Russian-Germans – Who are they? Where do they come from? How did they live and how do they want to live today?

The Museum of Russian-German Cultural History tries to find answers to all of the questions listed above. That’s how we want to build bridges between the past and present of Russian-Germans in Germany.

Especially after 1764, millions of people left the German-speaking countries. They migrated to America - but not only: It is largely unknown that over 160,000 people emigrated to Russia from 1764 to 1850 alone. While the reasons that led to emigration were often the same, the way of life of the people in Russia went quite differently than for example in America. The history of the German emigrants in the new homeland was markedly changeable and characterized for a long time by persecution and oppression.

The history of Germans in Russia goes back hundreds of years. Their history has developed within the context of a diverse country and population.

Russians and Germans had been politically, culturally and economically connected for a long time. The first frequent and permanent relations with Nowgorod were initiated by early Hanseatic merchants in the 12th century. Since the Middle Ages until the 16th century Germans came to Rus (the original region of Russia) and many of them stayed. Starting in the 16th century many Germans moved to Moscow and in the 18th century even further to the rising city of St. Petersburg. Due to the invitation of Katharina II in 1763 thousands of Germans settled in the vastness of Russia.