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Information from people that have visited the Volga River region indicates that most of the German-Russian villages still exist, although in some cases there may be only a couple of houses left. The terrain along this area of the Volga looks like the areas in central Kansas and central Nebraska where the German-Russians settled in this country: flat to gently rolling hills, not a lot of trees. When visiting the area, for American's, it is like turning the calendar back 75 to 100 years. No indoor plumbing, few paved roads, women in the fields cutting hay by hand and pitching it with a pitchfork onto a small horse-drawn cart. Villages that are away from the main highways in the area may only be accessible by four-wheel drive vehicles. Aehrenfeld - village still exists. Beideck - village still exists, population about 5000. Boaro - village still exists Danilovka - Underwater because of dams on the Volga River. Dietel The German-Russian families still in Dietel include: Sprier, Grauberger, Kindsvater, Hoffman, Womboldt, Koch, Walter, Weinmeister, Uhrich (from Frank), and Ruff. The cemetery has German graves with names of Batt, Ruff, Koch, King?/Kuehn?, Kreamer, Karmirchel, Bush, Moellmann, Mehl, Reinhold, Kalbert. There were many unmarked mounds. There is no official caretaker, the families are responsible for keeping up the gravesites. There is no church in Dietel. A statue of Lenin now stands where the church was. The German school is now the town hospital. They grow rye, wheat, watermelons, cabbage, sunflowers. The orchards do not exist, but used to be full of apples, pears, cherrys, plums, black currents, wild blackberries. The store in town still uses an abaccuses to add up your bill. Dobrinka - Germans living in the village in the 1970's Dreispitz - Germans living in the village in the 1970's Enders - (now called Ust Karaman), village still exists Erlenbach - village no longer exists. Fischer - (now called Krasnaya Polyana), village still exists. Galka - Germans living in the village in the 1970's Graf - village no longer exists. Grimm - village still exists. Herzog - village no longer exists. Holstein - Germans living in the village in the 1970's Hussenbach - village still exists. Jogodnaja Poljana - see Yagodnaya Polyana Joseflstal - village destorye, cemetery still exists. Katherinenstadt - (Marx), mixture of old and new with some rather substantial brick buildings that served as businesses in the German period. Church remains which is being refurbished as money permits. Kamenka - many original homes remain. The old cemetery is hard to locate. The Catholic Church remains. The road leading to the village is better than most roads to other villages. Koehler - one or two homes in the village still exist. Kraft - village still exists. Krasnojar - (still called Krasnyye Jar), village still exists. Kratzke - village still exists. Kukkus - village still exists, but many of the old homes were torn down. The church was torn down. Liebental - village still exists, is a communal or state farm. Louis - village still exists. Marienfeld - village still exists. Mariental - village still exists, is a communal or state farm. The original German settlement was destroyed. Marx - village still exists. Merkle - village still exists. Messer - village still exists. Miller - Underwater because of dams on the Volga River. Muehlberg-Tsherbakovka - totally destroyed. Niedermonjou - (now called Bobrovka), village still exists Neu-Straub - village still exists. Norka - village still exists, population about 7000, all but one person are Russian. Oberdorf - village still exists. Paulskoye - (now called Pavlovka)--still exists and contains a mixture of German period houses and Russian period houses. No church remains. Cemetary is plowed over, but village inhabitants can locate the area for visitors. Pfeiffer - village still exists. Rosenberg - village still exists, with German residents. Reinwald - village still exists, along with the store, school and the Lutheran church without steeple. Rosenheim - (now called Podstepnoye), village still exists Schaefer - (now called Lipovka), mixture of German and Russian homes; has a beautiful brick church, but it is abandoned and missing its roof. Schilling - Accessible over a poor dirt road of about 5 miles. Schoenchen - village no longer exists. Schwab - Underwater because of dams on the Volga River. Schwed - (now called Leninskoye), German period homes prevail; wooden church still stands, but without steeple. Semenowka - village still exists. Stahl am Karaman - (former Russian name Zvonarev Kut; present Russian name Zvonarevka), village still exists; mixture of German and Russian houses; church has been demolished Stefan - Germans living in the village in the 1970's Tsherbakovka - original German village is gone, but the Russian Tsherbakovka is totally under water. Yagodnaya Polyana - village still exists. There are 3 cemeteries of YP, located east of town. Two have existing markers, but the larger site in the middle has only mounds. It is likely that is where most GR ancestors are buried. There are 2 stores in YP, one marked "Fresh Bread" and the other across the street from the former church, which is now the "House of Culture". German Russian homes still exist. A hill on the north side of the village overlooks YP. The famous spring of YP exists. Wild strawberries grow everywhere and YP is lush and picturesque compared to other villages. They still have Elks, wild boars, and ducks in the forests outside the villages, and pine and birch trees grow as shelter for the animals. Zirnovsk - village still exists. This page last modified: Thursday, June 17, 1999