Germans From Russia Just another NDSU Library weblog

Working with the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection is one of the greatest experiences for me. I have increasingly become familiar with a part of German and Russian history that is still alive and preserved by many German Russians especially in the Dakotas. My translation work at the collection, which concerns German-Russian literature for the most part, has provided the basis for a small insight into the variety of facts and experiences of the people concerned that are connected to the manifold history.

In addition to this, I also came in contact with the oral history of German Russians. After having been here for more than three weeks, I have met many wonderful people whose grandparents or great-grandparents belonged to one of the first waves of settlers or resettlers who fled Russia and immigrated to North Dakota. These people evidently know a lot of interesting stories about the time of their first homesteading relatives. In late September, I had the opportunity to visit an entirely German-Russian town, Fredonia, N.D., through one of the fantastic people I have the chance to work with at the GRHC. In conversations with the people living there, I learned, for instance, how pivotal a horse was to a homesteader back in the day and thus how much care and protection it needed. Even more interesting were dialogues in German with German Russians who had lived in the US all their lives.

Besides information regarding the German-Russian history, I also experienced leisure activities that can probably be considered “uniquely American.” The first one was water-tubing at a cabin at Strawberry Lake, N.D., and the second, even more “American,” was duck hunting in the sloughs and wetlands of North Dakota’s “wilderness.” Given the fact that I never went hunting before, it was an incredibly exciting and enjoyable experience.

Matthias Hofmann

Matthias Hofmann working on translations at the GRHC.

In cooperation with Prairie Public Broadcasting, we are currently airing “Voices of the Heartland: German-Russian Memories,” which is a collection of fascinating life stories collected by the Dakota Memories Oral History Project. North Dakota State Senators Tim Mathern and Robert Erbele are doing the commentary for the series.

“Voices of the Heartland” airs Mondays and Fridays at 8:35 am, 3:55 pm, 6:30 pm, and 7:55 pm on Prairie Public Radio. The series ends October 8, 2007.

The radio narratives are located on the Web at www.prairiepublic.org/radio.

The “Voices of the Heartland Radio Series” CD will be available for purchase later this fall.

Title: “LeRoy & Maggie” – by LeRoy Presler
Caption: “Darling, when looking at this picture I can feel your arms, even now” — by LeRoy Presler

The past few weeks at the GRHC have been very busy with the beginning of a new school year. We have added six new students to our staff to work on various projects at the collection.

Our new students include:

Ann Erling
Bismarck, ND
Majors: History & English

Leah Johnnson
Burtrum, MN
Major: Architecture

Jace Krumwiede
Watertown, SD
Major: Undecided

Michael Mart
Sawyer, ND
Major: Mechanical Engineering

Kendra Thompson
Hatton, ND
Major: Undecided

Jacob Wolf
Garfield, MN
Major: Electrical Engineering

As noted in a previous post, Matthias Hoffman is interning for two months with the GRHC from Chemnitz, Germany.

In addition, we are fortunate to have four returning students at the GRHC:

Jessica Clark
Eatonville, WA
Ph.D. Student: Rural History

Marcie Franklund
Thompson, ND
Major: Architecture

David Mart
Sawyer, ND
Major: Computer Science

Tyler Simonson
Rochester, MN
Major: Management Information Systems

We look forward to a very productive year at the GRHC!

Please click here to view the September 2007 In Touch with Prairie Living column.

Matthias Hofmann, a graduate student at the university in Chemnitz, Germany, arrived in Fargo on 30 August 2007. He has an internship with translation projects until 2 November 2007 sponsored by the GRHC. He is completing a Master’s Degree in the field of English and American Studies.

Matthias was a translator at the Amerika Haus information tables at the Russlanddeutschen Bundestreffen, Wiesbaden, Germany on 26 May 2007. The national gathering of the Germans from Russia was attended by 10,000 people.

Standing left to right: Alexander Chetschik, Matthias Hofmann and Eduard Zwetzich; sitting is Bob Benson, Sacramento, CA, assisting a person at the Russlanddeutschen Bundestreffen, Wiesbaden, Germany, 26 May 2007 – Amerika Haus information table.