Germans have lived in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

since the 1810s, with a large concentration of them once found in the western part of the country. The community grew out of two original settlements founded by German settlers from

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

who settled here in 1819. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it virtually ceased to exist as the Soviet government, which ruled Azerbaijan at the time, grew wary of the ethnic Germans potentially sympathising with the advancing army of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and deported them to

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

in 1942.

History

The history of German settlements on the territory of

began when German villagers from

to the South Caucasus were resettled in what is now Azerbaijan. Two German colonies—

Helenendorf Helenendorf may refer to the following places in Azerbaijan: * Goygol (city), named Helenendorf until 1931 * Bibiheybət, a municipality in Baku, formerly known as Helenendorf {{geodis ...

and Annenfeld—were founded in what later became the

Elizavetpol uezd The Elizavetpol uezd, also known as the Ganja uezd after 1918, was a county (''uezd'') of the Elizavetpol Governorate of the Russian Empire, and later of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Azerbaijan SSR until its formal abolition in 1929. The ...

in 1819. Later, the number of German settlements increased and reached eight by the beginning of the twentieth century, namely Helenendorf, Annenfeld, Georgsfeld, Alexejewka, Grünfeld, Eichenfeld, Traubenfeld, and Jelisawetinka.

Economy

German colonists worked in the field of viticulture and wine growing in Azerbaijan. The Vohrer and Hummel families ran wineries and owned several farms. Beer and cognac factories were built by the Vohrer brothers' firm in Helenendorf. Agriculture and various kinds of art also developed. In 1922, a state-owned wine-making production named "Concordia" was established here and in the 1930s, kolkhozes began to function.

Education

Education and culture in the cultural life of the German community were of great importance. In 1842 the first school building was built in Helenendorf. A total of eight schools functioned in the German villages of Azerbaijan, and one functioned in Baku starting in the mid-1920s. At the end of 1920, engineering school, and in the 1930s the vine-growing and wine-making school began to function in Helenendorf.

Culture

Lutheran churches were established in Helenendorf in 1854 and in Annenfeld in 1909. They were designed by German architects Eichler and Lehmkuhl. A

Lutheran church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

opened in Baku in 1899. In 1918–1920, Lorenz Kuhn was the representative of the German population in the parliament of the

Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian Az ...

. At that time, one of important historical events in the Germans life took place, the 100th anniversary of the Germans' settlement and Helenendorf colony were celebrated in Azerbaijan on June 9, 1919. After the establishment of Soviet rule, the German-language newspapers "Bauer und Arbeiter" and "Lenins Weg" were published in Azerbaijan. In 1928, an Ethnological Museum was opened in Helenendorf by the initiative of archaeologist Hummel. A cultural club was organized in Helenendorf, which included a theatre, sports associations, an orchestra, a choir, and a library.

Deportation

In 1941–1942, during World War II, Germans living in the USSR, including in Azerbaijan, were deported to Central Asia and Siberia by the decision of the Soviet leadership as part of the

population transfer in the Soviet Union From 1930 to 1952, the government of the Soviet Union, on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin under the direction of the NKVD official Lavrentiy Beria, forcibly transferred populations of various groups. These actions may be classified ...

Today

Cultural events, concerts, exhibitions are held by the Kapellhaus German-Azerbaijani Cultural Association in Baku. Buildings built on the basis of German architectural projects are preserved in Azerbaijan.

References

{{Portal bar, Azerbaijan, Germany Ethnic groups in Azerbaijan