Skip to main content

VGI Updates

Niedermittlau, Kr. Main-Kinzig, Hessen

Today, Niedermittlau is administratively part of the municipality of Hasselroth.

Church:

The church in Niedermittlau is called Laurentiuskirche (St. Lawrence). The square church tower dates back to 1030. The building was heavily damaged during the Thirty Years' War. It was not until 1780 that the community was able to reconstruct the sanctuary from the ruins. The bell tower is capped with an eight-sided spire that houses the belfry and a clock. The balcony dates from the re-construction period.

Hohweiler

According to a publication by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia titled "File on Those Colonists Departing in 1773; also about their dispatch to Saratov under escort of Kontora Cavalry Seargeant-Major Gomolka and the discharge of several colonists upon payment; No. 25882," the Michael Hohweiler family was from the German village of Hailer.

August 10-19, 2018 - Tour to the Volga German Colonies

Submitted by bmai on

Dr. Brent Mai, director of the Volga German Institute at Fairfield University in Connecticut, and Dr. Mila Koretnikov from the Cooperative University of Baden-Württemberg in Karlsruhe, Germany, will be leading a tour to the Volga German colonies August 10-19, 2018.  Please consult the Tour Website for additional information.

Lindsay, Mela Meisner

Amelia "Mela" Meisner was born 20 December 1903 in Kindsvater Khutor, near the Volga German colony of Kratzke. Her parents were David Philipp Meisner from the Volga German colony of Shcherbakovka, and Eva Elisabeth Dietz from the colony of Kratzke.  She immigrated to the United States in 1905 and spent her early childhood near WaKeeney, Kansas, and married James Edward Lindsay in 1927, and they raised three children. For most of her adult life, she lived in the Denver, Colorado, area.

Deines, Kent L.

Kent Lee Deines was born in Los Angeles Co., California, to Kenneth Deines & Dorothy Adams on 25 June 1944.  He is a founder of Rowe-Deines Instruments (RDI) in San Diego, California, a company that produces Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs).  This technology works by transmitting sound into the water and receiving reflected sound echoes from plankton, detritus and other particles.  Their ADCP systems have been installed at over 3,500 sites in over 50 countries.

Kent holds several patents related to the measurement of acoustic doppler currents.

Deines, Siegmund

Siegmund "Sig" Deines was born to George Henry Deines & Lydia Dorsch in Russell, Kansas, on 29 March 1909.  He was an inventor and spent his career with Teledyne Water Pik in Fort Collins, Colorado.  He holds several patents including Patent Number 4077569 for the invention of the pulsator that is now common in most shower heads.

Sig was married to Clara Kaiser in 1932 and they had 3 children.  He passed away on 27 September 1981 in Fort Collins.  His father was born in the Volga German colony of Kratzke; his mother in Schwab.

Deines, Brian Lee

Brian Lee Deines, son of Alan John Deines & Anne Marie Kopack, was born on 22 November 1955 in Stettler, Alberta. He is an acclaimed Canadian children’s book illustrator who has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Illustration, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award and the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award, among others. He has illustrated such varied titles as The Hockey Tree, On a Snowy Night, The Road to Afghanistan and The Vimy Oaks: A Journey to Peace.