1/9/2012:
The North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia was founded in Bismarck on this date in 1971. The decision to base the society in Bismarck was a simple one: the city itself was named after Otto von Bismarck, the prime minister of Prussia and the original founder and first chancellor of the German Empire.
How these Germans ended up in Russia in the first place was largely the result of the late 18th century marriage of Russian czar Peter III and German princess Catherine II. After Peter’s assassination in 1762, Catherine succeeded him to the throne, becoming empress of Russia. Catherine the Great, as she came to be called, lured her German kinsmen to Russia with promises of cheap land and wealth. Thousands of Germans heeded her call and settled along the Volga River and in the Ukraine. Initially, these Germans prospered and became the upper class among their neighboring Russians. After Catherine’s death, however, the Germans became despised. Growing hostility from the Russian government and populace led many to emigrate to America.
In 1873, the Northern Pacific Railway decided to change the name of the city of Edwinton to Bismarck, after the German Chancellor, in an attempt to attract German immigrants. Russian-Germans, facing growing prosecution in Russia, “…were drawn [to the state] by the prospect of cheap and nearly limitless land.” Between 1870 and 1915, thousands of Germans from Russia immigrated to the state and took up homesteading. “By the end of the 19th century, approximately 70,000 German-speaking settlers from the Volga River region, and from German villages in what is now the Ukraine, had moved to North Dakota.” In fact, today, almost half of North Dakota’s population still has Russian-German roots.
The Germans from Russia Society initially held its meetings in the historic Grand Pacific Hotel. Judge Ray Friederich served as the Society’s first president. In 1974, the Grand Pacific Hotel was demolished, and meetings were held at various locations across the city. “Finally, on January 21, 1982, the Society moved into its first permanent home on East Central Avenue.” In 2000, the Society moved again, to its current location in west Bismarck. Today, the Society promotes scholarship and cultural awareness through a variety of educational and historical activities. A yearly convention allows members to connect and celebrate their shared history, and the Society maintains a library of resources related to the Germans from Russia in Bismarck.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
http://www.grhs.org/aboutus/history/history.html
http://www.bismancafe.com/blogs/grand-pacific-hotel
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,299219,00.html
http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_the_Great