Danish German Immigrants to Grimm, Russia

In 1759, King Frederick V of Denmark invited Germans from the southern tier of what is now Germany to settle of the Schleswig-Holstein area which, at that time, belonged to Denmark. That area was a swampy spit of land between the two countries, land which the Danes had little luck making arable. The economic conditions in southern and southwestern Germany had long suffered the ravages of war and famine, on top of which residents were still subjected to high taxes and burdensome tithing. Residents were good farmers and hard workers, but they had poor prospects for the future. They were simply looking for a chance to provide for their families and better their lives. More than 4000 Germans immigrated to Denmark between 1759 and 1765.

Once they arrived, the realities of converting marshy swamp land into fertile farmland hit them; it was a job that would eventually prove to be a failure. Germans were barely able to sustain their own families, let alone supply Denmark with an additional source for food. They became disillusioned, and many returned to their homeland. While Germans in Denmark were struggling in inhospitable Schleswig-Holstein, Empress of Russia Catherine the Great issued her manifesto which was designed to lure Germans to immigrate to Russia to help settle equally inhospitable land near the Volga river. Since conditions in their homelands had not yet significantly improved, many Germans who immigrated to Denmark decided to immigrate once again, this time to Russia, rather than go back to their home villages in the southern German states.

Fifty-eight of those families went to the Colony of Grimm, which was officially setted on 01 July 1767 as a Lutheran colony on the Bergsite of the Volga River. Click on the individual’s name to read more about each settler.

Source: Eichhorn, Alexander, Dr., and Dr. Jacob and Mary Eichhorn. The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766, Druck and Bindung: Druckerei and Verlap Steinmeier GmbH & Co. KG, 86738, Deiningen, Germany; Published 2012; pages 672-674.

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