Germans in Azerbaijan

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Swabian family in Helenendorf

Germans have lived in Azerbaijan since 1818 . The process of resettlement of the German colonists in Azerbaijan began with the first German settlers from Württemberg , who settled in Elizabethpol County, today's Gəncə , in 1818 , where they founded two settlements: Helenendorf in 1819 , today Göygöl and Colony Annenfeld , today Şəmkir .

Immigration history

The causes of the emigration of the Germans lie mainly in the difficult political and economic situation in Germany at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The south of Germany, especially the Württemberg region, found itself in a particularly difficult situation. In 1815, after an eruption of the Tambora volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, there were dramatic climate anomalies in southern Germany. Bad harvests made food more expensive. Poverty and unemployment spread.

As a result, those willing to emigrate turned to the Russian tsar Alexander I, whose mother was herself from Württemberg. When he stopped in Stuttgart on his way to the Congress of Vienna, they asked him for permission to settle in the Caucasus. Another reason for the Germans to settle in the South Caucasus were the interests of the Russian Empire in the newly conquered Azerbaijan and its immigration policy in this regard. According to other sources, Alexander I offered those who wanted to emigrate a new home in the Caucasus with freedom of religion and without conscription. The Russian Empire invested 697,428 rubles in the settlement of the Germans in the Caucasus.

Street in Helenendorf

Helenendorf

Helenendorf was the first German settlement in Azerbaijan. In 1819, German colonists from Württemberg, Reutlingen, Betzingen, Altbach, a total of 140 families, founded Helenendorf near the old trading town of Gəncə .

Helenendorf was named in honor of the Grand Duchess Helena Pawlowna , sister of Russian Tsar Alexander I and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The village was located on the ruins of the old Azerbaijani settlement of Xanlar, 7 miles from Gəncə.

Evangelical Lutheran St. John's Church in Helenendorf

In 1842 the first school was built in Helenendorf. In 1857 an Evangelical Lutheran church , St. Johanniskirche, was built in Helenendorf. St. John's Church is the first Evangelical Lutheran church in Azerbaijan. The streets in Helenendorf therefore had German names such as: Kirchenstraße, Gartenstraße, Helenenstraße, Stadtstraße, Talstraße etc.

In 1870 the German Christopher Vohrer and his four sons founded a joint stock company for the production of wine and other spirits in Helenendorf, then a cognac factory, the first in Azerbaijan, with two distillation plants. The quality of the wines met European standards. In 1894 Christopher Vohrers Wein won a gold medal at the international exhibition in London. He owned 30 wine cellars. 8-10 million liters of wine and 1 million liters of cognac were sold annually. The wine cellars in Helenendorf have been preserved to this day. After the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was conquered by the Soviet Union , sovkhozes were created from the property of Christopher Vohrer .

On the occasion of the anniversary of the Helenendorf colony on June 9, 1919, the 100th anniversary of the resettlement of Germans in Azerbaijan was celebrated. To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of Helelendorf, the chairman of the parliament of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan wrote on May 8, 1919: `` The Presidium of the Azerbaijani Parliament congratulates the residents of Helenendorf on the 100th birthday of the colony and wishes this small cell further prosperity and prosperity `.

Helenendorf was the first village in the entire Caucasus to have electricity in 1912 and a functioning telephone network in 1916.

In 2007 the last descendant of the first German colonists, Viktor Klein, died, whose house has been converted into a museum since 2014 with the support of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).

Annenfeld

Lutheran Church in Annenfeld

A second German settlement was founded 40 km away from Helenendorf on the ruins of the old Azerbaijani city of Şəmkir . It was named Annenfeld - in honor of the Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna , Queen of the Netherlands . In 1909 a Lutheran church was built in Annenfeld.

employment

With the specialization in agricultural production as well as milk, butter and cheese production, the economic rise began. At first it was primarily used for self-sufficiency. The wine and spirits business was added in the mid-19th century.

wine growing

The Azerbaijani history of alcoholic beverage production is closely linked to the history of these former German settlements. The economic breakthrough of the German colonists in Azerbaijan came in the second half of the 19th century with the specialization in viticulture and the national distribution of wine, cognac, schnapps and liqueurs. The settlers had used the grapevine from the beginning, but until the 1860s they mainly produced for their own use. The Germans soon achieved particular productivity in the area of ​​wine-growing and pressing. The grapevines and wine from the colonies enjoyed great popularity throughout Azerbaijan and were traded as far as Moscow and Saint Petersburg at the beginning of the 20th century . They made viticulture the central business area and the main source of prosperity.

Oil industry

In the second half of the 19th century, another economic field was added to Azerbaijan. German entrepreneurs were instrumental in the development of the oil industry. In search of suitable wood for rifle butts, Robert Nobel traveled to Azerbaijan in 1873, where he found oil instead of wood. In 1875, together with his brothers Ludwig and Alfred, he organized a Nobel Brothers production company. Ludwig was the first to use steam engines for drilling. In 1878, Ludwig Nobel had the world's first steam-powered oil tanker, the Zoroaster, designed to safely transport kerosene.

Copper mine

In 1864 the brothers Werner, Carl and Walter bought a copper mine in Gədəbəy. In the 19th century, the Siemens company opened a copper mine in Gadabay and expanded it to become the largest in the country. The Siemens brothers used the latest technologies of their time, so that a few years later a second copper works was opened not far from Gadabay on the Galakent River.

Political participation

The majority of the German settlers welcomed the independence of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan , which was proclaimed on May 28, 1918 . The constitution guaranteed the German minority a seat in parliament. Lorenz Jacob Kuhn received a mandate as a representative of the German minority in the Azerbaijani National Council, which was formed on November 19, 1918 with 120 parliamentary seats.

Others

At the beginning of the 20th century there were eight German settlements in Azerbaijan: Helenendorf, Annenfeld, Georgfeld, Aleksejewka, Grünfeld, Eichenfeld, Traubenfeld and Jelizawetinka.

The Luther Church in Gändscha, which now houses a puppet theater, was built in 1885. In the 90s of the 19th century there were more than 100 Germans living in Gändscha who needed a church.

Some Germans were strongly connected to the history of the Azerbaijani capital Baku . The architects Johann Wilhelm Edel, Adolf Eichler and Nikolaus von der Nunne have left their mark on several buildings. Nikolaus von der Nun was mayor and construction director of Baku from November 1898 until the end of 1901.

In 1941 almost 23,000 Germans were deported from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan and Siberia by Josef Stalin . Five families were allowed to stay in Helenendorf. After 1941 Armenians were settled in Helenendorf.

Today cultural events, concerts and exhibitions take place in the German-Azerbaijani cultural association "Kapellhaus" in Baku.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Political Developments - MODX Revolution. Retrieved September 14, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c Martin Rasper: German roots in the Caucasus: foreign homeland, distant land . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed September 14, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Басихин П .: Немецкие колонии на Кавказе. Этнографический очерк . Ed .: Кавказский вестник. No. 1 , 1900, p. 14 .
  4. ↑ Chatschapuridze GW “On the History of Georgia in the First Half of the 19th Century”, p. 139.
  5. ^ Ingo Petz: A visit to the last Caucasus German . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2010, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on September 13, 2018]).
  6. ↑ a b c d e Dr. Sudaba Zeynalova, On the genesis of the German settlements in Azerbaijan , in: IRS Geschichte, November 2014. Accessed on September 13, 2018 (German)
  7. ↑ Государственный Исторический Архив Азербайджанской Республики (ГИААР): ф.508, оп.1, д.436, л.26; Ибрагимов Н.А. Немецкие страницы истории Азербайджана. Баку, 1995, с.165-166.
  8. ^ Sascha Lübbe, The last German from Helenendorf. Retrieved September 13, 2018 (German).
  9. ↑ a b 24. Winery - MODX Revolution. Retrieved September 11, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Eva-Maria Auch, The development of Helenendorf / Chanlar in the 1920s / 30s. S. 162. Accessed on September 17, 2018. (German)
  11. ↑ Azvision: Far Hope Caucasus: German Traces in Azerbaijan - VIDEO. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
  12. ↑ EURASIAN MAGAZINE, Germany: Helenendorf in the Caucasus . ( eurasischesmagazin.de [accessed on September 17, 2018]).
  13. ↑ 15. Viktor Klein House - MODX Revolution. Retrieved September 13, 2018 .
  14. ↑ German Lutheran Church in Annenfeld (Azerbaijan) - PHOTOS. In: Masimov / Asif. September 14, 2018, accessed on January 8, 2020 (German).
  15. ↑ a b c 1871-1914 - MODX Revolution. Retrieved September 14, 2018 .
  16. ↑ a b c d Foreign Office: Foreign Office - Traces of Germany in Azerbaijan . In: page title . ( diplo.de [accessed on September 11, 2018]).
  17. ↑ Veronika von Borries: Nobel Prize: The oil business of the Nobel brothers . In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . ( ksta.de [accessed on September 14, 2018]).
  18. ↑ Eva-Maria Auch, The development of Helenendorf / Chanlar in the 1920s / 30s. S. 160. Retrieved September 17, 2018. (German)
  19. ^ German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe. Retrieved September 13, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Asif Masimov: German architecture of Azerbaijan. In: MasimovAsif.net. February 15, 2020, accessed February 16, 2020 .
  21. ^ Ingo Petz: A visit to the last Caucasus German . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2010, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on September 17, 2018]).
  22. ↑ Home. Retrieved September 18, 2018 (German).