German settlements in Russia have been known since the ancient
times, however larger settlements appeared only after the “Мanifesto” issued by
Empress Catherine II. Settling in Volga Region, Novorossiya, Crimea, the Caucasus,
and Siberia, German colonists preserved German language, customs, traditions,
songs, tales, household items, musical instruments, costumes, and cuisine — all
those identity and ethnic codes that tied them to their historical homeland and,
at the same time, distinguished them from the neighboring nations. Autonomous
and closed character of German settlements in Russia, their long-term isolation
from their nation and its cultural and historical core as well as the impossibility of
modernization in step with their historical motherland contributed to the preservation
of language and elements of the immigrant traditional culture in the alien
environment. Vegetation was carried out at the expense of inner resources and those
of the neighboring nations leading to the transformation of “the national spirit and
manners.” New sub-ethnic group of “Russian Germans” formed a considerable part
of the pre-revolutionary Russian population but at the beginning of the 20th century,
due to the unfavorable political and military circumstances, the state forced
administrative sanctions on German population that led to further destruction of
the ethnic area as well as of the cultural, social, and economic conditions necessary
for its development. Later, this situation got worse due to the Stalin regime, Nazi attack
on the Soviet Union, and general reluctance of the state to preserve this ethnic
group in a favorable condition. In the 1990s, Russian Germans massively resettled
in Germany. Over the past 20 years, the number of the settlers has decreased by seven
times. In Germany, “Russian Germans” faced the question of self-identity. If until
the beginning of the 20th century their heritage language had been one of the German
dialects, at the end of the century, Russian language and culture have become
heritage for Russian Germans. Germans living in Russia today actively integrate
with Germany compensating for the loss of their unique identity in the 20th century.