Sources, sources, sources need to be reviewed as a series of posts, because there is so much information available to us now. And it's simply easier to absorb all the details in bite size chunks. So without further delay, let's finish Tip # 3 Sources, Sources, Sources!
The Volga German Institute documents the cultural manifestation of the German speaking minortiy that lived along the Volga River from 1764 to 1941. The links at the top of the site lead you to locations, surnames and biographies.
Under locations, villages are indexed alphabetically and each colonies' site gives you the inhabitants' surnames, and to where the families immigrated. The same is true under surnames so it is worth taking the time to check every surname to which you can trace your family line.
Be sure to check out the biographies link, like the sample below for the Reimer family. Much of the family history is documented on this one site. Could your family be part of the biographies? It's worth a few minutes to seek out the Biographies site as your family history may be right there.
Another site, the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, was developed through the North Dakota State University Library. It 's a fabulous site to research and explore. it tracks not only the history of Germans from Russia, but provides extensive history of this group in the Dakotas. If any of your family lived in the Dakotas, this site must be searched.
The next two sites offer great value, and gives you the opportunity to learn how to translate websites into English. The first, Geschichte der Detuschen aus Russland, is a site of choice for any of your relatives who repatriated from Russia or Kazakhstan to Germany. I know my cousin in Germany regularly uses this site. Note the pop up in the upper right corneron the screen shot below asking "Translate this page?" Say yes to Translate!
The second site, Centro Cultural Wolgadeutsch Argentina, is used by my cousins in Argentina. You may think if your family was from a Lutheran village, it is unlikely that you have family in Argentina. I thought that, too, but was proven wrong when I found my DNA cousin from the village of Protestante in Entre Rios. If you still doubt you have relatives in South America, I recommend you check out this site, because you could have relatives there just waiting to be discovered. And, it's not just descendants of the Volga region, Black Sea Germans from Russia also settled here.
Well, that's a wrap on our fantastic sources. Thanks for staying with me as we worked through five different posts. Tip # 4 is up next! I'll be back soon.
©2019 Anna
Dalhaimer Bartkowski
No comments:
Post a Comment