Voyage to Russia

A voyage is defined as "a course of travel or passage, especially a long journey by water to a distant place" and this was certainly true for the colonists bound for Russia.

Russian recruiters had carried Catherine's Manifesto throughout the Germanic parts of Europe, luring thousands with its promises of a better life in a far away land.

Given that the majority of Norka colonists were from Isenburg or Hessen, it is likely that most gathered in the town of Büdingen. Büdingen was a center of operations for the Russian crown recruiters and a convenient journey for many would be colonists. In Büdingen, the colonists signed documents and prepared for the the journey to the Baltic Sea port of Lübeck. Many marriages occurred in Büdingen before the long journey began, perhaps to comply with the requirement that only married couples were allowed to immigrate.

Igor Pleve provides a detailed description of the voyage in his books titled "Lists of Colonists in Russia in 1766 – Ivan Kuhlberg’s Reports" and "The German Colonies on the Volga: The Second Half of the Eighteenth Century".

Lübeck had long been a part of Hanseatic League, a medieval merchantile association that prospered from maritime trade in northern Europe.

When the colonists reached Lübeck, they were housed in purpose built barracks and given a daily allowance of 16 Kreuzers (in English - Kreutzer) for men, 10 Kreuzers for women and adolescents and 6 Kreuzers for a baby.

The Russian government initially contracted for transport ships from Lübeck merchants. When it became apparent that the flow of colonists was greater than the Lübeck ship capacity initially under contract, two large English frigates capable of carrying up to 1,100 people were chartered. Several Russian packet boats and pinks also provided significant assistance in transporting the colonists. Packet boats would generally carry 70 to 80 people and the pinks would generally carry 280 to 290 people per voyage. These sailing vessels were normally used for cargo, not transporting passengers.

Pleve states that lists of the colonists were made in Lübeck as they boarded the ships. These records were necessary for the compensation of the Russian appointed Commissioners, Christoph Heinrich Schmidt (a Lübeck merchant) and his successor Gabriel Christian Lemke (a Lübeck lawyer). Each Commissioner received 1/2 Thaler per departed colonist. Unfortunately, the long sought after departure records have not been found.

The sailing from Lübeck across the Baltic Sea to the Russia could take weeks or in some cases a month. One of the last sights the colonists would see were the many church spires of Lübeck that shaped the city's skyline and the old light house at Trävemunde which dates to 1539.

Pleve states that from May to September of 1766, 22,711 colonists arrived in Russia from Lübeck. This amounted to over 74 percent of the total colonists that arrived in Russia between 1763 and 1772 and comprised the vast majority all of the Norka colonists listed in the 1767 census.

Most of the colonists arriving in Russia by sea first disembarked at Kronstadt where their documents were verified and customs inspections were made. Kronstadt was an island fortress designed to protect the sea lanes to St. Petersburg. From Kronstadt, the colonists were sent by oared boats, manned by Russian sailors, to Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov) on the mainland.

After arrival in the port of Oranienbaum, the Titular Counselor Ivan Kuhlberg was charged with making lists of the colonists for the Chancery of Oversight of Foreigners. The lists were made for each ship arrival and included the date of arrival in Russia, the port of departure, who owned the ship, the name of the ship and the name of the captain. The colonists were each listed by name and usually grouped in families. Generally, their place of origin in Western Europe is provided along with their religion, age and occupation. The recording of this information is inconsistent from list to list and was dependent on the work of each of the Russian clerks who often had a poor understanding of the German language.

A large group of colonists that would settle in Norka sailed from Lübeck and arrived in Oranienbaum, Russia (near St. Petersburg) on August 9, 1766 aboard the pink named "Slon" (the Russian word for Elephant) which was commanded by Lieutenant Sergey Panov. Over forty families, primarily from Isenburg, traveled together on this ship. Three Vorsteher (leaders) are noted in this ship list prepared by Kuhlberg's clerks: Johann Conrad Weigandt, Johann Heinrich Brill and Phiipp Peter Roth. Norka was originally called Weigandt by the colonists in the early years of settlement to honor their primary leader, Johann Conrad Weigandt.

The colonists stayed in Oranienbaum for an average of one or two months learning about Russian laws and traditions. Each colonist also took an oath of loyalty to the Russian crown. The colonists received an allowance of 12 to 18 rubles per family or 4 rubles for single and unmarried people. Medical care was provided by Dr. Prais at a hospital near the Alexander Nevsky monastery. Before departing on the next part of journey to the Volga, the colonists obtained winter clothing and necessary household items.

On its face, Catherine's Manifesto allowed the colonists to settle anywhere he or she desired. In practice, the colonists were strongly directed by Kuhlberg and his assistants to settle near Saratov. Kuhlberg had to persuade many colonists, especially artisans, to continue on the lower Volga where they could practice their trade as well as farming.

This page was last updated on 28 Dec. 2011.

This image of Lübeck was created by Matthäus Merian the elder in the 17th century. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Sailing frigate. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The old Trävemunde lighthouse built in 1539. This photo is the work of Carsten Clasohm and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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