History of the Village of Hussenbach
Location
HUSSENBACH Linevo Ozero, Saratov, Volga, located at 50º53' N 44º49' E.
Hussenbach [Eustenbach] (Linevo Osero) is in the Kanton of Frank, in the Province of Saratov, and is on the Bergseite (hillside) or west of the Volga River. The colony was founded on 16 May 1767 by the Russian Crown. It was established as a Lutheran village and is located on the Medvidetsa River. It is also known as: Linevo Osero, Linevo Ozero, Linjowo Osero, and Ustenbach). Hussenbach is located in the A-5 quadrant on Stumpp map #6.
Founding
The founders of Hussenbach were 118 families who came from Brandenburg, Saxony, the Palatinate and Darmstadt. The village was named for the surname of the first mayor (Vorsterer) Jakob Hussenbach. (Spack) He died before 1788 and his widow Anna Maria Hussenbach nee Bierbach married Philipp Roth in the village of Grimm.
According to Bernd G. Längin in The Russian Germans under the Double Eagle and the Soviet Star: Bernhardt von Platen (Blathen, Blaten) in 1766 as "an officer and aristocrat in good standing" offered his services to Catherine II. He was not typical of the German immigrants who came to Russia based on his social standing. In Lübeck, where he was an unemployed officer, the statement of the recruitment agent for Russian colonists, "the land where milk and honey flows" made an impression on Platen. During the "six week long voyage by boat" to Oranianbaum, Platen began in his "Description of Colonists' Travels and of the Russia Style of Life" to document his travels in poetic form:
What a deep heartache
that I must leave Germany
and now as colonist
must endure many trials and sorrows.
Distress and much frustration
on water and on land,
that is why I feel so cross
in this new state.
Since Platen was not hired as an officer in Catherine's service, he allowed himself to be persuaded to go to the Volga as a "colonist." After spending a long winter in Torzhok, he headed down the Volga for Saratov along with one hundred and thirty seven families in the spring of 1767.
I thought to myself:
is this the beautiful place
that does not even have a gate
much less a portal?
The long torture is like death.
We have surrendered,
at whatever cost
to life in the wilderness.
Platen who was soon bankrupt, in the wild barren wastes, becomes a co-founder of the Hussenbach Colony.
...And now we are divided up
just like in Noah's Ark.
He who has nothing to eat
must get ready to fast.
Platen later becomes the first school master of Jost and continues to write rhymes. His work begins to include Russian expressions such as Matushka and Baba as they are absorded in to his vocabulary. He comes to terms with the fact that he is no longer an aristocrat but a lowly farmer.
No noble character
no right of office
no officer needed:
The only thing you need to be
is farmers
and there is no help for you.
Platen writes about the cultivation of the steppes as follows:
There you have your patch of land
Now toil for your daily bread,
You'll have to work
Until your death.
And even when you've toiled enough
And have completed your task
There will still be great need,
much work and little bread. (Platen 15-17)
“A group of 219 colonists arrived in Oranienbaum on May 4, 1766 on the ship ‘Kleine Andreas,’ under the leadership of Vorsteher Jacob Hussenbach, a tailor of the Lutheran faith from Frankfurt am Main. The next year a large part of this group founded ‘the colony of Vorsteher Hussenbach,’ or simply Hussenbach (Linevo Osero).” (Pleve 136)
The German villages were not given names at the time of their founding. The Crown and its directors had reserved this right for themselves. By decree on February 26, 1768 Hussenbach colony was officially named Lake Linevo. (Linevo Osero) derived from the nearby lake, Linevo, -- and it was not carried out until later that year, more than four years after the first colony, Dobrinka, was established.
Since the Colonies in the earliest years had no names, the colonist resorted to naming their colonies by giving the names of their first community leaders. In accordance with this, the names of the settlers were inscribed in the church records by the clergy as follows: Johannes Suppes from the colony of the overseer J. Hussenbach…These tedious repetitions in the church records, however, soon disappeared, giving way to briefer statements, saying that the colonists were from the colony “Hussenbach.” (Beratz 66-7)
According to Richard Wink, Hussenbach was founded by a German Army Officer. In the same newsletter Gerda S. Walker of Denver, CO: speculates on how “Hussenbach got its name… Many Volga villages got their German names from the leader who brought them from Germany…In this case, it could have been derived from the word ‘Hussar’ (light-armed cavalryman with brilliant uniform) since the village was founded by an army officer…Another speculation is perhaps it was named after a ‘village called Huzenbach in the Black Forest Region of Germany’ in the Murgtal Valley (Southwest of Stuttgart) near Freudenstadt.”(Spack) (I researched this village in spring (May 1985)…no conclusion, no findings-Dick Wink).
It is interesting to note that in Beratz, The German Colonies on the Lower Volga, Frank and Hussenbach have the exact same founding statistics:
Frank (Medveditzkoi-Krestovoi-Buyerak), B. 16 May 1767, pop.: 115 fam., 282 m., 243f., total 525;
Hussenbach (Linevo Osero) B., 16 May 1767, pop.: 115 fam., 282 m., 243f., total 525. (Beratz 349-50)
Then in the Appendix of the book, Adam Giesinger has supplied the following statistical information from the 1769 Census published in AHSGR Work Paper No. 25 Winter 1977, pp.4-9.
Linevo-Osero [Hussenbach], 118 fam., 240 m., 198 f., total 438;
Krestovoi-Medvedizko-Buyerak [Frank], 115 fam., 215 m., 210 f., total 425. (Beratz 358-59)
Although the population of both villages has decreased since the founding date, the number of families in Frank remains the same, leading me to believe that the founding statistics for Hussenbach are missing.
From the AHSGR Workpaper #25, translated by Adam Giesinger, comes the following statistics from “The First statistical Report on the Volga Colonies,” dated February 14, 1769, written by Count Orlov. Linevo Osero was located 102 versts from Saratov. It was a colony established by the Crown. There were 118 families of which 108 were suited for agriculture and 10 families were not. The population consisted of 240 males and 198 females, totaling 438 people. The villages possess the following livestock: 300 horses, 9 work oxen, 443 cows and calves, 11 sheep, and 21 swine. Last fall the village harvested 1,520 chetvert, 3 chetverik of grain. They have sown 252 chetvert, 1 chetverik of Fall rye for next summer. The have constructed the following buildings: 120 houses, 120 graineries and 120 stables.
First Settlers
No “First Settlers List” has been found for Hussenbach. A Reconstructed First Settlers List has been constructed. From this List a number of origin locations have been identified for families of Hussenbach. Origins of families can be viewed here on my Trello board: trello.com/b/wfFBjd5e/hussenbach-germanic-origins-work-in-progress
Surnames of families who lived in Hussenbach where origins have been identified are as follows as of July 2023:
Adolph, Baumung, Bautz, Bechtold, Ebert, Frank, Fries, Fuchs, Funk, Götz, von der Heit, Herrmann, Hetzel, Hilt, Hoffmann (Johann Adam), Ickes (Ix), Kildau, Körbel, Leis, Mill, Päppler, Rommel, Rothenberger, Sauerbrei, Schätzel, Sening, Streck, Suppes, Windecker, Zimmermann, Zinn.
Some of these families moved into the village at a later date. There are also many spelling variations of the surnames, but I have standardized them in the village database, so you family might be found using a different spelling. For example, Bechtold can be found as Bechtoldt, Beztold, Betzhold, Petzhold, Pechtoldt etc.
Village Life
The village belonged to the Lutheran parish of Frank. A wooden church was first built in 1785; then in 1821, the church was rebuilt. A third church was built of pine wood construction and had a metal roof. In 1896 it was destroyed by fire and a new church was built in 1903-1905 of backstein, a type of adobe. It was a large church and had seating for 2,500. The diocese, of which Hussenbach was a part, was located at Frank, and included the parishes of Frank, 4,493 parishioners; Walter, 4,354 parishioners; Kolb, 1,810 parishioners; and Hussenbach, 3,540 parishioners (need date for this statistic). In the year 1905 Hussenbach had 4,872 parishioners.
The pastors of the diocese were:
- 1768-1770 Pastor Mittelstadt, Johann Friedrich
- 1771-1776 Pastor Heitzig, Johann Friedrich
- 1777-
- 1778-1782 Pastor Ahlbaum, Laurentius
- 1782-1786 Pastor Buttner, Samuel Traugott
- 1787-
- 1788-1817 Pastor Flither, Franz August (may be Flittner)
- 1818-1820 Pastor Flither, David (may be Flittner)
- 1820-1837 Pastor Holz, Franz
- 1838-1868 Pastor Wurthner, Jakob
- 1868-1878 Pastor David, Ernest Theophil
- 1879-1882 Pastor Dittrich
- 1883-
- 1884-1901 Pastor Roos, Karl Rudolph
- 1901-1914 Pastor Somelt, Michael
- 1915-1916
- 1917-1920 Pastor Kluck, Arthur Julius
- 1921-1925
- 1925-1930 Pastor Stabb, Konrad
- Pastor Stabb served in Kamyschin 1922-1925. After serving Frank/Hussenbach/Kolb/Walter he was arrested in Kamyschin in 1934 where he was murdered, tortured or starved in 1938. (Kissler)
The first parochial school was built in 1773. In the story "Ich bin ein Hussenbacher" by Jacob Hoffman (As Told to His Son, Jack W. Hoffmann) printed in the Hussenbach Review December 1995, he states "The schulmeister (teacher) in Hussenbach, from 1880 to approximately 1919 was the Reverend David Maul. Mr. Schira apparently followed him as a teacher." The school had 735 scholars.
In the village there was: a water mill, oil mills, tanneries and sarpinka cloth weaving industry, basketry, ambulance, veterinary office; savings and loan office. In the Soviet period the co-operative store, farm credit partnership, two primary schools, reading-room cottage, a mobile library (1926); horticultural college, hospital (1932). In 1931 the village was organized into Hussenbach Machine Tractor Station serving four collective farms: Stalin, Voroshilov, Karl Liebknecht, (all in Hussenbach) and Lenins Werk (in Neu-Balzer). In 1933, the first vegetable canning plant was built by the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans (ASSR NP). (Spack)
Population changes
The number of residents in different years:
Year Pop. Families Males Females
1769: 438 118 240 198
1773: 525
1788: 701 109 342
1798: 907 140 471 436
1816: 1397 180 694 703
1834: 2305 276 1,170 1,135
1850: 3062 289 1,551 1,511
1859: 3578 358 1,757 1,821
1862: 3678 322 1,819 1,859
1886: 4380 562 2,241 2,139
1897: 4661/4657 it.
1905: 7350
1911: 8198
1920: 6783
1922: 6554
1923: 6400
1926: 6774/6727 it.
1931: 7287/7274 it.
1939: 7137
Land Allotment
Hussenbach was given an allotment of land of 21,278 dessiatinas including 11,374 dessiatinas of arable land. In 1834 with the 8th Revision list of 1834, this amounted to an allotment of about 15 dessiatines per adult male, by the 10th Revision list of 1857 the land allotment to each adult male was down to 6 ½ dessiatinas. One dessiatina equals 2.7 acres or 10,900 sq. meters. There are about 900 dessiatinas of forest land (oak, aspen, linden, inc.) three fourths are firewood and one fourth is building wood. In 1864 the forest was divided into 30 lots and every year only one lot is felled. The forest is guarded by four forest guards. Houses are heated partly with firewood but mostly with mist. There is no need to buy wood/mist outside of the colony. Mist is pressed dried cow manure mixed with straw. There are more than 600 dessiatinas of meadowland most of which are water meadows.(Minkh)
Government
Hussenbach, until 1917 belonged to the district of the German colony of Norka, and after 1871, it was a rural municipality, Linevo Ozero village, Ozersky Linevo parish, Kamyshin district, Saratov province. The area of the village of Hussenbach belonged to Kamyshin kanton, Saratov province until 1922. In July of 1922, by decree of the RSFSR SNK in October 19, 1918, created a new territorial unit: Area of the Volga Germans, converted in January 1924 to ASSR NP. From January 1924 to August 28, 1941 Linevo was part of the Frankish Kanton of the Autonomous Republic of the Volga Germans. Hussenbach was the administrative center of the village council. (in 1926 in the village council was composed of Hussenbach and Propp). In the years 1935-1941, Hussenbach was the center of the Frankish canton of ASSR NP.
Tragic was the life of the Volga Germans in the XX century. First the 1917 revolution, followed by the civil war, and then organization into the collective farms and dispossession. They were branded in mass as traitors to Russia and faced massive military and civilian patriotism. Hundreds of thousands were victims of dispossession, the Gulag, the resettlement in 1941, and the restrictions of many civil rights in the choice of place of residence prior to November 1972.
- SNK and the CPSU (b) on August 26, 1941 Volga German Republic was liquidated.
- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on August 28, 1941 "... the State Defense Committee ordered to make urgent resettlement of the Volga Germans."
- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on September 7, 1941 in the Stalingrad area of the former Republic of Nempovolzhya was included Frankish area.
- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on April 4, 1942 The Frankish area was renamed Medvedickaja. The Decree renamed the former Hussenbahskaya MTS to Linevskuyu. Hussenbahskaya village council was in Linevsky. Throughout the former Frankish kanton, Russian replaced former the German district names. Regional center of the area was the village Medveditsa.
- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on December 13, 1955 were restricted in the choice of domicile in respect of the Germans and their families.
- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of August 14, 1959, Medveditsa district center moved from village to the town of Linevo Zhirnovsk. Medvedickaja area renamed Zhirnovsky district.
- It was only November 3, 1972 was issued Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet for the lifting of restrictions in the choice of residence for certain categories of citizens (and hence for the Germans from the former Volga German Republic).
In 1941 the following church records were transferred from the Engels Archive, and have been located in the Volgograd Archives:
For Linevo Osero:
Births: 1818-1861, 1892-1895 1896-1904, 1906-1909. Records are missing for part of 1904, all of 1905, and part of 1906.
Marriages: 1818-1838, 1902-1908.
Deaths: 1818-1858,1862-1881, 1891-1895, 1900-1908.
For Gashon:
Births: 1861-1876, 1877-1891.
Marriages: 1878-1902.
Deaths: 1882-1890, 1896-1899.
Movement and emigration
As the colony grew and there became a shortage of farm land, members of the colony of Hussenbach moved to the daughter colonies of Neu-Hussenbach, Ährenfeld, Langenfeld, Neu-Bauer.
Hussenbach, also known as Neu-Hussenbach, Gashon, was first, a German Lutheran colony in the Lower Eruslanskoy parish, then part of the rural municipality Gussenbahskoy, Novouzensk district, Samara region (until 1917). It is located at 50 ° 55 ' north latitude and 46 ° 45 ' east longitude, on the right bank of the Gashon river, 552 versts from the city of Samara and 120 versts from the town of Novouzensk. The nearest railway station of Krasny Kut is 12 miles away. Neu-Hussenbach was founded in 1860, by settlers from the colonies of Hussenbach, Dittel, Huck, Norka and Grimm. Located in the E-5 quadrant on Stumpp map #6. Multiple Hussenbach families moved to Neu-Hussenbach.
Langenfeld was a German colony at Eruslan river, Lower Eruslanskoy parish, in Novouzensk., Samara province., 542 versts from Samara, 103 versts from Saratov. The distance to the nearest railway station of Krasny Kut is 2 versts. Inhabited by German Lutheran colonists there is a house of worship, schools in rural and parochial, and 6 wind mills. Langenfeld was a daughter colony, founded in 1859 by immigrants from the colonies of Mühlberg, Dittel, Hussenbach, Huck, and Norka. It was settled between the years 1855-67. The Bazen, Bösel, Boleks, Dechert, Hämmel, Hoffmann, Keib, Leis, Rothenberger, Schäfer, Siebert, Simon, Suppes, and Uffelmann were settlers in Langenfeld.
Neu Bauer was a German colony at Salsola river, Lower Eruslanskoy parish, in Novouzensk., Samara province., 555 versts from Samara and 118 versts. from Saratov. The distance to nearest railway station of Fridenfeld is 4 versts. Inhabited by Lutheran Germans colonists there was a house of worship, schools, a vegetable oil factory, a steam bath and three windmills. Neu-Bauer was daughter colony, founded in 1859 by immigrants from the colonies of Bauer and Hussenbach, settled between the years 1855-67. A Heinze family settled in Neu-Bauer.
Ährenfeld, also Erntefeld, Krattske, Gradski was a German colony at Eruslan river, Lower Eruslanskoy parish, in Novouzensk., Samara province., 560 versts from Samara and 125 versts from Saratov. It is located at 50 ° 44 ' north latitude and 47 ° 03' east longitude. The distance to nearest railway station of Fridenfeld is 8 versts away. Ährenfeld is inhabited by German Lutheran colonists and there was a Lutheran church, schools, brickyard, and 2 wind mills. It was a daughter colony, founded in 1855 by immigrants from the colonies of Dittel, Hussenbach, Franzosen, Kratzke, Merkel, and Bauer. It was settled between the years 1855-67. The Stenzel family moved to Ährenfeld.
Later in 1871 when Alexander II withdrew many of the privileges originally provided to the Volga German, including freedom from military service and instruction in the German language in the schools, colonists began to look overseas to emigrate. Hussenbachers are known to have immigrated to the United States, Canada and Argentina.
The following families immigrated to these places in the United States:
Dewald to New York City, NY
Suppes to Buffalo, NY
Bauer to South Fork, PA
Keib, Schwab, Weschenfelder to Chicago, IL
Leiss to Hillsboro, KS
Propp, Besel to Russell, KS;
Stengel to Marion, KS
Kirsch to Lincoln, NE
Schilling to Scottsbluff, NE
Schneidmuller to McCook, NE
Mohr to Pigeon, MI
Hoffmann, Mehling to Fort Collins, CO
Ebert to Billings, MT
Heinze, Ostwald, Schiffner, Schwartz, Starkel to Walla Walla WA
Bedel, Bessel, Ebert, Fuchs, Galinat, Geist, Gutlich, Heimel, Herrmann, Hirsch, Hugel, Jordan, Kannwischer, Keil, Kempel, Kroh, Leiss, Marker, Pauli, Pfeifer, Repp, Rommel, Rudolf, Schneider, Suppes, Wagner, Weitzel, Windeiker to Unknown destination.
These families went to the following places in Canada:
Dewald, Fuchs, Rommel, Rothenberger to Yorkton, Sask. Canada
Dewald to Winnipeg, Sask., [Manitoba] Canada
Burbach to Winnipeg, Manitoba
These families went to Argentina:
Fuchs, Herrmann, Kirsch, Kreutzer, Kroh, Miller, Pfeiffer, Schäfer, Schilling, Spierer, Weitzel, Windecker.
Today Hussenbach, now Linevo, one of the existing settlements in Frank Kanton; a considerable portion of the old German buildings have been preserved. The site where the German church once stood is now occupied by an open-air dance hall. The old German cemeteries no longer exist. One of them, situated right next to the church, was turned into a school sports ground in 1973. During the WWII the deceased from the local hospital were buried in the cemetery. Back then the hospital occupied an old German building, which is being referred to as the "Red School" by the local Russians. Later on in the 1970s some of the soldiers' graves were moved to the village's central square some 300 meters away; this new spot is now marked by a monument. The second cemetery was situated next to the local collective farm's garage and mechanic's shop; there was a new residential community constructed there after the WWII. This is probably the cemetery at where Jakob Propp was buried. The newest cemetery was founded around 1945-1948. This cemetery is a mixed one, with both Russian and German graves that date from the 1970s through the 2000s. (Spack)
In 2003, the village of Linevo is in Zhirnovsky district of the Volgograd Oblast. The population is 7.2 thousand. There are schools, hospitals, shops, market, church, and gas and heating oil supply. Six kilometers west, at the Medveditsa River exists a habitat of rare and endangered plants listed in the "Red Book". A monument of nature is planned to be created (0.04 m) at “Blue Mountain,”. At 13 km northeast of Hussenbach are exploited deposits of stone building materials, and 12 km to the east - manifestations of aluminum ore. (Spack)
In 2009 Alexander Spack visited the Frank Kanton villages. Here is a description of their current state at that time:
"A short description follows regarding the condition of the German settlements, cemeteries and existing graves sites that were visited
1. Propp Khutor - non-existent, though the location of the buildings which once stood and the old orchard are visible and easy to locate. There was no cemetery in this settlement. Its founder and owner, Jakov Fillipovitch Propp, aka Jakob des Philipps Propp, was buried at the cemetery in Hussenbach.
2. Hussenbach, now Linevo - existing settlement; a considerable portion of the old German buildings has been preserved. The site where the German church once stood is now occupied by an open-air dance hall. The old German cemeteries no longer exist. One of them, situated right next to the church, was turned into a school sportsground in 1973. During the WWII the deceased from the local hospital were buried in the cemetery. Back then the hospital occupied an old German building, which is being referred to as the "Red School" by the local Russians. Later on in the 1970s some of the soldiers' graves were moved to the village's central square some 300 meters away; this new spot is now marked by a monument. The second cemetery was situated next to the local collective farm's garage and mechanic's shop; there was a new residential community constructed there after the WWII. This is probably the cemetery where Jakob Propp was buried at. The newest cemetery was founded around 1945-1948. This cemetery is a mixed one, with both Russian and German graves that date from the 1970s through the 2000s." (Spack)
A link to the full text of the article: wolgadeutsche.net/spack/reise_eng/Reise_1.htm
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Beratz, Gottlieb, The German Colonies on the Lower Volga: Their Origin and Early Development. By Beratz. Ed. Adam Giesinger. Trans. Leona W. Pfeifer, LaVern J. Rippley, and Dona Reeves-Marquardt. 1914. Lincoln: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1991. 66-370. Print.
2. Kissler, Clarence. "Pastors of Frank, Russia." Village of Frank, Russia. N.p., n.d. Web.
10 July 2011. <http://www.bouldernet.com/frank/index.html>.
3. Längin, Bernd G. The Russian Germans under the Double Eagle and the Soviet Star. Ed. Alex Herzog & Dr. Nancy Herzog. Trans. Jack Thiessen & Audrey Poetker. Fargo: Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, 2013. 15-17. Print.
4. Mai, Brent Alan, and Sixtel. "Hussenbach." 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga: Economy, Population, and Agriculture. Vol. 1. Lincoln: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1999. 17, 117-18. Print.
5. Minkh, A. N. “History and Geography Dictionary of Saratov Province.” Linevo Osero, Hussenbach. Transl by Dr. Mila Koretnikov.
6. Pleve, Igor R. The German Colonies on the Volga: The Second Half of the Eighteenth Century. Lincoln: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2001. N. pag. Print.
7. Spack, Alexander, comp. "Gussenbah." Die Geschichte Der Wolgaduetschen. wolgadeutsche.net, 2011. Web. 8 July 2011. <http://wolgadeutsche.net/list/hussenbach.htm> ,
https://wolgadeutsche.net/spack/reise_eng/Reise_1.htm.