Germans from Russia Archives and Libraries

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Archives and Libraries
Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations such as churches or governments. Libraries generally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilm. This Wiki page describes the major repositories of genealogical and historical records and sources for researching Germans from Russia.

Although the records you need may be in a foreign archive or library, the Family History Library may have a digital or microfilm copy of them. Check the FamilySearch Catalog before writing to or visiting archives in Russia, Ukraine, former Soviet countries, or Germany. You may also want to check the holdings of major genealogical societies such as the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR), the Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS), or the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE). For more information about these societies, refer to the Germans from Russia Societies page on the Wiki.

Archives can generally be contacted via email or letter correspondence. To learn more about writing to an archive see the section Writing to an Archive in this Wiki article. Occasionally archives do not have the funding to respond to correspondences. In these cases, researchers must either visit the archives personally or hire an agent to do research for them. If you plan to visit one of these repositories, check their website, or contact the organization and ask for information about their collection, hours, services, fees, and whether they allow visitors. For tips on visiting archives in Russia, Ukraine, and the Former Soviet Union, please see the section Visiting an Archive in this Wiki article.
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Archives in Russia, Ukraine, and the Former Soviet Union
It's a common misconception that the Soviets systematically destroyed all genealogical records from the Russian Empire. In fact, the Soviet government did quite the opposite - metrical books, revision lists and other records were gathered, collected and preserved in state historical archives throughout the Soviet period. For example, the State Archive of the Saratov Oblast, an archive that holds many important Germans from Russia genealogical records, was established during the Soviet period.

Arrangement of Russian Archive Records:

Russian archive material is organized by фонд/fond (ф.), опись/opis (o.), and дело/delo (д). The fond, opis, and delo are similar to a library call number and are necessary for locating a specific record in an archive.

Фонд/Fond

The records in a фонд/fond are simply the records of a specific organization, portion of an organization, or an individual. An institution creates records for its own purpose and use. When the administrative or personal value of the records expires, they are transferred to an archive. Church records are often grouped together in one fond - for example, Lutheran church records may be grouped together in one fond, while Catholic records may be found in another.

Archives may also create collections as opposed to fonds. These collections contain records of differing authorship and are filed together on some logical or thematic basis. In some archives, therefore, vital records may be found in collections rather than fonds. These collections usually include records of more than one religious denomination.

Fonds and collections are often described in путеводители/putevoditeli. Путеводители/putevoditeli are essentially guides or findings aids to archival holdings. They help the reader understand what kind of materials and/or year ranges are contained within the fond or collection. Some putevoditeli are available only at the archive while others have been published online. When available, online putevoditeli have been linked to the corresponding archives in this Wiki page.

Дело/Delo

The individual item in a fond is a дело/delo, which can be translated as a file or volume. Each delo is given a title or number based upon the record type and contents. For example, church records from a specific parish could be considered as one delo. Within the delo, contents may be numbered with a page number, often referred to as the лист/list, or the page, sheet or leaf number. They may also be called единица хранения/storage unit (often abbreviated simply as ед. хр.). Items are usually filed chronologically by the earliest year of information found in that item.

Oпись/Opis

The inventory of files in a fond or collection is known as an опись/opis. While a fond is a statement of authorship, opis is a statement of content. An archive may have an established fond or collection, but as time goes on, more records that would fall under the fond or collection are added to the archive. The opis is an inventory of the documents submitted to the archive at one time. They are essentially an index or inventory of individual delo, or packets of documents. As such, the opis is the key to finding records in a fond and is considered the most significant finding aid used by researchers. Some opis are available only at the archive, while others have been published online. When available, online opis have been linked to the corresponding fonds and archives in this Wiki page.

A fond may have more than one opis. These sometimes reflect different types of material or blocks of material accession by the archives. The decision as to what to include in an opis is in the hands of the archival cataloger, and will vary significantly from archive to archive.

References to materials from Russian archives will generally follow a citation similar to this format:

Below you will find information about archives with documents and materials pertaining to Germans from Russia research. Most archives have an associated acronym which will be found in parentheses following the name of the archive. Each archive section contains contact information and in some cases, a description of records available at that archive. This Wiki page is still in process, so check back often to see if more information has been added.

St. Petersburg Central State Historical Archives
This archive contains duplicate vital records from the St. Petersburg Evangelical-Lutheran Consistory (Primarily Black Sea and Volhynia areas). These records; however, are available through FamilySearch. See Russia, Lutheran Church Book Duplicates, 1833-1885 and the Germans from Russia: Locating Church Records "How to" guide for more information about these records.

State Archive of the Saratov Oblast (GASO)
The State Archives of the Saratov Oblast contains records for both the Black Sea, Caucasus, and Volga areas. The following is a list of available record collections: Finding aids for Lutheran and Catholic parish records in the Volga region (Nikolaevsk and Novouzensk uyezdi) are available online through the Saratov Archives. To view which records are available for your ancestor’s Lutheran or Catholic parish in the Nikolaevsk and Novouzensk uyezdi (Volga region), visit http://saratov.rusarchives.ru/bd/metr_bd/index.html This web page is in Russian, but can be easily translated using the Google Chrome browser. Simply right click anywhere on the page and select the option Translate to English. To view the finding aid for Catholic records select the option beginning with Index to Metric books of the Roman Catholic Churches (Указатель к метрическим книгам римско-католических). To view the Lutheran finding aid, choose Index to the Metric Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Churches (Указатель к метрическим книгам евангелическо-лютеранских церквей). Keep in mind that although Google Translate may have translated it as “index,” this resource is not an index to church records, but rather, an index to the archive’s holdings.

Both the Catholic and Lutheran finding aids are organized alphabetically according to the Cyrillic alphabet. If you don’t know the name of the parish in Russian, please refer to Locating the Town with Websites and Gazetteers. The name of the parish/colony will appear first, followed by alternate names in parenthesis and then the name of the uyezd. For example, the entry for the Catholic colony of Mariental appears as follows: Мариенталь (Тонкошуровка, Советское), с., Новоузенский уезд. In English, this would read: Mariental (Tonkoshurovka, Sovetskoye), Novouzensk uyezd. Clicking on the entry brings up a chart with three columns. The first column, Год, or year, records information regarding the years of record coverage. The next column, Номер описи, lists the opis number. The final column Номер ед.хр. is the storage unit number. This information can be used to contact or visit the archive to retrieve the desired record.

State Archive of the Stavropol Krai (GASK)
The State Archive of the Stavropol Krai contains records for the North Caucasus region. German Evangelical Lutheran records are found in fond number 303. To learn more about these records and to see the opis, visit http://fonds.stavarhiv.ru/index.php?act=fund&fund=303. These records are not available online and can be obtained either by writing or visiting the archive.

State Archive of the Volgograd Oblast (GAVO)
The State Archive of the Volgograd Oblast contains various Evangelical Lutheran and Catholic metrical books for settlements in the Volga region. These records range from the early nineteenth century to the mid twentieth century. The archive has published a putevoditel online. To access the putevoditel, visit https://gavo.volgograd.ru/documents/spravochniki/putevoditel.pdf. Information regarding church records begins on page forty-three.

State Historical Archive of the Volga Germans (also known as Engels Archive) (GIANP)
The Engels archive contains records and information regarding the Volga Germans from 1764-1941. The archive was created during the Soviet period under the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans. It was a branch of the Saratov archives from 1945-2005, but is now an independent archive. The archive contains both Lutheran and Catholic church records as well as documents regarding colony affairs. The Engels archive website has an English option; however, more information is available in the Russian version, so use Google Translate to help you navigate the Russian webpage. For a list of their available collections, select фонды from the menu bar. For a catalog of documents prior to 1917, select Список фондов периода до 1917 года. To see what kinds of post 1917 documents are available, click on Список фондов периода после 1917 года.

The Engels archive provides genealogical look ups for a fee. Contact the email address above to begin a research request. The following lists their research fees as of 2019. Keep in mind that fees may be subject to change.

-Metrical book (church record) lookup for one year, one person: 1300 rubles.

-Family list record lookup: 1300 rubles

-Citizen list record lookup: 1300 rubles

-Index of record: 73 rubles (per page)

-Electronic copy of record: 59 rubles

The archive will begin research after they have received the payment and information including the surname and name of the person you are looking for and their birth year. The archive does not accept payments in anything but rubles, so it will be necessary to contact a friend, relative or genealogical researcher/company in Russia to complete the payment for you. If NIL results are found, payment will not be returned. The archive generally replies to inquires within two weeks and returns research to clients within four months.

State Archive of the Odessa Oblast
The State Archives of the Odessa Oblast was founded in 1921 and has documents from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The following table provides information regarding some of the records available at the State Archive of the Odessa Oblast.

State Archive of the Zhytomyr Oblast
The State Archive of the Zhytomyr Oblast, located in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, holds records for Germans living in the Volhynia area. A putevoditel is available online at http://www.archive.zt.gov.ua/left%20menu/vudav%20diyal/KMK_t1.pdf. Lists of archival holdings for Lutheran church records begin on page 94.

National Archive of the Republic of Moldova
The National Archives of the Republic of Moldova has church books for many Germans-speaking Roman Catholic and Lutheran congregations of Bessarabia in fond 211. See opis 22.

Central State Historical Archives of Belarus (Branch in Minsk)
The Central State Historical Archives of Belarus contains church books of the Lutheran Bishopric of Minsk, vital records of the Mogilev Roman Catholic Consistory, and revision list records for the Minsk gubernia. Explore the archival holdings at http://archives.gov.by/eng/.

State Archive of Latvia
Church records are available in the archive's online reading room, Raduraksti. To find church records for your German ancestors in the Baltics, go to http://www.lvva-raduraksti.lv/en.html and click on Register in the upper right hand corner to register for an account. Registration is free, but requires a valid email. After you have registered for an account, click on Contents. Next, choose Visual Archives, then Church Books. Your German ancestors will most likely be recorded in Evangelic Lutheran. Choose the parish or settlement and then select the church book you would like to view.

Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw
The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw has many records for Germans who lived in Volhynia. Many images are available for viewing online. To see if there are records for your ares, use this archive's website in conjunction with the resources available at https://sggee.org/research/parishes/church_parishes/LutheransInVolhyniaKievPodolia.html

Polish National Archives
The website, Szukaj w Archiwach, is a record repository for various regional websites across Poland. Some records are available online as digital images, while others are only available at their respective archives. You may find records here for those that lived in the Volhynia region.

Archives in Germany
Researchers who identify the German, French, Swiss, or Austrian town of origin of their German-speaking ancestors who settled in Russia can find information about significant archives and how to contact them in the “Archives and Libraries” page of the Germany Wiki. Four German archives in particular are important for researching Germans from Russia:



East German Genealogical Study Group [Arbeitsgemeinschaft ostdeutscher Familienforscher (AGoFF)] specializes in ancestors east of the Oder-Neiße line and east European settlements such as Russia and Moldova. The study group requests inquiries be typed and in the German language whenever possible.

Arbeitsgemeinschaft ostdeutscher Familienforscher    Nachtigallenweg 14     D-50997 Köln     GERMANY

The National Archives at College Park, Maryland (National Archives II)
The National Archives at College Park has a collection of Berlin war documents. Among those captured documents were EWZ records. They are available in A3342, Series EWZ (7,320 rolls). The Family History Library has some (but not all) of these records and a partial index to EWZ records can be found through the Odessa Digital Library (http://www.odessa3.org/collections/war/). To learn more about this collection at NARA, click here.

Family History Library
The FamilySearch Family History Library has acquired many records from various archives in Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union. It's a good idea to check the FamilySearch Catalog to see if records are available through FamilySearch before contacting or visiting an archive.

Germans from Russia Heritage Collection - University of North Dakota Library
The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection at the University of North Dakota Library has many great resources for Germans from Russia research; however, their collection is not focused on original records, but rather published translations of records as well as scholarship regarding the history and culture of Germans from Russia. This collection is focused primarily on the Black Sea region, but there are resources for other regions as well.

American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Research Library
The American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Library houses a large collection of published translations of records in edition to scholarship regarding the history and culture of Germans from Russia. The collection is focused primarily on Volga Germans, but there are resources available for other regions as well. The Library is typically open Monday-Friday, but appointments for Sundays can be made several weeks in advance. Visitors will be charged $15 for a half day of research or $30 for a full day of research.

Writing to an Archive
Do not assume that archive employees will be able to speak and/or read English. As a general rule of thumb, you should write your request in the language of the archivist - for example, if you are writing to an archive in Russia, you should write your request in Russian. If you are writing to an archive in Ukraine, you should write your request in Ukrainian or Russian (or both!). You can include a copy of your letter in English below the Russian translation. If the archive writes back in English, you may correspond in English.

You do not have to speak Russian in order to write to a Russian archive. In general, online translators such as Google Translate can be useful as long as you use short, simple, and concise sentences. Complex ideas or flowery words can be difficult to translate. You may want to follow the general outline below and fill in the blanks with information specific to your situation. Some of the blanks require you to put words in genitive or prepositional case. To learn more about this, please see the Reading Russian Documents: Deciphering the Handwriting and Understanding the Grammar "How to" guide.

Visiting an Archive
In some cases, it may be necessary to visit an archive personally to obtain the desired record. Visiting an archive is not something that you can plan at the drop of a hat - it takes planning and preparation. Before you purchase airfare and plan your trip, be sure to contact the archive to see if they will be open during the time you plan to visit.

Getting the most out of your archival research trip takes careful planning and preparation. Below you will find some tips to help you as you prepare to visit an archive.


 * Contact the Archive: Inform the archive of the dates you plan to visit the archive and what materials you would be interested in viewing. You may need to set up an appointment with the archive or the Читальный зал, or the reading room. Archivists will generally bring documents and archival manuscripts to the reading room for visitors to use. Be sure to know what the reading room hours are so that you can maximize your research time.
 * Apply to Visit the Archive: In some cases, you must submit an application to obtain a reading card and access to the archive. This can take anywhere from a few days to a few months, so be sure to ask the archive about the process well in advance. Applicants are typically asked to provide contact information, forms of identification, reasons for visiting the archive etc.
 * Plan Ahead: Planning ahead will help you get the most out of your experience. Examine putevoditeli and opisi before your visit so you know the fond and delo number. Knowing these "call numbers" will allow the archivist to quickly retrieve your desired records and you won't have to waste your or the archivist's precious time looking for its location within the archive.
 * Schedule Time for the Unexpected: Give yourself some buffer time in case of travel complications, unexpected archival closures, or for new discoveries that lead you in a different direction than you had originally anticipated.
 * Review Guidelines: Be sure you understand the archive's policies regarding their materials. Inquire if there any limits to the number of documents you can view each day, or if materials can only be requested as specific times. Also ask what kind of fees are necessary for photocopies, scans, or photography. You may also wish to ask if there are charging stations or internet access available. Knowing the policies in advance also helps you know what to pack for your visit. Commonly restricted items include pens, food/drink, coats and large bags. In some archives, electronic devices may not be permitted, so be sure to remember to pack pencils and a notebook.
 * Create a Template to Organize your Notes: Keeping a research log is an important step in research and helps you stay organized. Prepare a template ahead of time to help you keep track of what you have looked at (fond, delo, information found on record etc.). Be sure to save a spot to cite your sources.
 * Travel: Before booking your airfare or travel arrangements, be sure you are aware of any visa requirements. Be sure your passport is up to date.
 * Transportation: plan out in advance how you will get to the archive. You can use services like Google Maps or 2ГИС (for Russia) to help you navigate public transportation. If you plan on driving to the archive, be sure to find out if there is parking available at or near the archive.

Inventories, Registers, Catalogs
Books which describe the holdings of archives and libraries with significant German-Russia collections include:


 * Miller, Michael M. Researching the Germans from Russia: Annotated Bibliography of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection at the North Dakota Institue for Regional Studies, North Dakota State University Library, with a Listing of the Library Materias at the Germans from Russia Heritage Society. Fargo, N.Dak.: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1987. (FHL book 978.4 F23n). Includes sections on Bessarabia and Black Sea Germans, Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites, Volhynian Germans, and Volga Germans. Contains two bibliographies of family histories.


 * Olson, Marie Miller. A Bibliography of the Germans from Russia: Material Found in the New York Public Library. Lincoln, Nebr.: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1976. (FHL book 947 F2om; film 1181519 item 2.


 * Quester, Erich. Wegweiser für Forschungen nach Vorfahren . . . Neustadt, Germany: Verlag Degener, 1991. (FHL book 943 D27wf 1991).