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Location: Help > FAQ
Frequently Asked Question
Don't know where to start on this website?
If you just want to search for your ancestors, use the search box on the
home page
and on the search page. Be sure to read the search tips
to get the most
out of your search.
If you are not sure your ancestors are Volga Germans or what village they came from,
check for that question on this FAQ page.
To learn more about the Volga Germans
start under the Volga sections and read about the
villages, archives,
genealogical records and history. Then continue working from left to right across the major sections,
to America, Germany, Travel, Resources and Help.
But if the website seems confusing
or you want to get the big picture of everything on the website, go to the
site map
to browse the 200 web pages available.
I know my grandparents were Germans from Russia,
how do I know if they were Volga Germans?
Probably the simplest way to start answering that question is by looking at where
your grandparents settled when they came to America. If you grandparents
settled in a state which
was populated by Volga Germans, it is likely (but not a certainty) that they were
Volga Germans.
As you can see from the
population table of Germans from Russia,
the Germans from Russia who settled in the following states were predominately
Volga Germans: Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado and Fresno, CA.
Many Volga Germans settled in these states with other Germans from Russia:
Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Idaho,
Washington, Oregon, and California.
If they settled in the states of No. Dakota, So. Dakota then they were most likely
not Volga Germans but Black Sea Germans. If you believe they were Volga Germans,
see the FAQ on this page
How can I find out what village my Volga German grandparents came from?.
I have a village name for my grandparents but I cannot find
it listed anywhere. How can I figure out what it is?
First make sure what you really have is a village name. So many times our Volga
ancestors listed their birth location as the name of the province, not the village
they were born in. The provinces for the Volga were Saratov (also spelled Saratoff,
Saratow) and Samara.
So if the birthplace is not one of those two names, look
for the village name on the Volga village name list.
Be sure to read the Volga Villages Overview
to understand the variations in the name of the villages and the variation in the
spelling of those names. Also the names of the villages tended to be very misspelled
on the ship lists and other documents so don't expect to find a village name that is
spelled identically to the name you have. If you find a similar village name, research
it further to determine if your ancestors could have come from that village. Use some
of the same steps in the question
How can I find out what village my Volga German grandparents came from?.
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My grandparents (or great-grandparents) were Volga Germans,
now what do I do?
The single most important thing you can do to find out about your Volga German
ancestors is to determine what village they came from. This sounds harder that it
really is. Probably you already have the information in your possession to discover
the answer to that question. The first thing you need to know, is the full name, or
at least the surnames of your grandparents who immigrated to America. Be aware that
your grandparents surnames can often be spelled many ways so be sure to
search for
all spellings of a name.
It is really helpful
to have the maiden name of your grandmother. The second thing you need
to know is where they settled when they came to America, preferably a town, but a
state or province will help. If they moved around and the locations are know, that is
useful also. The majority of the time we can determine the exact village or narrow it
down to a few likely villages and with further research, pinpoint the exact one.
As an example, using the surname of Leffler,
on the home page of the Volga German web site, enter Leffler
into the search box. This search, searches the entire Volga German web site and
the village web sites that are hosted there. There are 12 hits for the name and they
are generally associated with the Volga village of Grimm and Weld County Colorado. If
you click on those links, it will take you to the page in which the Lefler name was
found. You may need to do a find on the page to find the reference to that name.
If you follow the links you will find a Grimm web site and the contact for the village
coordinator for Grimm. You may be able to determine from information the website,
such as other surnames and settlement locations, that it is good possibility that
your grandparents came from Grimm.
If
you search for the spelling of Lefler, different information is found, some ship lists
and other other information associated with the village of Rosenheim. But is Rosenheim
a Volga village? You can browse the village chart of 300
volga village to see if there is a Volga village
named Rosenheim and there is a village by that name. There is not a website for the village
of Rosenheim but there is a village coordinator you can contact.
You can also search for your surnames on the AHSGR website at the
main search page and on the
ancestor list page. The main search page
searches all of the AHSGR website except for the ancestor list. The ancestor list is the
list of names that have been submitted by AHSGR members over the years.
You might want to join the Volga German mail list
and ask your question there. The Volga German mail list has over 500 subscribers and someone
may be able to help you there.
Next you can check the
master email listing of
Germans from Russia on the internet. This listing may not be current, and contains just
a portion of GR research, you still might find some helpful information or someone to contact.
How do I order a birth certificate or death certificate from Russia?
The short answer is you don't. The Russians, or at least in the area of the Volga Valley,
did not keep vital records.
But that information was recorded in the church books of your ancestral village. If you are
fortunate, some of the church records for your village have been located and that information can
be obtained either through the village coordinator or from the archives. Unfortunately, in many
villages, the church books have not been located. Or the church books that have been located don't
cover the years you are interested or don't cover the events, say marriages instead of births, that
you are interested in.
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