"The Germans of Russia" - an encyclopedia , a fundamental publication dedicated to one of the peoples of Russia , who made a significant contribution to Russian history and culture. The encyclopedia was created by the international public organization “Public Academy of Sciences of the Russian Germans” with the support of the governments of Russia and Germany as part of the “federal target program for the development of the socio-economic and cultural base for the revival of the Russian Germans for 1997—2006.” The project was financed from the federal budgets of Russia and Germany.
Content
Encyclopedia content
The encyclopedia presents the following information: history, economics, geography of German resettlement in Russia, social, religious, confessional and cultural aspects of the life of Germans in various regions of Russia. The encyclopedia describes the history of the Germans living in the territory of the Russian Empire (with the exception of the Baltic states , the Kingdom of Poland , the Grand Duchy of Finland ), the USSR and now living in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries .
Much attention is paid to the biographies of state, public and political figures, the military, representatives of the business world, scientists, culture and church. Lives of the now living people were not included by the compilers.
A significant place in the encyclopedia is given to the history of the German colonies and their population. However, the history of the Germans in the cities, above all - in St. Petersburg and their role in the political, economic and cultural life of Russia, according to the reviewer prof. MN Mashkina, remained "in the shadow" [1] .
Scientific basis of the encyclopedia
The basis for writing the encyclopedia were research and publications (Russian and foreign scientists), especially of the last decade, on the problems of Russian Germans; reports at scientific conferences, statistical materials, archival documents, also previously unpublished documents from central and local archives, personal funds.
The main part of the encyclopedia is occupied by biographical articles of prominent personalities: articles on state, military, political and public figures, national movement figures, religious figures, scientists, travelers, educational and medical figures, financiers and entrepreneurs, philanthropists, architects, artists, writers, actors, musicians, athletes and so on.
Religious features of Russian German groups ( Catholics , Lutherans , Mennonites ), life, culture, traditions and customs, demographic processes, economics of the German colonies in Ukraine, Siberia, Central Asia (agriculture, crafts, trades, trade), the contribution of Germans to modernization of the Russian industry and agriculture.
Considering the significant contribution of the Germans to the government, military affairs and socio-political movements of Russia, a separate cycle of encyclopedia articles is also devoted to these activities. Over the centuries, the legal status of Russian Germans and the state policy towards them have changed several times, and the encyclopedia has materials on this subject.
The articles also describe the role of Russian Germans in the development of health care, culture, education and science, including in the organization and development of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The encyclopedia reflects the main stages of the settlement of Germans in Russia, the USSR, the CIS and the history of the main regions of their settlement - from the western borders of the Russian Empire (Bessarabia, Volyn) to Central Asia and the Far East. A separate block of articles describes the emergence, existence and dissolution of the Autonomous Republic of the Volga Germans .
Separate articles are described in the encyclopedia of the topic: “Anti-German Campaign”, “ Deportation ”, “ Great Patriotic War ”, “ Demographic Processes ”.
Editorial Board
To work on the encyclopedia "Germans of Russia" by the Public Academy of Sciences of the Russian Germans in 1996, the editorial board of the Encyclopedia of the Russian Germans was created. In preparing the first and second volumes, the editorial board was headed by V. Karev, First Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Great Russian Encyclopedia Publishing House. In preparing the third volume, the editorial board was headed by O. Kubitskaya, the head of the editorial board of the national history of the publishing house “Great Russian Encyclopedia”. Permanent Executive Secretary of the Editorial Board N. Wardenburg - Academic Secretary of the Public Academy of Sciences of the Russian Germans. About five hundred authors from more than ten countries of the near and far abroad (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Germany, Poland, Finland, Switzerland and others) took part in the compilation of the encyclopedia.
In the work on the encyclopedia took part:
- A. Eisfeld - Ph.D., Executive Director of the Göttingen Research Center of the Institute of German History and Culture in Northern and Eastern Europe (Germany, Göttingen ).
- S. Bobylev - Professor of the Faculty of History of the Dnepropetrovsk National University (Ukraine, Dnepropetrovsk)
- German A. A. - Doctor of Historical Sciences , Professor, Head of the Department of Saratov State University , Chairman of the Association of Historical and Cultural Researchers of Russian Germans.
- Litsenberger O. A. - Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of the History of Russian Statehood and Law of the Volga Region Academy of Public Service (Saratov).
- Matis V.I. - Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Academician of MANPO, Head of the Department of Sociology of BSPU (Barnaul).
- I. V. Cherkazyanova - Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Researcher at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of the History of Natural Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Editor of the Russian Germans newsletter.
- other.
Structure and Output
Encyclopedia "Germans of Russia" consists of three volumes and an encyclopedic dictionary:
- “The Germans of Russia” - Encyclopedia, Volume 1: A - I. Chairman of the Editorial Board - V. Karev. Moscow, Publishing House “Public Academy of Sciences of the Russian Germans”, 1999, 832 pages. ISBN 5-93227-002-0
- “The Germans of Russia” - Encyclopedia, Volume 2: C - O. Chairman of the Editorial Board - V. Karev. Moscow, Publishing House "Public Academy of Sciences of the Russian Germans", 2004 747 pages. ISBN 5-93227-002-0
- “Germans of Russia” encyclopedia, volume 3: P - Ya. O. Chairman of the editorial board - O. Kubitskaya. Moscow, Publishing House “Public Academy of Sciences of Russian Germans”, 2006, 893 pages. ISBN 5-93227-002-0
- “Germans of Russia. Localities and places of settlement. Encyclopedic dictionary. Compiled by V. Dizendorf. - Moscow, Publishing House "Public Academy of Sciences of the Russian Germans", 2006 470 pages. ISBN 5-93227-002-0