Leopold Gottlob Friedrich Bahn, son of Johann Christian & Susanna Maria Bahn, was born 2 February 1725 in Köthen and baptized on 4 February 1725 in the castle church. Johann Christian Bahn served at the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen of the House of Ascania. The following were recorded as witnesses of the baptism: Prince Leopold; Eleonora Willhelmina, Prince Leopold's sister and the Princess of Sachsen-Weimar; Gottlob von Nostitz, Court Marshal and Chamber Director; Carl Friedrich von Wülckewitz, Privy Councilor of Anhalt-Köthen; and the [unnamed] daughter of Court Councilor von Bindozstin.
Leopold Bahn trained as a tailor, and on 31 January 1751 married in Köthen to Maria Dorothea Guttmacher, whose father was also a tailor.
The births of the following children born to Leopold Gottlob Friedrich Bahn & Maria Dorothea Guttmacher are recorded in the parish register of Köthen: (1) Johann Friedrich Daniel, born 13 January 1754; (2) Johanna Charlotte, baptized 6 March 1758; (3) Christian August, born 1 November 1761; and (4) a daughter, born 22 April 1765, died 8 November 1765.
A listing of subjects emigrating from the Dessau district to Russia (1766-1768) records Gottlieb Friedrich Bohle [sic], a day laborer, along with his wife and two children.
Gottlob Bahn, a tailor, his wife Maria, and son Johann (age 13) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 9 June 1766 aboard an English barque named George under the command of Skipper Adam Bairnsfair. [Although daughter Charlotta is not recorded on the passenger list, this is presumed to be the same family.]
Gottlieb Fried. Bahn, his wife Maria Doroth., son Joh. Frieder. (age 13), and daughter Charlotta (age 9) are recorded on a list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767.
Gottlieb Friedrich Bahn, a tailor (Schneider), his wife Dorothea, and children (Daniel, age 20 [sic]; Eleonora [sic], age 10) are recorded on the 1767 census of Boisroux in Household No. 33. They had arrived in Boisroux on 7 June 1767.
The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Gottlieb Bahn came from the German village of Köthen. The 1767 census records that Gottlieb Friedrich Bahn came from the German village of Köthen.
There are no known surviving male lines of this Bahn family among the Volga German colonies.
- Dessau Archive (Z 44, C 1c, No. 5) "Emigration of Dessau Subjects to Russia," Vols. III, 1766-1768.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Auswanderung deutscher Kolonisten nach Russland im Jahre 1766 (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2019): 30.
- Idt, Andreas and Georg Rauschenbach. Deutsche Kolonisten im Jahr 1766 in Oranienbaum und in den Siedlungsorten: Die Kuhlberg-Listen (Moscow: Idt & Rauschenbach, 2024): 223.
- Parish register of Köthen.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999): 147.
- Pleve, Igor. Lists of Colonists to Russia in 1766: Reports by Ivan Kulberg (Saratov: Saratov State Technical University, 2010): #1571.
- Rauschenbach, Georg. Deutsche Kolonisten auf dem Weg von St. Petersburg nach Saratow: Transportlisten von 1766-1767 (Moscow: G.V. Rauschenbach, 2017): #1257-1260.
Brent Mai
Waldemar Kurt
Heinrich Reichert
Entry from the parish register of Köthen recording the baptism of Leopold Bahn.
Source: Heinrich Reichert.
Entry from the Oranienbaum passenger list recording the arrival in Russia of Gottlob Bahn and his family.
Source: Brent Mai.