Holstein, Saratov, Volga, Russia

Holstein, a German evangelical colony was founded on the west side of the Volga River on May 26, 1765. According to Professor Igor Pleve's book, Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet: 1764-1767, Vol. 2, Kolonien Galka - Kutter (available from AHSGR), the following families appear on Holstein's first settler's list. Pleve's book lists from where the immigrants came, their occupation, members of the family and their age, and when they arrived in Holstein.

1. Johann Wilhelm Kuxhausen
2. Karl Wilhelm Vogler
3. Joachim Martens
4. Gustaw Hiltermann
5. David Andreas Linde
6. Johann Heinrich Asselmann
7. Peter Hofner
8. Johann Wilhelm Deisner
9. Heinrich Ludwig Stehlfeld
10. Johann Dangelin?
11. Asmus Winick
12. Johann Philipp Pfeiler
13. Johann Gottlieb Melzer
14. Gottlieb Friedrich Kerbs
15. Christian Hiltermann

16. Friedrich Asmus
17. Jacob Breiniger
18. Johann Adam Jauck
19. Friedrich Stamor?
20. Karl Jauck
21. Hans Koln
22. Georg Detlef Brickmann
23. Hans Christoph Schmiese
24. Asmus Schwin
25. Samson Jung
26. Maria Agnessa Merine?
27. Ulrich Kast?
28. Christian Wolfgang Kraus
29. Johannes Knaus
30. Ludwig Heider (Hinter/Ginter?)

31. Gottfried Simon
32. Friedrich Ruf
33. Johann Melchior Reichert
34. Michael Borger
35. Leonard Wittmann
36. Michael Grenz
37. Johann Georg Mai
38. Johann Buchsbaum
39. Johann Adam Beitz
40. Johann Peter Mai
41. Johann Georg Mai
42. Johann Jacob Mai
43. Heinrich Martin Meder
44. Johannes Peil
45. Johann Pomerinke

Holstein had 202 residents in 1772. In 1798, Holstein had 354 residents, three apple orchards and one vineyard. The government offices for the Volga colonies were located in Saratov, about 100 miles north of Holstein. Farm products were sold and supplies purchased at Kamyschin, about 30 miles south of Holstein. It was about five miles to Shcherbakovka, six miles to Galka, and four miles to Dreispitz.

Additional Holstein families in the 1798, 1834, 1850 or 1858 family lists

Family Name	Location to/from
Asmus	to Grimm
Bender	prob. from Galka
Breiniger	to Breauregard
Busch	from Dietel
Deisner	to Dobrinka
Ehrhardt	from Shcherbakovka
Euring	from Dreispitz
Fritzler	from Grimm
Gelbach	from Dietel
Graf
Herber	prob. from Schwab
Krebs	prob. from Stephan
Lotz	from Kraft
Meder	to Donhof
Michaelis
Pomerinke	to Dreispitz
Scherrer	from Dreispitz
Schmidt	from Kraft
Schreiner	from Kraft
Siegfried
Sprankel
Stahldecker	from Shcherbakovka
Weisner	from Schwab

     Holstein was part of the Galka parish but each village had its own church and school. The Holstein church, made of wood, was built in 1830 and was the oldest church in the parish. In 1904, the church had 2434 members and the school had 231 students. The population of Holstein in 1912 was 2549.
      In 1876, the first Holstein families to immigrate to America included the Mai, Karst, Wittman, and Borger families. They settled in Marion County Kansas. The rolling prairies of Kansas reminded them of their homeland. Some who followed located in eastern Colorado and the Nebraska panhandle to work in the sugar beet fields. They saved their money and in a few years owned their own farms. Several families moved to Oregon. Others went to western Oklahoma. By 1900, the U.S. required immigrants to have sponsors and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, became the staging area for arriving immigrants. Some moved to the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan where free land was available.
      In Holstein, Russia, village life didn't change dramatically until Russia's civil war in 1917-1918. Gotfried Ehrhardt states that, "Before the 1917 revolution, many Volga Germans emigrated to the USA and Canada. Only a few managed to leave Russia later. The civil war (1918-1922) didn't spare Holstein either. The red and white armies alternately occupied the village. Many houses were damaged during the fights and the owners had to repair them. Also, it was quite common at those times to see dead bodies lying in the streets." In the 1930s, collectivization became a way of life in the Volga colonies. People were required to work for the government and food was taken by the government for distribution.

According to Gotfried Erhardt, the Holstein school on the left was built in 1917. It was in this building on September 1, 1941, the residents of Holstein learned their village would be vacated in ten days.

When the the Schwendich, Martin, Kelln, Maier, Grauberger, Hildermann, Peil, and Erhardt families returned in 1957, the children attended elementary school in this building. A club (hidden by the tree) was added to the building. A nursery now occupies the school area.

Click map to view

On the Holstein map created by George Herber in 1910 (available from AHSGR), Maria blotted out names where houses no longer stood in 1956.

Today, Holstein is known locally as Kulaninike, and it belongs to the Volgograd District. Irene and Rosalie (family nameYauck), visited Holstein in 1994 and, like most visitors, commented on the rough streets. They said, "The grayish-blue weeds which grew everywhere are like those which grew on my grandfather's pasture in Saskatchewan. They even have the same horrible odor." Ed Hoak visited Holstein in 2001 and went to the cemetery. Ed provided the initial information about the cemetery and Maria Leimann provided additional information.

Articles of Interest

Hospital in Holstein
Kuxhausen letters from Siberia
Life in Holstein, 1956-1990, by Maria Leimann
Memories of Holstein and Siberia, by Gotfried Erhardt as told to Maria Leimann
Holstein, May 2001, by Ed Hoak
Some of My Life's Story, by Henry Stennfeld
Reinhart and Katie Yauck, by Ken Hochban
Holstein before 1900, by David Steinfeld
Pictures of Holstein in 1994.
Holstein cemetery information