Lincoln, Lancaster Co., Nebraska
The first Volga German colonists to arrive in Lincoln came from Balzer in 1874. They were soon joined by hundreds of others. The largest of these immigrant groups came from Frank, Beideck, Huck, Balzer, and Kukkus.
They first settled in southwest Lincoln in the flood plains of Salt Creek, a neighborhood that became known as the South Bottoms. Development of the North Bottoms neighborhood began in 1888 as immigrants sought to live nearer the roundhouse of the Burlington Northern Railroad where many were employed. By 1915, there were 6,500 people living in these two enclaves. Sallet reports that by 1924, this number had grown to over 9,000.
Particularly for those Volga German families immigrating from Protestant colonies, Lincoln was a stopping point before moving on to other parts of North America. Today, Lincoln remains as one of the cities in North America with the highest concentration of descendants of Volga Germans. The headquarters of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, founded in 1968, is located in Lincoln.
The following Volga German families are known to have lived in Lincoln:
Achtziger
Adler
Alles from Walter
Alt
Amen from Frank
Barthuli from Balzer
Bastron
Batt
Bauer from Balzer
Baum
Beck
Becker from Balzer
Behrends
Benner
Bernhardt
Betz
Block
Blum
Bohl
Borgens
Braun
Brehm
Bretthauer
Brungardt
Buxmann
Dahlinger
David from Dietel
Debus
Decker from Balzer
Deines from Kratzke & Norka
Derr
Dinges
Ditter
Dreith from Beideck
Eckhardt
Eisenach
Eitel
Erb
Eurich from Balzer
Fahrenbruch
Feuerstein from Norka
Fink
Fischer
Flath
Fox / Fuchs
Frank
Friehauf
Frick
Frickel from Kautz
Fritzler from Grimm
Gabel
Geist
Gerlach from Norka
Gettmann from Walter
Giebelhaus from Norka
Gies
Glantz
Gradwohl from Kautz
Grasmick from Balzer
Grauberger from Dietel
Groth
Gruenwald
Habberman from Balzer
Hardt
Hardung
Harmony from Kautz
Heft from Balzer
Heidenreich
Heil from Balzer
Heimbigner from Frank
Heimbuch from Balzer
Hein from Frank
Heinrich
Heitzenreder from Frank
Helzer from Norka
Hergenreder from Kukkus
Hergert
Herrmann
Herstein
Herzog from Balzer
Hill
Hinkel from Norka
Hoch
Hoff
Hofferber
Hoffmann
Hohnstein from Norka
Horst
Huber from Balzer
Huck
Ils
Jackel / Yakel from Balzer
Johannes from Kukkus
Jordan
Kahler
Kaiser from Balzer
Kalbin from Balzer
Kanzler
Kaufmann
Kechter
Kehm from Balzer
Keller
Kindsvater from Dietel
Kissler from Frank
Klaus
Klein from Balzer
Klippert
Knaub from Balzer & Kautz
Knopf
Koch
Kohler from Balzer
Korell
Krening
Krieger
Krumm
Kukkus / Kukes
Lapp
Lebsack
Lehl from Norka
Leikam
Lenz
Leonhardt
Less
Lesser
Lich
Lind
Lissmann
Lofink
Loos
Mai
Margheim
Maser
Maul from Norka
Meininger
Melcher from Hussenbach
Meng
Michael / Michel
Miller from Balzer
Mohr
Neubauer from Kautz
Niederhaus
Nolde
Nuss
Ostermiller
Ostwald from Kautz
Pauley from Norka
Pfeif
Pfenning from Norka
Pitsch from Dietel
Popp from Balzer
Propp
Rebensdorf
Rehn
Reichel from Dietel
Reifschneider
Reinhardt
Reiter from Kautz
Reitz
Riedel
Riffel from Galka
Ring from Dietel
Robertus from Balzer
Rohn
Rohrig from Balzer
Roth
Rutt
Sack
Salzmann
Schafer
Scheck from Balzer
Scheidt
Scheuermann
Schilling
Schlegel
Schleicher from Norka
Schleining from Norka
Schmidt
Schmunk
Schneider from Balzer
Schneidmiller
Schnell from Norka
Schoessler from Walter
Schreiber from Norka
Schreiner from Kautz
Schultz
Schumann
Schwabauer from Balzer
Schwartz
Schwindt from Norka
Seibel
Sekinger
Sell
Sinner
Sitzmann
Spadt from Balzer
Spady from Norka
Spahn from Norka
Specht from Merkel
Stoeher from Balzer
Spomer from Beideck
Staley from Kautz
Steinbrecher
Sterkel from Norka
Strassheim
Strauch from Beideck
Strecker
Stroh
Stumpf
Thiel
Traudt from Norka
Trubelhorn
Trupp
Ulrich
Urbach from Balzer
Vogel
Voltz from Balzer
Wacker / Walker
Wagner
Walter(s)
Wamboldt from Dietel
Wassenmiller
Weber from Balzer
Weigandt
Weil
Weisheim from Balzer
Weitzel
Wekesser from Anton
Wertz
Widerspahn
Wilhelm
Willmann
Wink
Worster from Balzer
Wuckert from Balzer
Wurst
Yost
Young
Zieg from Balzer
Zeiler
Zier from Dietel
Zimmermann
Zitterkopf from Huck
Zitzmann from Frank
- Kinbacher, Kurt E. "Life in the Russian Bottoms: Community Building and Identity Transformation among Germans from Russia in Lincoln, Nebraska, 1876 to 1926." Journal of American Ethnic History 26:2 (Winter 2007): 27-57.
- Sallet, Richard. Russian-German Settlement in the United States (Fargo, ND: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1974): 43-44.
- Fairview Cemetery (findagrave.com)
- Lincoln Memorial Park (findagrave.com)
- Wyuka Cemetery (findagrave.com)
- Wyuka Cemetery (gravestones.org)
- Lincoln, Nebraska (Wikipedia)
Pre-Volga Origin
Map of Lincoln showing Volga German Settlement Areas.
Source: Ezra Zeitler via Kurt Kinbacher.