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Semenovka

Names
Roethling
Röthling
Rötling
Semenowka
Semenovka
Semjanowka
Семёновка
Ретлинг
Semyanovka
Semyonovka
Daughter Colonies
History

Semenovka was founded on 24 July 1767 [some sources erroneously record the founding date as 24 June 1767] by colonists who had been recruited by Catherine the Great's own agents. The 43 founding families were Roman Catholic and came from the regions of Mainz, Prussia, Fulda, and Westfalen (Westphalia).

It was also known by the German name of Röthling (the surname of one of the early leaders of the colony), but has generally been known as Semenovka after the river that flowed near the colony.

Today, what remains of the the former colony is still known as Semenovka (pronounced Semyanovka).

Church

Semenovka was the residence of the local Catholic priest who also served neighboring colonies. 

A new wooden church built in the Kontor style was constructed in 1855 in Semenovka and dedicated in 1856. After the deportation of the Volga Germans in 1941, the church was dismantled by Nazi prisoners of war at the end of the war, and the materials used in the rebuilding of Stalingrad (now called Volgograd).

Pastors & Priests

The parish of Semenovka was served by the following priests:

Johannes Meier (1803-1807)
Ignatius Zacharewitsch (1807-1820)
Antony Ludwist (1821-1825)
Vincent Snarsky (1825-1837)
Romuald Kotwitsch (1827-?)
Joseph Tulzewitsch (1837-1840)
Anton Ivanov (1840-1842)
Viktoryn Eschnutowitsch (1842-?)
Georg Dechand (1873-1887)
Georg Rießling (1877)
Joseph Baumtrog (1897-1915)
Andreas Schönberger (1917-1928)
Martin Fix (1928-1930)

Surnames
Immigration
Population
Year
Households
Population
Total
Male
Female
1767
43
144
76
68
1769
40
185
96
89
1773
49
232
110
122
1788
50
308
145
163
1798
64
407
202
205
1816
110
765
389
376
1834
171
1,444
756
688
1850
217
2,398
1,251
1,147
1857
239
2,926
1,515
1,411
1860
240
2,984
1,563
1,421
1886
419
3,349
1,720
1,629
1891
370
4,362
2,233
2,129
1894
386
4,581
2,345
2,236
1897
 
3,433*
1,727
1,706
1905
 
5,743
 
 
1910
 
6,002
 
 
1911
 
6,292
 
 
1912
 
6,407
 
 
1920
759**
4,862
 
 
1922
 
3,276
 
 
1923
 
3,428
 
 
1926***
771
4,120
1,996
2,124
1931
 
4,726
 
 

*Of whom 3,428 are German.
**Of which 758 households are German.
***Of whom 4,114 are German (766 households: 1,991 male & 2,123 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): 353.
- Diesendorf, V.F. Die Deutschen Russlands : Siedlungen und Siedlungsgebiete : Lexicon. Moscow, 2006.
- Erbes, Johannes. Deutsche Volkszeitung (23 August 1906).
- Klaus, A.A. Our Colonies (Saint Petersbug, Russia, 1869).
- Mink, A.N. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of the Saratov Province. (Saratov, Russia, 1898): 931-934.
- 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.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2008): 11, 177-189.
- Preliminary Totals of the All-Union Population Census of 1926 for the Volga German ASSR (Pokrovsk, Russia, 1927): 28-83.
- "Settlements in the 1897 Census." Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (Winter, 1990): 19.

50.4875, 45.321944

Migrated From

50.4372, 8.883858
50.437078, 9.838323
50.600278, 9.640833
50.476944, 9.758056
48.916667, 11.866667
49.872777, 10.567708
50.539722, 9.493889
50.516667, 9.483333
50.515833, 9.679444
50.494691, 9.698283

Immigration Locations

38.866667, -99.316667
44.829566, -122.794534
45.523062, -122.676482
42.616667, -113.666667
48.589922, -109.231231
49.5139, -108.8195
36.116148, -98.317016
38.266944, -104.6202
39.05, -95.683333
41.252363, -95.997988
37.239722, -96.99555
39.191667, -96.59166
38.858611, -96.1075
37.688889, -97.33611
38.356111, -98.58083
43.566667, -116.55
43.616667, -116.2
51.916667, -109.116667
52.172307, -109.7846
51.853199, -109.761932
52.266667, -113.8
51.859444, -110.013056
54.983333, 73.366667
48.666667, -98.833333
31.442778, -100.4502
46.877222, -96.789444
33.630278, -97.140278
48.630563, -98.704849
48.233056, -101.292222
46.808333, -100.783611
46.828889, -100.891111
38.346944, -94.762222
52.33, -109.94
52.7575, -108.286111
52.683333, -113.5666
52.083333, -109.433333
51.053205, -114.040383
50.45, -104.6
50.079167, -110.778333
43.652222, -94.461111
38.6275, -92.566667
39.612853, -102.592029
43.233016, -93.909116
39.986495, -104.818897
32.221667, -110.9263
39.253333, -114.877222
39.527222, -119.8219
Images

Map showing Semenovka (1935).

Semenovka Catholic Church built in 1855.
Source: Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Rußland, 1972.

Volga German celebration in Semenovka.
Source: unknown.

Semenovka Cemetery (1992).
Source: Ted Gerk.

House in Semenovka (1992).
Source: Ted Gerk.