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.
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.
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
Immigrated to the following locations
|
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).
Pfeifer (wolgadeutsche.net) in Russia
Pfeifer: A Volga Colony (Rosemary Larson)
Pfeifer (Gnilushka), Russia (Kevin Rupp)
Pfeifer Village Website (Darryl Boyd)
- 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
Immigration Locations
Map showing 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.