Gnadenfeld was founded in 1855 by colonists from the Bergseite colonies of Schilling, Balzer, Dönhof, Grimm, Norka, Schwab, and Moor.
A parochial school (which also served as a church) was constructed in Gnadenfeld in 1871. It served as such until the 1917 Revolution. Teachers who taught there included Georg Schäfer (1870-1881), Jakob Fritzler (1881-1883), and G. Rose (1885-1913).
By 1910, there were in the colony a prayer house, a parish school, and two windmills.
Today, what remains of the former Volga German settlement of Gnadenfeld is known as Kirovo.
There were Lutheran and Reformed colonists who settled in Gnadenfeld. Some Baptists also lived in Gnadenfeld.
In the beginning, the colonists worshiped in private homes. A large prayer house (Bethaus) was built in 1871. It served as a school during the week, but was used for worship services as well. The locals often called it the church. Eventually a small prayer house was also constructed by the Baptists who lived in Gnadenfeld. On 13 May 1933, the prayer house was officially closed by the Soviet authorities and all religious functions in the former colony ended.
From 1855 to 1865, the colony was served by pastors from the parish of Warenburg. From 1865 to 1882, pastors from Eckheim served those in Gnadenfeld. In 1882, the Lutheran congregation in Gnadenfeld became par of the parish of Brunnental where there was a resident pastor.
|
Year
|
Households
|
Population
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
||
| 1857 |
|
|
267
|
|
| 1859 |
65
|
365
|
205
|
160
|
| 1888 |
161
|
1,031
|
517
|
514
|
| 1891 |
|
|
|
|
| 1894 |
|
|
|
|
| 1897 |
119
|
1,077*
|
523
|
554
|
| 1905 |
|
1,814
|
|
|
| 1910 |
210
|
1,865 |
971
|
894
|
| 1912 |
|
|
|
|
| 1920 |
240
|
1,968
|
|
|
| 1922 |
|
1,633
|
|
|
| 1926 |
290
|
1,668
|
801
|
867
|
| 1931 |
|
1,763
|
|
|
*Of whom 1,071 were German.
- Gnadenfeld (Irma Waggoner)
- Gnadenfeld (wolgadeutsche.net) [in Russian]
- How Many Schillings Are There? (Gary Martens)
- Diesendorf, V.F. Die Deutschen Russlands : Siedlungen und Siedlungsgebiete : Lexicon. Moscow, 2006.
- Dietz, Jacob E. History of the Volga German Colonists (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2005): 218.
- Koch, Fred C. The Volga Germans: In Russia and the Americas, from 1763 to the Present (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977): 312.
- 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.
50.806667, 46.7
Migrated From
Immigration Locations
Map showing Gnadenfeld (1935).