentau Lutheran Church (current homepage)
Gnadenthau (Jeruslan Nachrichten)
Jeruslan Nachrichten (Sue Kottwitz)
- Diesendorf, V.F. Die Deutschen Russlands : Siedlungen und Siedlungsgebiete : Lexicon. Moscow, 2006.
- Koch, Fred C. The Volga Germans: In Russia and the Americas, from 1763 to the Present (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977): 312.
- Preliminary Results of the Soviet Census of 1926 on the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Pokrovsk, 1927): 28-83.
- "Settlements in the 1897 Census." Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (Winter, 1990): 16.
50.504833, 46.518833
Migrated From
Immigration Locations
Map showing Gnadentau (1935).
Gnadentau Lutheran Church
Original interior.
Gnadentau Lutheran Church
Gnadentau Church being used as a barn (1993).
Photo courtesy of Bill Wiest.
Gnadentau Lutheran Church.
Courtesy of Alexander Bashkatov (2006).
Gnadentau Lutheran Church interior.
Courtesy of Alexander Bashkatov (2006).
Gnadentau Lutheran Church interior, being used once again as a church.
Courtesy of Alexander Bashkatov (2006).
Gnadentau Lutheran Church interior.
Gnadentau Lutheran Church layout.
Architectural rendering of the Lutheran Church that was built in Gnadentau.
Source: Jorge Bohn.
Plans for the Lutheran Church in Gnadentau. Source: wolgadeutsche.net