Schäfer was founded on 1 August 1766 by colonists who had been recruited by LeRoi & Pictet. It was named after its first mayor (Vorsteher), Johannes Schäfer who came from Hanau in Hessen.
The colony was looted by the Kirghiz in 1774.
Colonists relocated from Schäfer to colonies in the Caucasus in 1780.
Emigration to America began in 1877-1878 when 50 people left. Another wave of immigration occured in 1905.
Today, what remains of the former colony of Schäfer is known as Lipovka.
Most of the original colonists who settled in Schäfer were of the Lutheran faith practice.
In 1817, a wooden church was built in Schäfer. A new Lutheran church was built of brick in Schäfer and dedicated in 1906. It was one of the largest among the colonies, said to seat 4,000 parishioners.
On 4 April 1935, the church was officially closed.
The parish in Schäfer was served by the following pastors:
Johannes Schilling (1929-1930)
Immigrated to the following locations
|
Year
|
Households
|
Population
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
||
|
1767 |
54
|
184
|
|
|
|
1769 |
50
|
189
|
101
|
88
|
|
1773 |
49
|
207
|
114
|
93
|
|
1788 |
32
|
174
|
94
|
80
|
|
1798 |
37
|
216
|
117
|
99
|
|
1816 |
53
|
343
|
180
|
163
|
|
1834 |
74
|
651
|
325
|
326
|
|
1850 |
119
|
943
|
481
|
462
|
|
1857 |
110
|
1,201
|
620
|
581
|
|
1859 |
110
|
1,234
|
638
|
596
|
|
1889 |
|
1,719
|
|
|
|
1897 |
|
1,785*
|
888
|
897
|
|
1905 |
|
2,662
|
|
|
|
1910 |
220
|
2,993
|
1,491
|
1,502
|
|
1912 |
|
1,770
|
|
|
|
1920 |
315**
|
2,320
|
|
|
|
1922 |
|
1,787
|
|
|
|
1923 |
|
1,704
|
|
|
|
1926*** |
332
|
1,887
|
897
|
990
|
|
1931 |
|
2,162
|
|
|
- Schäfer (wolgadeutsche.net) [in Russian]
- 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.
- 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 4 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2008): 11, 89-104.
- 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.
51.530196, 46.614074
Migrated From
Immigration Locations
Map showing Schäfer on the right (1935).
Schäfer Lutheran Church.
Source: Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Rußland, 1972.
Schäfer Lutheran Church (1960s)
Source: Anna Beller.
Lutheran Church in Schäfer (2008).
Source: Alexander Perebinos
Lutheran Church in Schäfer.
Interior stairs (2008).
Source: Alexander Perebinos
Lutheran Church interior in Schäfer (2008).
Source: Alexander Perebinos
Architectural rendering of the church in Schäfer.
Source: Jorge Bohn.
Sketch of the church in Schäfer.
Source: Stephan Dimitriev via Wolgadeutsche.net.
Ruins of the church in the former colony of Schäfer.
Source: Jorge Bohn.