''Nachrichten'' ('News') was a

Volga German The Volga Germans (german: Wolgadeutsche, ), russian: поволжские немцы, povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov a ...

communist newspaper, published between 1918 and 1941.Geschichte der Wolgadeutschen
"НАХРИХТЕН"
/ref> ''Nachrichten'' was the organ of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

in the

Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (german: Autonome Sozialistische Sowjetrepublik der Wolgadeutschen; russian: Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика Немцев По� ...

. The newspaper was founded under the name ''Vorwärts'' ('Forward') by the German Commissariat in

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

in March 1918. ''Vorwärts'' was the first Bolshevik newspaper directed towards the Volga German colonists. It carried the by-line 'Organ of the Socialists in the German Volga territory' (''Organ der Sozialisten des deutschen Wolgagebiets'').Geschichte der Wolgadeutschen. Schiller, Franz P.,
Literatur zur Geschichte und Volkskunde der deutschen Kolonien in der Sowjetunion für die Jahre 1764 – 1926
' The name was changed to ''Nachrichten'' in June 1918, as the Bolsheviks wanted to avoid any association with the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

organ ''

Vorwärts ''Vorwärts'' (, "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily as ...

''.Heitman, Sidney.
Germans from Russia in Colorado
'. Fort Collins, Colo: Western Social Science Association, 1978. pp. 36, 43 The newspaper used Gothic font, but switched to Latin font sometime in the mid-1930s. In April 1919 the publication ''Kommunist'' ('Communist', published from

Katharinenstadt Marks (russian: Маркс), also spelled Marx, named after Karl Marx, is a town in Saratov Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: It was previously known as ''Baronsk'', ''Yekaterinen ...

since 1916 and initially named ''Kolonist'') was merged into ''Nachrichten''.Warkentin, Julia-Maria.
Nelly Däs – Das Leben und Werk der russlanddeutschen Schriftstellerin
'. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2008. p. 11 In the beginning ''Nachrichten'' was published alongside ''

Die Wacht ''Die Wacht'' ('The Guard') was a Volga German communist newspaper, which appeared around 1918 as a sister publication of ''Nachrichten ''Nachrichten'' ('News') was a Volga German communist newspaper, published between 1918 and 1941.Geschichte der ...

'', but ''Die Wacht'' was closed down in June 1919.Bourret, Jean-François.
Les Allemands de la Volga: histoire culturelle d'une minorité, 1763–1941
'. Lyon: Presses universitaires de Lyon, 1986. p. 419 In October 1918 (after the disbanding of the German Commissariat), ''Nachrichten'' became the organ of the Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks) Regional Committee (''

obkom The organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was based on the principles of democratic centralism. The governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was the Party Congress, which initially met annually but whose m ...

'') of the Volga German Labour Commune. The newspaper had a circulation of around 2,500 at this point. It was printed by the Shelgorm & Co. Typographical Association in Saratov. In mid-1919 the printing of ''Nachrichten'' was taken over by the ''Staats-Verlag des Gebietes der Wolgadeutschen''. By this point circulation had doubled, fluctuating between 5,000 and 5,400. From 1922 onwards, the newspaper was published in Kosackenstadt. Around the time of the founding of the Volga German ASSR, ''Nachrichten'' was published daily. Nachrichten Redaktion 1923-1

In 1931 ''Nachrichten'' became the joint organ of the Volga German Communist Party ''obkom'' and the regional

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

committee. In the same year a shortage of paper made it necessary to limit the frequency of publishing to 18 issues per month and reduce circulation to around 25,000. In 1933 it was converted into the joint organ of the party obkom, the city of Engels (the new name for Kosackenstadt) committee and the Engels city soviet. In 1939 it was named the organ of the Volga German ASSR Supreme Soviet, the party obkom, the Engels city party committee and the Engels city council of people's deputies.

References

External links

{{Portal, Communism, Soviet Union
''Nachrichten'' archive
German-language communist newspapers Newspapers published in Russia Publications established in 1918 Saratov Publications disestablished in 1941 Volga German people