Saratov, Saratov Oblast, Russia
There were three frontier garrisons founded to protect merchant ships traveling on the Volga River: Saratov (1584), Samara (1586), and Tsaritsyn (1589). Over the next century, the settlements were rebuilt on first one side of the Volga and then the other following a series of natural disasters. The 1670 peasant revolt led by Stepan Razin also thwarted development of these cities.
Saratov was the location of the Kontora (Office of Immigrant Oversite) following the establishment of the Volga German colonies in the 1760's. From its beginning as a provincial outpost, Saratov grew to become a prosperous city and served as the center of industry for the Volga German colonists.
There were both a Lutheran parish and a Roman Catholic parish for the Germans who lived in Saratov.
Through the years, the following Volga German families settled in Saratov:
Maul from Schilling
- Diocese of Tiraspol (Russia) - Wikipedia
- Schnurr, Joseph. Die Kirchen und das Religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutschen - Evangelischer Teil (Stuttgart: Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland, 1972): 194.
- Saratov (Wikipedia)
- Map of Saratov (1925)
- Historic Saratov photos and maps (Russian site)
- Description of the city of Saratov and Saratov Province (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Former house of R. Ehrt in Saratov, built in 1900.
Photo from the book German Architecture on the Volga.
Drawing of Saratov in 1711 - approximately 50 years before the arrival of the Volga German immigrants.
Postcard of Saratov from the early 1900s.
German Street in Saratov (1863).
Source: George Valko.
The Conservatory on German Street in Saratov (1912).
Source: Elena Lozovaya.
Panorama of Saratov (1916).
Source: Wikipedia Commons.
Building in Saratov (ca. 1930) believed to have been part of the former Lutheran Seminary located there. As of 1930, it was being used as a political education building, then a music school, and college. Following the 1941 deportation of the Volga Germans, the building fell into disrepair and was dismantled.
Source: oldsaratov.ru
Aerial view of Saratov. St. Mary's Lutheran Church is visible with the tall spire to the left of the photo. Source: Nikolai Trautwein.
Photo of Saratov with St. Mary's Lutheran Church in the distance on the right. The 2-story white building on the left edge of the photo was the headquarters of the Kontora (the Office of Immigrant Oversight of the Volga German Colonies).
Source: Renn Weilert.
The Kontora Building (Office of Immigrant Oversight) is marked with the red arrow. Behind it and to the left can be seen the twin steeples of St. Clement's Catholic Church. Above is a similar street-level photo, but looking just a bit further to the right.
Source: Patrimonio Cultural de los Alemanes del Volga