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This dissertation was published in 1912, in a very formal, academic German by Max Praetorius, a 23 year old graduate student at the University of Leipzig in Germany. This is the first time it has become available in an English translation. It documents the comom organization of a Volga German village of 1910. The author did extensive research in the Saratov archives and church records to obtain his information, and visited many Volga villages to talk with the people in person and describe what he saw. He was a sophisticated, well educated, young man from western Europe, born in Riga, Latvia. He found much to admire in the Volga German people and their village life. Galka was the first of the 104 mother colonies on the Volga to vote in village council to abandom the mir system and the communal ownership of the land - in existence since 1767 - and replace it with one final division of the land - giving each head of household his own land in outright ownership with all the rights thereto - sale, rent, lease. His doctoral thesis dwelt on the 'here and now' before the privitization and the possible future effects on the economic, social, cultural and village life of the Volga people. This work has become an established reference work for researchers interested in the lives of Voga Germans. |
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"To the right of the vestibule there is a door that leads into the room for the "alte leute" that is, for the master and mistress of the home; approximately 10.5 X 27 feet. Whoever enters this room notices the hugh "Himmelbett" (heavenly bed). Feather pillows, firmly stuffed, are piled up here behind the pleated drapes. The pillows are piled up almost to the ceiling. This is the showpiece of the house; set up like this with painstaking care.
The heavy wooden trunk.. reddish brown or yellow is next to the door. It is the place where the winter clothes, good clothes, and money are stored.
There is also a thinly upholstered couch in the room for the "Nachmittagsstuendchen" (afternoon nap). A bench, wooden and painted and a table complete the furnishings. Devout religious verses hang on the walls. There are yellowed photographs, in simple frames, of dear relatives in America or somewhere else in the wide world. The oven is a steady cause for concern for the mother of the house. Woe if even the smallest piece of white mortar, which covers its upper outside layer, should split off!
The scene before us is a friendly one; the sun beams through the small glass windows into the room and causes all the white objects to shine and alights on the wrinkled cheeks of the old people. They usually sit in their little corner, rarely working, and are quietly lost in thought, with their hands folded."
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" The men are divided into six sections,each one under the direction of a foreman appointed by the mayor [The required jobs, and the rotation among the 'sixths' is described]. The women are also divided into sixths.Their work consists of a twice-annual general cleaning of the the church as well as of the schoolhouse. In this manner, only four "sixths" of the women have work to do for the good of the community during a given year." "There is one other act of "compulsory labor" . The nightwatch in the village. Four families must watch the streets every night. In order to make sure that the families do it, they have to report by knocking on the mayor's window each night at 1:00 AM. Of course this is not a very effective means of reporting, as the people can quietly go home again after 1:00 AM. This is, from time to time, supposed to even be the case in Galka."
"From discussions that I have had with various colonists in Galka, I could determine that everyone in the village gladly and willingly does the "compulsory community labor". This is an old traditional custom and the work is carried out in equal measure by all concerned"
When building dams to control the winter snowmelt runoff, the poor people do less work than the rich; because the poor people have less need of the dams! |
"Mail also takes a long time to reach Galka. As the village does not as yet have its own post office, letters have to be sent through the volosty village of Holstein and be picked up from there as well. Twice a week a delivery man who is paid by the community takes care of transporting the mail."
The following numbers of hours per week spent on the individual subjects are: Russian reading and writing - 14 hrs, Religion and singing - 8 hrs, Arithmetic - 6 hrs, German reading and writing 4 hrs. |
"The women's clothing, which in earlier times was made from self-woven and self-spun woollen material, is now purchased in the county seat of Kamyshin. The purchased goods must be paid for immediately. Just a few years ago the main suppliers were the two shops in Galka which would sell the goods on credit. With the comming of fabrics from the city, urban styles of clothing also have made their way into the village. The married men complain how often their wives and children expect to have new clothing. It rarely rains in Galka. A curious result of fashion can be seen in the fact that, for a while now, almost all the ladies in Galka have taken to wearing galoshes This very practical piece of wear loses its original purpose because here they are worn as adorments; in order to look fine in church. The rubber overshoes are anxiously protected from every bit of dust and from every muddy spot."
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