Nieder-Monjou

Nieder-Monjou (also: Bobrovka, Bobrowka, Niedermonjou, Niedermonschu). 51º38' N 46º38' E.

Founded: 7 June 1767 by Baron Caneau de Beauregard.

Denomination: Lutheran.

Population: 279 (1767), 308 (1769), 349 (1773), 362 (1798), 4201 (1912), 2638 (1926).

Nieder-Monjou was founded on 7 June 1767 by Baron Caneau de Beauregard. Nieder-Monjou is located at 46°38´ east longitude and 51°38´ north latitude, along the Wiesenseite (meadow side) of the Volga River, northeast of Saratov. After 1915 Nieder-Monjou was given the Russian name Bobrovka which is sometimes seen in the German form, Bobrowka.

Nieder-Monjou, in the district of Saratov, was one of 27 colonies founded by Baron Caneau de Beauregard. According to Gottlieb Beratz in his, The German Colonies on the Lower Volga, the Baron had, "made a deal with the Russian government to bring settlers to the Volga region in return for certain financial considerations and special privileges in the new settlements." The name of the village derives from Beauregard's assistant, Otto de Monjou.

Beauregard recruited more than 1,500 families who settled in villages on the east or meadow side of the Volga. Nieder-Monjou was settled by 279 people in 1767. There were 308 people by 1769 and by 1912 the population had grown to 4,201. The population dropped to 2,638 by 1926 due to emigration to North America, World War I and the starvation years of the 1920s.