Volga German

The Volga Germans were ethnic Germans living near the Volga River and the Black Sea, maintaining German culture, language, traditions, and religions: Evangelical Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism. Many Volga Germans immigrated to the American Midwest in the 19th century.

Volga Germans in North America

Volga Germans emigrated to the United States and Canada and settled mainly in the Great Plains; Alberta, eastern Colorado, Kansas, Manitoba, Minnesota, eastern Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Saskatchewan, and often succeeding in dryland farming, a skill learned in Russia. Many of the emigrants who arrived after between 1870 and 1912 spent a period doing farm labor, in northeastern Colorado in the sugar beet fields.

Related Topics:
United States - Canada - Great Plains - Alberta - Colorado - Kansas - Manitoba - Minnesota - Montana - Nebraska - North Dakota - South Dakota - Saskatchewan - Dryland farming - 1870 - 1912

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Bernhard Warkentin, a German Russian, was born in a small Russian village in 1847, and traveled to America in his early 20s. Interested in flour mills, he was especially impressed with the wheat growing possibilities in the United States. After visiting Kansas, Warkentin found the plains much like those he had left behind in his native Russia. Settling in Harvey County, he built a water mill on the banks of the Little Arkansas River - the Halstead Milling and Elevator Company. Warkentin's greatest contribution to Kansas was the introduction of hard Turkey wheat into Kansas, which replaced the soft variety grown exclusively in the State.

Related Topics:
Bernhard Warkentin - 1847 - Harvey County - Little Arkansas River

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Modern descendants in Canada and the United States refer to their heritage as Germans from Russia. In the United States, however, they tend to have blended to a large degree with the much more numerous "regular" Germans who dominate the northern half of the United States.

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