Black Sea Germans

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The Black Sea Germans (German: Schwarzmeerdeutsche) are ethnic Germans who left their homeland in the 18th and 19th centuries, and settled in territories of the northern bank of the Black Sea, mostly in southern Russia. Included in the category of Black Sea Germans are the following groups from the Black Sea area: the Bessarabian Germans, the Dobrujan Germans, and the Bukovina Germans.

The Black Sea Germans are distinct from the Volga Germans, who were separate both geographically and culturally, although both groups moved to Russia at about the same time and for the same reasons.

In southern Russia, the Germans settled in what is now modern-day Ukraine and on the Crimean Peninsula. This land was gained for Russia by Catherine the Great through her two wars with the Ottoman Empire (1768-1774) and from the annexation of the Crimean Khanates (1783). The area of settlement was not settled as compactly as that of the Volga territory, rather it was home to a chain of colonies. The first German settlers arrived in 1787, first from West Prussia, then later from Western and Southwestern Germany, as well as from the Warsaw area. Most notable were the Mennonites, who were known as capable farmers; Empress Catherine herself sent them a personal invitation to immigrate to Russia.

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• This page is a translation of the German