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Pfeifer

Names
Faifer
Fajfer
Feifer
Gnilushka
Gniluschka
Gnilyshka
Gvardeiskoye
Gvardeyskoye
Pfeifer
Pfeiffer
Гвардейское
Гнилушка
Пфейфер
Файфер
Daughter Colonies
History

Pfeifer was founded on the right bank of the Ilava River on 15 June 1767 by colonists who had been recruited by the Government. Pfeifer was named after one of its first settlers, Johannes Pfeifer.  Pfeifer is located 117 versts from the provincial capital of Saratov, 65 versts from the district capital of Kamyshin, and 6 versts from the local administrative center of Kamenka.

From the beginning of the colony, there was parochial education available in Pfeifer. The students were taught reading, writing, and religion by a local schoolmaster under the supervision of the parish priest. In 1888, a government school was constructed in the colony.

From 1860-1864, 23 families resettled to daughter colonies in the Samara Province. Between 1877 and 1886, 64 families immigrated to South America.

Today, what remains of the former colony of Pfeifer is known as Gvardeyskoye.

Church

The original colonists of Pfeifer were of the Roman Catholic faith practice.

In 1846, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Pfeifer was built of wood in a Kontor style. The building contained a high altar, side altars, and an organ that came from the South Tyrol. The upper half of the interior walls was whitewashed whereas the lower half was finished in light blue.

Pfeifer became an independent Catholic parish in 1871 with a resident priest.

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi is no longer standing.

Pastors & Priests

The parish of Pfeifer was served by the following priests:

  • 1869-1877 Michael Haag
  • 1877-1878 Sebastian Wolf
  • 1878-1880 Philipp Dorzweiler
  • 1880-1894 Johannes Burgardt
  • 1887 Peter Müller
  • 1897 Josef Hein
  • 1897?-1898 Josef Paul
  • 1904 Alexander Staub
  • 1905 Joseph Gütlein
  • 1905-1909 Johannes Fix
  • 1911-1913 Joseph Beilmann
  • 1914-1918 Nikolaus Maier
  • ?-1921 Immanuel Simon
  • 1921-1928 Leo Weinmayer
Surnames
Immigration
Population
Year
Households
Population
Total
Male
Female
1767
104
328
179
149
1769
80
317
175
142
1773
95
393
213
180
1788
89
507
270
237
1798
94
591
297
294
1816
123
825
427
398
1834
193
1,518
799
719
1850
229
2,250
1,134
1,116
1857
230
2,322
1,179
1,143
1859
230
2,345
1,199
1,146
1886
357
2,617
1,265
1,352
1891
348
3,566
1,781
1,785
1894
349
3,785
1,913
1,872
1897
 
2,847*
1,426
1,421
1904
 
 
 
 
1911
 
3,104
 
 
1912
 
4,870?
 
 
1920
484
3,422
 
 
1922
 
1,904
 
 
1926**
414
2,437
1,208
1,229
1931
 
2,821
 
 

*Of whom 2,841 were German.
**Of whom 2,434 were German (411 households: 1,205 male & 1,229 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): 352.
- Diesendorf, V.F. Die Deutschen Russlands : Siedlungen und Siedlungsgebiete : Lexicon. Moscow, 2006.
- Mink, A.N. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of the Saratov Province [in Russian] (Saratov, Russia, 1898): 156-158.
- 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): 623.
- Pfeifer Village History (Rosemary Larson)
- Preliminary Results of the Soviet Census of 1926 on the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Pokrovsk, 1927): 28-83.
- Schnurr, Joseph, Die Kirchen und das Religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutschen - Katholischer Teil (Stuttgart: Selbstverlag Joseph Schnurr, 1980): 251.
- "Settlements in the 1897 Census." Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (Winter, 1990): 18.
- Work Paper of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, No. 16 (December 1974).

50.64, 45.395

Migrated From

50.579167, 9.881111
50.591111, 9.504444
49.872777, 10.567708
50.335312, 8.532006

Immigration Locations

38.894221, -101.751763
40.625556, -103.211667
38.866667, -99.316667
39.05, -95.683333
40.758889, -103.0658
44.829566, -122.794534
40.988326, -102.264352
37.25, -100.583333
37.175, -99.651389
37.186667, -99.76916
38.958611, -99.132222
37.891111, -99.55972
38.481389, -100.465
39.986495, -104.818897
37.688889, -97.33611
37.759722, -100.0183
42.676944, -91.91583
43.416667, -83.933333
39.204167, -96.30833
52.7575, -108.286111
39.581667, -100.4611
41.139444, -102.9783
38.840281, -97.611424
38.938066, -99.560667
38.583333, -99.566667
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39.116667, -100.85
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38.713346, -99.332326
52.22875, -109.65
38.912556, -101.592431
44.939167, -123.0394
47.252877, -122.444291
45.523062, -122.676482
37.104167, -113.5841
32.221667, -110.9263
38.971667, -95.23527
38.266944, -104.6202
37.848889, -99.75527
42.291944, -89.630278
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39.116667, -100.616667
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40.4, -104.716667
38.883333, -98.85
28.983196, -97.502415
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35.8625, -101.966944
38.046667, -97.345
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38.516667, -99.3
35.199167, -101.845278
37.269444, -99.326111
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39.040833, -98.144722
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40.397761, -105.07498
38.516667, -98.766667
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41.983056, -91.66861
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40.95, -102.383333
34.497222, -93.055278
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40.258137, -103.6321
34.586111, -94.239722
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40.214444, -104.824167
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37.043333, -100.928
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42.281389, -83.748333
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38.403889, -96.18166
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38.917222, -97.21388
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36.330228, -119.292059
37.267222, -97.4
42.028333, -97.43361
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30.455, -84.253333
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40.193333, -85.388056
46.485556, -116.258889
39.025008, -99.879566
45.783286, -108.50069
47.503611, -111.2863
32.692222, -114.6152
30.267222, -97.74305
38.811111, -99.264444
31.863333, -102.365556
42.866632, -106.313081
38.087231, -102.62075
61.216667, -149.893611
37.283333, -98.566667
38.5, -98.933333
37.940278, -101.2586
41.590833, -93.62083
37.821111, -96.85833
36.860026, -101.213495
39.033333, -100.116667
39.361015, -104.606172
35.912778, -94.971389
37.973611, -122.531111
37.676944, -95.456389
39.103118, -84.51202
32.8, -115.566667
38.258611, -94.335
38.45, -91.008611
36.708056, -99.897222
41.081445, -81.519005
44.554428, -94.220813
44.410278, -103.518611
38.066944, -103.225833
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44.883333, -94.366667
41.667778, -103.0988
38.134148, -121.272219
38.525, -98.533611
38.182222, -99.10166
38.634167, -95.826667
36.3275, -119.645556
34.732222, -112.018611
39.136667, -95.951389
39.778611, -98.785278
Images

Map of Pfeifer (1935).

Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Pfeifer, Russia.

High Altar of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Pfeifer, Russia.
Source: Rosemary Larson