Studia Litterarum (Sep 2016)
On the Preservation of Cultural and Ethnic Identity of “Russian Germans”
Abstract
German settlements in Russia have been known since the ancient times, however larger settlements appeared only after the “Мanifesto” issued by Empress Catherine II. Settling in Volga Region, Novorossiya, Crimea, the Caucasus, and Siberia, German colonists preserved German language, customs, traditions, songs, tales, household items, musical instruments, costumes, and cuisine — all those identity and ethnic codes that tied them to their historical homeland and, at the same time, distinguished them from the neighboring nations. Autonomous and closed character of German settlements in Russia, their long-term isolation from their nation and its cultural and historical core as well as the impossibility of modernization in step with their historical motherland contributed to the preservation of language and elements of the immigrant traditional culture in the alien environment. Vegetation was carried out at the expense of inner resources and those of the neighboring nations leading to the transformation of “the national spirit and manners.” New sub-ethnic group of “Russian Germans” formed a considerable part of the pre-revolutionary Russian population but at the beginning of the 20th century, due to the unfavorable political and military circumstances, the state forced administrative sanctions on German population that led to further destruction of the ethnic area as well as of the cultural, social, and economic conditions necessary for its development. Later, this situation got worse due to the Stalin regime, Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, and general reluctance of the state to preserve this ethnic group in a favorable condition. In the 1990s, Russian Germans massively resettled in Germany. Over the past 20 years, the number of the settlers has decreased by seven times. In Germany, “Russian Germans” faced the question of self-identity. If until the beginning of the 20th century their heritage language had been one of the German dialects, at the end of the century, Russian language and culture have become heritage for Russian Germans. Germans living in Russia today actively integrate with Germany compensating for the loss of their unique identity in the 20th century
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