VGI Updates

The Rev. Johannes Erbes, son of Johann Erbes and Christina Elisabeth Kurz, was born 27 March 1869 [some sources record 1868] in Dönhof and died 26 February 1932 Semipalatinsk.

Pastor Erbes was married first to Rosalie Lohrer from the Crimea.

He married on 18 May 1918 to his second wife, Elisabeth Grasmück, from Lauwe.

He studied theology at the University of Dorpat (Estonia) and was ordained on 10 May 1901 in the Volga German colony of Krasnoyar. He served as vicar in Krasnoyar in 1901, and then served the congregation in Kukkus from 1902 to 1930.

Father Johannes Falkenstein, son of Wilhelm Falkenstein & Anna Maria Distel, was born in 1885 (some sources record his birth in 1886) in the Volga German colony of Schuck.

He studied theology at the Catholic Seminary in Saratov and was ordained in 1912. 

He served the Catholic congregations in the following colonies:

Marienburg (1913-1917)
Marienberg (1914-1918)
Herzog (1918-1928)
Josefstal (1928-1931)

Pastor Jacob Fath served Ebenezer German Congregational Church in Portland, Oregon, from 1901-1903. The records for the Pacific Conference of Congregational Churches do not indicate that he served other churches.

Pastor Eduard Reinhold Fehre, son of Pastor Eduard Fehre & Charlotte Schilling, was born on 11 October 1834 in Jürgensburg in Kurland. He married on 30 July 1859 in Riga to Marie Margarethe Elisabeth Möller. She was born 12 November 1833 and died 18 December 1891. Pastor Fehre died on 31 October 1895 in Voronezh.

He studied theology in Dorpat (Estonia) and was ordained 26 July 1859.

He served the congregations in Tobolsk (1859-1863), Rosenberg (1864-1865), and Voronezh (1865-1895).

The Rev. Wilhelm Eduard Michael Fehrmann, son of The Rev. Alexander Fehrmann & Amalie Stahl, was born on 5 May 1864 in Moscow and died on 4 April 1924 in St. Petersburg.

He was married twice, first on 11 June 1895 in Saratov to Gertrude Bonwetsch (born on 26 June 1873 in Saratov; died 18 May 1896 in Sarepta) and second on 18 August 1898 in St. Petersburg to Ingeborg Hedwig Ripke (born 1 February 1874 in Tammerfors, Finland; died after 1939).

Wilhelm Friedrich Feldbach was born 6 January 1884 in Riga, Latvia. He was ordained on 26 December 1919.

Pastor Feldbach served the congregations in Yagodnaya Polyana & Krasnoyar (1919-1924) and Baku (Caucasus) (1924-1928). He could also preach in Russian.

On 1 November 1928 he became pastor of St. Nicholas parish in Potsdam (Germany). On 1 December 1930 he became the pastor of the parish in Bornstedt (Germany). He served there until his retirement on 1 November 1954.

Pastor Feldbach died 9 September 1970 in Schwäbisch-Hall (Germany).

Jakob Feser, son of colonists Georg Feser & Christina Schächtel, was born on 11 April 1886 Schuck.

He studied theology at the Catholic seminary in Saratov and was ordained in the Autumn of 1910.

Father Feser served the following Catholic parishes:

Saratov (1914-1920)
Volmer (1920-1926)

Pastor Feser died of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1926 in Volmer. He was buried in a cemetery in the colony of Husaren.

The Rev. Dr. Ignaz Aurelius Feßler was born on 18 May 1756 in Zurndorf im Burgenland. He died 15 December 1839 in St. Petersburg.

In 1773, he entered the Order of the Capuchins, and was ordained in 1779. He converted to Lutheranism in 1791 and was married in 1792. This marriage ended in 1802.

He served as the Lutheran Bishop in Saratov from 1819-1832.

Johannes Findeisen, son of Pastor Otto Armin Findeisen & Wilhelmine Brunarius, was born on 18 February 1879 in St. Petersburg.

He studied theology at the seminary in Dorpat and was ordained on 13 June 1910. He married Jenny Schnarr in 1910 in Moscow.

Pastor Findeisen served the following congregations:

Rosenberg (1910-1913)
Sarepta (1913-1920?)
Michaelsfeld (North Caucasus) (1921-?)

Father Fix was born 18 June 1883 in Sulz (Black Sea area).

He was ordained on 2 August 1909. He served in Katharinenstadt, Köhler, Sewald, and Kamenka.

He was excuted on 8 December 1937 in the Solowezki-Inseln island prison.