Lauwe - A German Village on the Volga River
Lauwe / Laube, Samara, Volga Region, Russia
Kanton: Kukkus Volost: Stepnaja Map 6, Quadrant D-4, 51 04 N 46 01 E
Founded 19 August 1767
Lauwe, Russian name
Jablonovka, on the East or Wiesenseite of the Volga River, was founded in 1767
by German colonists. The colonists
answered to the call of recruiters who traveled throughout Germany, enlisting
able farmers and craftsman to come to Russia, touting the Second Manifesto of
Catherine the Great:
Free transportation and
money to supplement them on the trip.
Freedom
to settle wherever they wanted.
Freedom
to practice their trade.
Freedom
from taxes for 30 years
Interest
free loans for 10 years.
Freedom
to practice their Religion.
Freedom
from Military service, forever.
Freedom
to return to their homelands, whenever they wanted, but at their own expense.
The
colonists had a rough life in the beginning. The government was not prepared to receive the colonists and
they had to live in make-shift quarters for several years. The Russian government, although
well-intentioned, implemented the manifesto using meddlesome bureaucrats who
frequently interfered in the affairs of the colonists as well as restricting
their freedoms .
The
citizens were Lutheran by faith and farmers by occupation but possessed other skills
such as blacksmithing, tailoring, bootmaking and others, which enabled them to
survive the harsh climate. The
farmlands were located at some distances from the village and sometimes in
separate locations requiring the males to often spend the weekdays away from
the village but they always returned on Sunday for church services. As was the custom in all the German
villages along the Volga, the farm lands were portioned out to the males only,
so those families with a lot of male offspring were land "wealthy"
and those with female offspring had a much harder time. This was offset by the periodic
reapportioning of land among the sons.
Thus the amount of land per farmer became smaller with each succeeding
generation.
The
village grew and prospered until political unrest and revocation of the rights
and privileges granted by Catherine's second Manifesto caused the colonists to
seek religious and political freedom elsewhere. Many families emigrated to the USA, Canada and South America
in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as can be seen by population statistics
decline. The seizure of power by
the Bolsheviks in 1917 eventually led to the establishment of Communism and the
death and relocation of the majority if not all of the German citizens. The village itself still exists today,
unlike many along the Volga which were destroyed, but few if any descendants of
the original colonists live there.
We
are taking pre-orders for 1834 Census of Lauwe. The order form can be downloaded HERE.
For an excellent source for information on the
Volga German colonies, see the link given below:
Description
of the Lauwe village in 1798.
Who were the original settlers
of Lauwe?
Dedication…Helen
“Bernice” P. Geringer Madden 26 July 1931 – 5 April 2007
I dedicate this
website to my predecessor Village Coordinator, friend, cousin, and mentor,
Bernice Madden.
Die Lauwe Lampe Was a
newsletter published by Bernice.
Issues 1-8 are presented with this link. The Lampe gives much information about Lauwe, its families
and the village.
Related Web Pages
American
Historical Society of Germans from Russia an
organization dedicated to the preservation of the culture and history of the
German-Russian people. (emphasis on the Volga region)
German Russian
Heritage Society
an organization dedicated to the preservation of the culture and history of the
German-Russian people. (emphasis on the Black Sea region)
Germans from
Russia Heritage Collection
Lutheran Churches
in Ukraine and Moldava
Lutheran Churches
in the Volga River area
For more information--references.
Karl Stumpp, The Emigration from Germany to Russia
in the Years 1763 to 1862,
American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, NE, 1993.
A good general
reference on the Germans from Russia.
More Black Sea information than Volga.
Adam Geisinger,
From Catherine to Khruschchev American
Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, NE, 1974.
An excellent
history and source of all things German-Russian.
Gottlieb Beratz, The German Colonies on the Lower
Volga, American
Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, NE, 1991.
A strangely
written old history…much detail of the founding of the colonies.
Igor Pleve
Einwanderung in das Wolgagebeit…Band 3.
Nordost Institut, Göttingen, 2005
Lists
the original settlers and their
families…only in Russian and German.
Need more information? Contact the Village Coordinator
for Lauwe: Ray Heinle lauwe@cox.net
Page last updated 12 February 2008