Schilling

Names

Schilling, Sosnovka, Sosnowka

Location

50º37' N 44º33' E

History

      The Lutheran colony of Schilling was founded by 96 families from the Palatinate and Alsace on 14 August 1764. They had been recruited by the Government. By decree on 26 February 1768, the colony received the Russian name of Sosnovka.
      In 1859, 128 colonists moved to the daughter colony of Neu-Beideck along the banks of the Jeruslan River. They were joined in 1881 by another 48 colonists.
      Schilling was a port colony, with large commercial cargo and passenger docks capable of handling 700 thousand tons of cargo per year. The port in Schilling received shipment of relief supplies during the 1921 Famine to the colonies on the Bergseite.
      From 19-22 September 1917, the Second Congress of the Volga Germans was held in Schilling. Soviet Communist Party leader H.A. Luft (1899-1937) was born in Schilling. Physician and anthropologist P.K. Haller (1858-1920) and writer P. Sinner (1879-?) were also born in Schilling.
      Immigration from Schilling to American began in 1874 and continued through 1878. Immigration resumed from 1881-1886.

Church

      Schilling was part of the Beideck parish during the early years. A wooden church was constructed in 1883, and its ruins remain visible today.

Pastors

      The congregation in Schilling was served by the following pastors:

Population

Population Table

Year	Households	Population
		Total	Male	Female
1769		404	199	205
1773	95	429	215	214
1788	91	532	271	261
1798	94	626	312	314
1816	118	851	436	415
1834	180	1,295	676	619
1850	174	1,839	965	874
1857	200	1,966	1,034	932
1859	170	1,992	1,046	946
1886	283	2,098	1,080	1,018
1891	270	2,686	1,325	1,361
1894	303	2,588	1,288	1,300
1897		3,245*	1,278	1,967
1904		3,068
1910		3,388
1912		3,564
1920		3,076
1922		2,801
1923		2,674
1926		3,210**
1931		3,411***

*Of whom 3,175 were German.
**Of whom 3,088 were German.
***Of whom 3,380 were German.

Sources:
- Beratz, Gottieb. The German colonies on the Lower Volga, their origin and early development: a memorial for the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first German settlers on the Volga, 29 June 1764. Translated by Adam Giesinger (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1991): 352.
- Mink, A.N. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of the Saratov Province [in Russian] (Saratov, Russia, 1898): 962-967.
- Pleve, Igor R. The German Colonies on the Volga: The Second Half of the Eighteenth Century, translated by Richard Rye (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2001): 318.
- Schnurr,Joseph, Die Kirchen und das Religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutschen, Evangelischer Teil (Stuttgart: AER Verlag Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Rußland, 1978): 191.
- "Settlements in the 1897 Census." Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (Winter, 1990): 19.

External Links

Schilling (Wolgadeutsche.net)
Village of Schilling (Gary Martens)

Map showing Schilling (1935).

Painting of Schilling, Russia by artist Michael Boss.

Remains of the Schilling Lutheran Church (circa 2000).
The building has been subsequently torn down.

Schilling Lutheran Church.

Former store in Schilling (2001).
Source: Steve Schreiber.

German house in Schilling (2001).
Source: Steve Schreiber.