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von der Au (Paulskaya)*

Heinrich von der Au, a farmer, his wife Anna, and children (Johann, age 18; Maria, age 16; Konrad, age 13; Heinrich, age 11) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 24 July 1766 aboard a barque named Georg under the command of Skipper Adam Bairnsfair.

Joh. Heinrich von Derau [sic], his wife Anna Elisabetha, and sons (Johannes Conrad, age 13; Johann Heinrich, age 11) are recorded on the list of colonists being transported from St. Petersburg to Saratov in 1767 along with a note that both parents and son Johann Heinrich died en route.

Da(h)linger (Hussenbach)

Andreas Dahlinger, a farmer, his wife Sibilla, and daughter Barbara (age 4) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 20 May 1766 aboard the Russian galliot Catharina Eleonora under the command of Skipper Peter Röder.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Hussenbach where Andreas is recorded on the 1798 census in Household No. Hs055. Daughter Barbara (from Hussenbach) is recorded on the 1798 census of Kratzke married to Jakob Gerkins (and widow of Gottlieb Koleber) in Household No. Kr12.

Besel (Hussenbach)

Johann Besel, a farmer, his wife Anna, and children (Johann, age 16; Anna, age 10; Martin, age 8; Immanuel, age 5; Katharina, age 3) arrived from Danzig at the port of Oranienbaum on 4 May 1766 aboard a ship under the command of Skipper Jacob Janson.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Hussenbach and are recorded there on the 1798 census in Household No. Hs041.

The Oranienbaum passenger list records that Johann Besel came from Poland.

Adolph (Hussenbach)

Johann Adam Adolph and Anna Margaretha Schwartz married in Hutzdorf on 6 March 1748. The births of 5 of their children are recorded in Hutzdorf: (1) Johann Conrad, born [before they were married] on 12 August 1747, baptized 13 August 1747; (2) Anna Barbara, born and baptized on 1 October 1751; (3) Anna Catharina, born 15 March 1754, baptized 18 March 1754; (4) Johann Heinrich, born 16 January 1757, baptized 18 January 1757, died 18 November 1760; and (5) Heinrich Wilhelm Adolph, born 7 July 1761, baptized 8 July 1761.

Kozelkov, Merv Okrug, Turkmenistan

In 1904, villagers from the Saratov settlement (near Ashgabat) founded the colony of Kozelkov in the region of Airam-Ali near Merv.  Krieger reports that as of the 1926 Russian census, there were 595 ethnic Germans living in the rural areas of Merv Okrug, concentrated mostly in the villages of Kozelkov and Krestov.

The geographic coordinates are not exact.

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

The city of Ashgabat was founded in 1881. From 1919 to 1927, it was called Poltoratsk.

In 1892, approximately 50 Volga German families migrated to what today is Turkmenistan. Some of them established a colony called Saratov near Ashgabat. By 1904, the colony of Saratov was dissolved, as most of the colonists had relocated to Ashgabat itself and to a new settlement called Kozelkov near Merv in the Bairam-Ali region.

The 1926 Russian Census records that there were 296 ethnic Germans living in Ashgabat.

Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast, Russia

The fortress of Tsaritsyn was founded in 1589 at the confluence of the Tsaritsa and Volga Rivers.  Its purpose was to protect Russia's southern border. Over the next two centuries, Tsaritsyn became an important trading post.  During the Pugachev Rebellion, the city was captured by the rebels in 1774.

Many Volga German families relocated to Tsaritsyn to work.

Erdmann (Grimm)

Jost Erdmann, his wife Anna, and children (Elisabeth, age 15; Johann Daniel, age 11; Katharina, age 7; Johannes, age 4) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 22 July 1766 aboard the pink Lev under the Command of Lieutenant Fyodor Fyodorov.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Grimm and are recorded there on the 1767 census in Household No. 1.

The Jost Erdmann family is recorded on the 1775 census of Grimm in Household No. 16.

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