Orenburg state university

German colonists in the Orenburg region

OSU Professor Tatyana Gerasimenko, the Head of the Department of Geography and Regional studies, took part in the round table “Russia and the scientific heritage of Alexander von Humboldt” and ethno-cultural marathon “In the footsteps of the Volga Germans”.

The events took place in the Historical-Ethnographic and Architectural Museum-Reserve “Old Sarepta” (Volgograd), a former German colony. The program was dedicated to the 190^th anniversary of the German traveler’s scientific expedition, the largest naturalist of the XIX century in Russia.

Russian and German scientists at the round-table discussed complex researches on von Humboldt, as well as the history and culture of Russian Germans. Tatyana Gerasimenko made a report about the cultural impact of German colonists in the history and geography of southeast Russia. The professor presented to her colleagues the findings of the research on the life and traditions of Germans Mennonites, the peculiarities of their settlements and transformations who had been living in the Orenburg region for 100 years and almost completely immigrated to Germany in the 90^s of XX century.