Chronik der Heimatgemeinde Eigenheim in Bessarabien (Chronicle of the Home Community of Eigenheim in Bessarabia)

Review by Arnold H. Marzolf, Professor Emeritus, NDSU, Fargo, ND

Koewers, Alberta. Chronik der Heimatgemeinde Eigenheim in Bessarabian (Chronicle of the Home Community of Eigenheim in Bessarabia). Trittau, Germany: W. Ahlers, 1979.

This book is a chronicle of the first German settlement in Eigenheim, Bessarabia; its founding, development, and dissolution. It included a short history of Bessarabia and reasons for leaving Germany, the buying of land in 1812, the First World War, the development of agriculture after World War I, the formation of an agricultural association; cattle breeding; the acute danger from wolves; the breeding and raising of swine and poultry; the raising of grapes and the wine industry; and cultivation and use of forests; bees and honey; the care of Mulberry trees and silk worms, and the making of silk; handicrafts, trades, guilds, artisans; development of industries and professions; hunting; religion and churches; the school system and youth activities and organizations; women’s organizations; customs and manners; government and jurisdiction; the postal system; and the repatriation of 1940.

The book is of great value to those who had ancestors in Eigenheim because it contains many pages of names of settlers and names of people who once lived there.