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Their self-designation is Deutschen. Traditionally they speak the German language belonging to the German branch of the Indo-European language family.
The Russian Germans can be divided into various ethnic groups by the first permanent place of residence of their ancestors in the Russian empire: the Volyn Germans, the Bessarabia Germans, the Ukrainian Germans (may be divided into Lutherans and Catholics), the Caucasian Germans. The latter also call themselves Swabians (after Swabia, the historical region of Germany from which they originate). It is worth noting specifically the near-Volga Germans (Wolgadeutschen) who had their own autonomous region (1918-1940s). The Mennonite ethnoconfessional group originates from the Marienwerder, Danzig, Elbing followers of the Protestant denomination of the same name who in the end of the 18th century were promised lands, freedom of religion and freedom from military duty by the Russian government. The Bug and Trans-Bug Golendr people are also counted among Russian Germans. They mostly live in Siberia, to which they moved from Bug and Volyn. They had moved there from Prussia. In German Bughollaеnder means “Dutch people from the Bug”. The Golendr people have German last names, they speak Russian and Ukrainian, people from older generations read Polish. They consider themselves Lutheran; however, their church holidays follow the Orthodox calendar.
The traditional family is nuclear. Families with a large number of children can be found in the country. Between German settlements within one region, solid economic and cultural relations were usually established.
When building houses in Russia, the colonists tried to preserve the national German traditions. They built multi-room houses with linear or cross-like (around the main oven) placement of the rooms. In the northern regions, they built wooden houses. In the south, adobe buildings prevailed, in the Caucasus the limestone ones. Roofs were tiled if possible. The facades of the houses and the gates were decorated with carvings or paintings.
The majority of the German colonists came to Russia “for the land” and worked exclusively in agriculture. Even now, more than a half of the Russian Germans are employed in agriculture (grain production, cattle breeding, etc.) Many Russian Germans are city dwellers employed in industry, education, science, arts.
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