Kautz

Names: 
Kautz
Kauz
Vershinka
Werschinka
Кауц
Вершинка
Kaus
Daughter Colonies: 
History: 

Kautz was founded on 20 May 1767 by colonists recruited by Baron de Boffe. There were 28 founding families, all of whom came from the Pfalz. The colony was named after its first Vorsteher (mayor), Georg Jakob Kautz. By decree on 26 February 1768, the colony received its official Russian name of Vershinka.

In 1973, as part of a Soviet consolidation program for agricultural collectives, the inhabitants of the former colony of Kautz were relocated to the neighboring colony of Dietel, and all structures remaining there were removed. Today, nothing remains of the former colony of Kautz except for mounds of dirt that mark the location of former buildings and a few cellars.

Church: 

Kautz was a Reformed colony.  The congregation in Kautz was part of the Reformed parish headquartered in Messer. In 1820, it became part of the Lutheran parish headquartered in Dietel where there was a resident pastor.       

A wooden church with a metal roof was constructed in Kautz in 1887.

Pastors & Priests: 

The congregation in Kautz was served by the following pastors:

  • 1767-1777 Aloysius Jauch
  • 1778-1799 Johannes S. Janet
Immigration: 
Population: 
Year
Households
Population
Total
Male
Female
1767
 
107
 
 
1769
28
110
61
49
1773
30
141
74
67
1788
28
179
98
82
1798
36
223
119
104
1816
53
392
185
207
1834
86
672
343
329
1850
87
1,007
491
516
1857
127
1,316
647
669
1862
101
1,360
685
675
1886
180
1,428
722
706
1891
166
1,757
863
894
1894
180
2,089
1,011
1,078
1897
 
1,583*
769
814
1904
 
 
 
 
1911
 
1,559
 
 
1912
 
2,800
 
 
1920
224**
1,695
 
 
1922
 
1,511
 
 
1926***
244
1,657
811
846
1931
 
1,790
 
 

*Of whom 1,556 were German.
**Of which 221 households were German.
***Of whom 1,655 were German (242 households: 809 male & 846 female).

Sources: 

- Beratz, Gottieb. The German colonies on the Lower Volga, their origin and early development: a memorial for the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first German settlers on the Volga, 29 June 1764. Translated by Adam Giesinger (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1991): 350.
- Diesendorf, V.F. Die Deutschen Russlands : Siedlungen und Siedlungsgebiete : Lexicon. Moscow, 2006.
- Erbes, Johannes. Deutsche Volkszeitung (23 August 1906).
- Mink, A.N. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of the Saratov Province [in Russian] (Saratov, Russia, 1898): 120-122.
- 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): 622.
- Pleve, Igor R. The German Colonies on the Volga: The Second Half of the Eighteenth Century, translated by Richard Rye (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2001): 319.
- 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): 18.

Resources: 

1767 Census
1798 Census
1834 Census
1857 Census

Map showning Kautz (1935).

Map showing Dietel, Kautz, Kratzke, Rothammel and Sewald.

The building on the left is the Frank Store in Kautz, run by Johann Georg & Maria Barbara (Frickel) Frank, who live next door in the house on the right. The individuals in the photo are unidentified.
Source: Michael Frank.

Kautz Band.
Source: Michael Frank.

The former colony of Kautz (2009).
Source: Georgii Spak.

Latitude: 49.708333
Longitude: 8.089167
Latitude: 49.174167
Longitude: 7.237778
Latitude: 49.516070
Longitude: 7.152271
Latitude: 52.516667
Longitude: 13.388889
Latitude: 49.675555
Longitude: 8.545053
Latitude: 49.806389
Longitude: 8.115556
Latitude: 49.221944
Longitude: 8.168056
Latitude: 49.479999
Longitude: 8.179760
Latitude: 47.748846
Longitude: 8.484847
Latitude: 49.729167
Longitude: 8.430556
Latitude: 49.211111
Longitude: 8.804167
Latitude: 49.441035
Longitude: 8.355150
Latitude: 48.384644
Longitude: 7.755751
Latitude: 48.384644
Longitude: 7.755751
Latitude: 49.822500
Longitude: 7.798611
Latitude: 50.229167
Longitude: 9.112500
Latitude: 50.302763
Longitude: 8.567866
Latitude: 50.310305
Longitude: 9.090287
Latitude: 50.563889
Longitude: 7.972500
Latitude: 50.310000
Longitude: 9.050833
Latitude: 49.472870
Longitude: 8.654302
Latitude: 49.472870
Longitude: 8.654302
Latitude: 49.361015
Longitude: 8.257806
Latitude: 49.656678
Longitude: 8.411279
Latitude: 49.361015
Longitude: 8.257806
Latitude: 49.361015
Longitude: 8.257806
Latitude: 49.361015
Longitude: 8.257806
Latitude: 49.894444
Longitude: 7.477500
Latitude: 50.450000
Longitude: 9.916667
Latitude: 49.650939
Longitude: 8.124040
Latitude: 49.748342
Longitude: 8.401667
Latitude: 49.748342
Longitude: 8.401667
Latitude: 48.695278
Longitude: 8.135000
Latitude: 49.748342
Longitude: 8.401667
Latitude: 49.767222
Longitude: 8.341944

Immigration Locations