Samarka, Loktevsky District, Altai Krai

Samarka was founded in 1898 by Volga German families resettling from the colonies of Dönhof, Neu-Dönhof, Balzer, and Messer.

The village was also known as Dönhof.

Until 1917, the Lutheran congregation in the village was part of the parish of Tomsk/Barnaul.

During Stalin's capitalist purges of 1937-38, 150 people were arrested and taken from the village. Only 4 returned.

The population of the village reached a high of 1,320 in 1997, but as of 1921 the population was only 493. Most of the German inhabitants of Samarka have migrated to Germany following the 1990 collapse of the Soviet Union.