Norka a German colony in Russia 1798
From 1764-1772, thousands of German families left war-ravaged Central Europe and accepted the invitation of Catherine the Great to start new lives on the Russian steppe. By 1798, there were more than 38,800 individuals living in 101 German-speaking colonies along the Volga River near Saratov. In this year, the Russian government conducted a household by household census of these colonies, enumerating the economy, population, and agriculture of each colony. This material tells us much about Norka colony 21 years after its founding.
During the Soviet era, access to the documents of this census was prohibited. In 1994, the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia purchased copies of these documents along with the right to translate and publish them. Now, all parts of the census have been translated into English and are available in a 1,500-page, 2-volume cloth-bound set that has been edited by Professor Brent Mai of Purdue University. This set was published and is now available from AHSGR.
The 1775 and 1798 Census records for individual colonies, including Norka, are also available for purchase from AHSGR. These records show the individual family members and their ages, whether or not they are able to work, type and number of livestock and fowl, type and amount of crops planted, farming implements and buildings owned or rented.
A Description of Norka from the 1798 Census
A portion of the 1798 Census written in Cyrillic script - click the thumbnail to enlarge the image
Description made for the
Kontora [Office] of Immigrant Oversight by Fellow of the Chief Justice,
Collegiate Assessor and Cavalier Sixtel, of the colony of Norka [Weigand],
inhabited by foreigners, according to information from the Vorsteher [village
mayor], Beisitzer [assessor],
and best people, also by personal observation.
This colony is located in
the
There are in the colony 846 male inhabitants, and 816 females, totaling 1662 persons comprising 226 families. All are of the Reformed faith. They have here their own pastor and parish church. Small children are taught reading, writing, and religion by a schoolmaster in a specially constructed school building.
The properties of the colony
are bordered on one side by lands belonging to the colony of Splavnukha [Huck]
and on the other sides by wild steppe and by state‑owned rental lands
consisting now of those under contract between the Saratov Treasury Chamber
with the village of Talovka [Beideck], with peasant Khodyakov, with colonist
Schlotthauer of Splavnukha [Huck], with Count Razumovsky's settlement of
Ryubushka, with scribe Konevtsov's village of Sinenky, with odnodvortsy
[members of a special group of smallholders of 18th century Russia, descendants
of the lowest category of the service class), and by steppe left over from the
allocation to the village of
This colony was allocated
arable farm land of 9,888 desyatina 2,300 sazhen, hay lands of 262 desyatina 611
sazhen, forest of 526 desyatina 413 sazhen. In addition, because of
insufficient hay lands, they were allocated wastelands totaling 192 desyatina
in the plot along the
The
colony lacks sufficient arable farm land and hay lands. These can in part be
increased by allocation from plots of land adjoining their rented lands and
from the wild steppe, on which the colonists currently pasture their livestock.
Hay lands can be allocated from wet meadows along the banks of the
All the inhabitants are
engaged in farming. There are tradesmen: three blacksmiths, four shoemakers.
The colonists are favorably disposed toward work. A few live in good
conditions, most in mediocre conditions. Buildings are constructed of wood. Except for 26 new ones,
homes are dilapidated but have been repaired. Six homes are of stone. There are
no adobe buildings. There is no source of stone for building in the colony, but
they quarry it from state‑owned land 10 versts from the colony, where
there is only a small amount. Yards are separated from the streets by fences,
and on the inside are divided by wattle fences. There are gardens behind the
farmyards. There are two flour mills on the
The closest fields are
immediate to the colony, and the furthest field is 5 versts distant. The rented
fields are some 10 and 15 versts distant. Farmlands are divided into three
fields. They till with plows. They do not fertilize the land. Harvests of grain
in several places are good, but only mediocre in most places. They harvest and
thresh the grain on threshing floors immediate to the yards, where they store
the grain and hay. In order to prevent the danger of fire, all the inhabitants
have been cautioned to move the threshing floors and areas for drying grain to
a distance from the colony.
They sell the grain in
the city of
Completed
with signatures of the Vorsteher, Beisitzer, and best people.
Authenticated by Collegiate Assessor and Cavalier Sixtel
Notes:
A Collegial Assessor is a Russian Civil
Service ranking and equates roughly with Captain in the Artillery/Engineers; Rotmister/Reitmeister in the Cavalry
and Guards Cavalry; Staff-Captain in the
Guards Infantry or Senior Lieutenant in the Navy.
verst = about 3,500 feet
desyatina = about 2.7 acres
sazhen = about 1.8 to 2.2 meters
chetvert - about 210 liters
chetverik = about 26 liters
pood = about 36 pounds
Learn more about this topic...
Review The 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga - Volumes 1 and 2, 1991, by Brent Alan Mai, published and available from AHSGR.
Read Human Capital: The Settlement of foreigners in Russia 1762-1804 by Roger P. Bartlett.
Read The German Colonies on the Volga: The Second Half of the Eighteenth Century by Igor R. Pleve, 2001, published and available from AHSGR.
Review the 1775 and 1798 Census for Norka, published and available from AHSGR.
Help preserve the history and heritage of the Volga Germans by sharing your knowledge, family information, stories and photographs on this website.
Contact Steve Schreiber.