For Immediate Release Contact: Tanya Bushnell
tbushnell@cu-portland.edu
503.493.6369
Celebrating 250 Years of Volga German Heritage
Seminar Series on April 26 – 28
Portland, Oregon (17 March 2017) – From 1764 to 1772, there were 106 German colonies established along the Volga River on the barren Russian steppe. To celebrate the 250th Anniversary (1766-2016) of the establishment of the colonies of Frank, Hussenbach, Kautz, Kolb, Norka, Walter, and Yagodnaya Polyana in Russia; the Center for Volga German Studies at Concordia University is hosting a seminar at The Icicle Village Resort, in Leavenworth, Washington on April 26-28, 2017. Registration is $165 per person, which includes all programs and two banquets. The public is invited to attend.
Sessions will focus on the founding of the Volga German colonies, location of the German origins of our ancestors, demonstration of an old Volga German dialect, churches of the Volga German villages, rural life of the colonies, the events that led to emigration to North and South America and a session showing what exists of the colonies today. Featured presenters include: Steve Schreiber, Director of the Center for Volga German Studies and Village Coordinator for Norka; Maggie Hein, Genealogist and Village Coordinator for the colonies of Frank and Kolb; Jean Roth, Village Coordinator for the colony of Walter; Michael Frank, Village Coordinator for the colony of Kautz; Mike Lust, teacher; Reuben Miller, descendant of the colony of Norka; and Dr. Richard Scheuerman, of Seattle Pacific University and descendant of the colony of Yagodnaya Polyana. Seminar sessions begin on Wednesday, April 26, at 12:45pm and end on Friday April 28, at 10:30am.
For more information about the event, please visit the website at: http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/events/2017Apr26.cfm or contact Valerie at highlife56.vm@gmail.com.
