The Germans were a hard working and religious people.  They greatly cherished their heritage and customs.  It was important to them to make sure their children had a good education. They took much pride in their culture and history and valued having a good school and church.  That is one important reason that they came to Russia.  The Manifesto, inviting them to resettle, had granted them the freedom to still be Germans in the country of Russia.  It said that they did not have to give up their beliefs and customs to live there.         

The Volga Germans, as they came to be known for they settled around the Volga River, came from Germany to live in Russia on request of Catherine the Great.  She had issued a Manifesto in 1763 inviting foreign peasants, particularly German, to come and settle the Black Sea region and along the lower Volga River.  The Czarina especially encouraged German settlement because she, formerly being of German royalty, knew they would set a good agricultural example for the Russian people.  The Germans had skills in farming the land that would in turn produce food for the country.  Another purpose for settling these areas was to set up a barrier against the previously hostile Tartars and Mongols.  Her invitation resulted in approximately100,000 ethnic German immigrants living along the lower Volga River and around the Black Sea. 

The German settlers did not live out on their farmland, but resided in colonies built on free land provided by the government.  The church and school buildings were built in the center of the colony surrounded by closely assembled houses.  Both of the buildings were constructed by the people of that colony.  The funding of the buildings came from donations of the local people.  The State didn’t give any money for the construction.  Also, all the labor was contributed by the people of that community.  They were more than willing to give up time, effort, and money to build the best structure they could.  The churches were magnificently built, for these people had remarkable artistic talent.  It is especially seen in the intricacy of the sculptures and designs on the arched ceilings and beautiful structures in, on, and around the buildings.

 Children went to school starting between six and eight years old and ending as early as thirteen.  An average school year was six months in the winter, for their parents needed as much help as possible during seeding and harvest times.  Pupils used basic tools and had very simple furniture.  They had sturdy wooden benches for the pupils to sit on.  There was about one slate for every four to seven children.  Textbooks that were used consisted of the ABC-primer, the Catechism, and the Bible History.  So-called Stechtage, class contests in spelling and arithmetic, or quizzes in religion, were given once or twice a week.  Students were seated with the girls on the left and the boys on the right.  Teachers sat on an elevated chair attached to a desk at the front of the room.  Schoolmasters had many responsibilities.  The following is an example of the duties of a typical village’s teacher:  

     1. To teach three hours in the forenoon and three hours in the afternoon.                  
     2. To teach Catechism one hour every Sunday.                                                     
     3. To ring the Angelus bell three times a day.                                                                   
     4. To teach the children to read and write German, to recite Latin, and do
         arithmetic.                   
     5. To teach four boys to serve Mass, and instruct at least six boys in chora 
         singing.                     
     6. To assist the priest according to custom.
     7. to conduct one hour of prayer on Saturdays, and ordinary devotions on Sundays    
         and holy days.
     8. To stay away from the tavern, on pain of dismissal.
     9. To refrain from reading forbidden books.
   10. To refrain from profane language, on penalty of salary deduction.
   11. To receive the clerical school supervisors with courtesy.
   12. For weighty and approved reasons, the schoolmaster can be dismissed with the
         approval of the pastor.

 The majority of the Volga Germans belonged to the Lutheran Evangelical Church.  There was also the Roman Catholics and only a few sparse others in the Volga region.  Regular attendance at church services was a must.  Any kind of fieldwork was forbidden on Sundays. They took the phrase “Thou shalt sanctify the holy day” very seriously.  Quite a bit of authority was given the church.  Earlier on, in the first few decades, the school was actually subject to the church. 

It was common for a pastor to have as many as six or seven different colonies to tend to at a time; therefore, a church would not usually have their own personal pastor to be there every Sunday.  Sometimes a village would not have a pastor for months on end.  A family, occasionally, would go to a different pastor for emergency burial or something of that sort if there wasn’t going to be a preacher of their own denomination in the area for a while.  Pastors were greatly needed and appreciated at this time.

 Preserving their German heritage was one of the top priorities of these settlers to Russia.  Their schools and churches did much to strengthen and influence the carrying-on of there culture to their children.   The Russian Germans were and continue to be a noteworthy illustration of courage and determination to us all.  They certainly made their mark upon history and have influenced our world for good.