A cultural history of the Volga-Germans in Ellis County with special references to their music.

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to present a study of the five original Volga-German settlements of Ellis County, Kansas, which were established by the Volga-Germans in 1876 and 1877: Catherine, Munjor, Herzog (Victoria), Pfeifer, and Schoenchen. Although the inhabitants were German by nationality, their ancestors had left Germany in 1763 at the invitation of Catherine II of Russia. l These people lived for over a century in self-imposed isolation on the land alloted for colonies along the Volga River in the southeastern part of Russia, retaining to a large entent their own language, customs, music, and religion. 2 Although they were not greatly influenced by the Russians around them, they lost practically ell contact with their native Germany. After immigrating to the United States in 1876, their customs differed from those of both contemporary Germany and Russia. The immigrants who settled in the United States had a stable, rural culture which they maintained at first by isolation as they had in Russia. The Volga-German culture became so Americanized toward the end of the eighteenth century that isolated villages proved to be impractical. The Volga-Germans who live in the United states today are numerically the smaller part of the Volga-Germans who settled the Volga region in Russia. Only a small part of the Ellis County Volga-German history and folklore has been recorded, and nothing has been recorded regarding their music. Therefore, the writer, himself a descendent of the Volga-Germans, feels it is urgent that his generation dedicate itself to collecting and preserving the history and folklore of his people. The purpose of the music in this thesis is twofold; to reinforce some of the cultural information that appears within, and to retain a few of the most popular, most loved songs of the Volga-German culture. --------1Gottlieb Bauer, Geschichte der deutschen Ansiedler an der Wolga (Saratow, Russia: Saratow Publishing Co., 1908; pp. -10. 2John Geddie, The Russian Empire (London: Nelson and Sons, 1882), p. 184. --