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Schöndorf, Karasuk District, Novosibirsk Oblast (Siberia)

Schöndorf was founded in 1908 by German settlers from the Samara and Saratov Provinces. It was a Lutheran village.

In 1926, the population was 483, most of whom were German.

In 1945, the German population was resettled in the neighboring "Russian" villages and Kazakh settlers were moved in to replace them. In 1948, Schöndorf was renamed Pavlovka.

In the 1960s, ethnic Germans began to return to the village. The population in 1989 was 410, 76% of whom were German.

Lauer-Trujillo, Robin

Robin Lauer-Trujillo founded Lauer-Krauts in Brighton, Colorado. The restaurant features Volga German recipes of her grandmother, Margaret Hoffman Schreibvogel, including krautburgers (a German Russian pastry pocket filled with hamburger, cabbage, onion and "Lauer-Kraut").

Robin's Volga German ancestors came from the colonies of Rothammel and Wittmann.

Bad Soden, Kr. Main-Kinzig, Hessen

Soden had been home to the lords of Hutten, but was mortgaged to the Archbishop of Mainz. By 1889, the are was part of the Kingdom of Prussia.

In 1872, Soden received permission to use the salt water wells in the area for a spa. It officially adopted the name of Bad Soden in 1928.

Today, Bad Soden is administratively part of the municipality of Bad Soden-Salmünster.

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