Bethel was founded in 1879 along the right bank of the Big Kugulta [Бол. Кугульта] River about 70 kilometers northeast of Stavropol.
The original families that settled in Bethel came directly from Prussia. They were joined by Black Sea and Volga German colonists resettling from the Kherson, Taurida, and Samara Provinces and Bessarabia.
During the Russian Civil War (1917) the village was badly damaged by fire and many families fled to the colonies of the northern Black Sea region.
In 1941, the remaining German inhabitants of Bethel were deported to Asiatic Russia.
The following famlies are reported by Heinrich Reichert to have been living in Bethel:
Weizel, H.
Laas, Geo.
Laas, Heinr.
Mohn, Wilh.
Mohn, Joh.
Schneider, Wilh.
Kirchhöfer, M.
Haubrich, Wilh.
Kirchhöfer, Joh.
Haubrich, Karl
Haubrich, Fr.
Betz, Joh.
Knauz, Wilh.
Kirchhöfer, Ad.
Schmidt, Fr.
Mohn, Emil
Schmidt, Rich.
Mohn, Rich.
Haubrich, Theod.
Rink, Erh.
Baierbach, E.
Kirchhöfer, Erh.
Mohn, Heinr.
Kirchhöfer, H.
Schneider, Fr.
Mohn, Friedr.
Knauz, Chr.
Schmidt, Ew.
Kirchhöfer, G.
Mohn, Rob.
Rink, Georg
Rutkowski, Wilh.
Roth, Chr.
Kirchhöfer, P.
Betz, Georg
Renich, Jak.
Rink, Heinr.
Rink, Reinh.
Rink, Dav.
Betz, Jakob
Schneider, Wilh.
Kirchhöfer, Heinr.
Schmidt, Emil
Population:
|
Year
|
Households
|
Population
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
||
| 1879 | 13 | |||
| 1897 | 85 | |||
| 1904 |
|
142 | ||
| 1909 |
|
108 |
|
|
| 1918 | 180 |
|
|
|
| 1920 | 190 |
|
|
|
| 1926 |
|
183* |
|
|
*Of whom 181 were German.
In the early 1880s, a Lutheran Bethaus (combination church/school building) was constructed in Bethel.
- Bentkovsky I. V. Statistical and Geographical Guide to the Stavropol Province (Stavropol, 1883).
- "German Colonies in the North Caucasus". Heimatbuch 1961 (Stuttgart).
- Tvalchrelidze A. Stavropol Governorate in Statistical, Geographical, Historical and Agricultural Relations (Stavropol, 1897).
- Tereshchenko, A. G. & A. L. Chernenko. Russian Germans in the South of Russia and the Caucasus. Encyclopedic reference book (Rostov-on-Don: Rostizdat LLC, 2000).
- Иващенский (Russian Wikipedia)
Map from 1903 showing the location of Bethel.
Source: Дорожная карта Кавказского края 1903 года.
Map of Bethel from 1930.
Source: Wolgadeutsche.net
45.632078, 42.559927
Volga Colonies
Migrated From
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