The address of Grossliebental (Großliebental), Odessa, Odessa Oblast, Ukraine is Odessa, Odessa Oblast Ukraine, located at latitude 46.466667, longitude 30.733333.
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Place Notes
Großliebental --translation "Big love valley"
today Welikodolinskoje ================================== The Großliebental area was founded between 1804-1810. The area lay approximately 20 km south west of Odessa. Most of the settlers came from Württemberg and the others from Prussia, Baden, Rhineland and Alsace. ====================================== At the end of the 18th century Russia conquered in the war against the Turks vast areas of the steppe by the Black Sea; the cultivation of which was to be implemented immediately. As serfdom limited the Russian peasants in their freedom of movement and thus made an immediate settlement of the new area impossible, foreign settlers were recruited. Already in July 1763, Czarina Catherine II issued in a manifesto the permit to all foreigners coming to Russia to settle in governments of their choice and granted them special rights. The Czarina's manifesto guaranteed foreign settlers also the right of free religion and self-government aside from various economic and political privileges. The call of Catherine II was most welcome in the German small states where economic hardship, denominational differences and wars wore down the population.
.... German Colonies in the Odessa Region: "The colonists" founded well organized colonies in the inhospitable areas settled by them; they turned barren steppes into healthy fields, reforested, put in orchards and vegetable gardens and introduced many useful innovations in the area of agriculture
.... In the beginning the strange geographic and climatic conditions created great difficulties for the German farmers. They were forced to develop new methods of land cultivation. They worked mainly raising cattle in the first phase of their adaptation to these new circumstances. In 1805, sheep with fine wool were brought to the cities of Odessa and Dnepropetrowsk and the breeding of these animals began in New Russia. This wool was soon the most important product of the colonists. The Germans also managed to adapt East Frisian cattle to the adverse conditions of the steppes. The new breed was soon known as 'German-Red Cattle' or 'Colonists'-Cattle'. Later the colonists began to extensively grow grain, sunflowers, wine, vegetables, fruits, tobacco and silk. They worked as beekeepers and in forestry. There were brickyards, wineries, breweries, cheese factories and oil mills in many colonies. Soon water-, wind- and steam powered mills, stud farms and cloth factories emerged.
..... The colonists often named the villages after their hometowns. Thus, the villages of Baden, Rastadt, Kassel, München, Straßburg and others ...Later the colonies had to be partially renamed. .... The colonies of Großliebental were in close proximity to the city of Odessa. Großliebental (today Welikodolinskoje) was the center of the region densely populated by Germans; it included the colonies of Lustdorf (Tschernomorka), Kleinliebental (Malodolinskoje), Alexanderhilf (Dobroalexandrowka), Franzfeld, Neuburg (Nowogradowka), Mariental (Marjanowka), Josefstal (Jossipowka) and Peterstal (Petrodolina).
.. .. Since the Middle of the 19th Century The emergence of 'Panslavism,' the changed national identity and because of the founding the German Reich the increased need for polarization led increasingly to criticism of the concentration of real estate in the hands of nonslavic immigrants. One warned of a "peaceful conquest" and of the "Germanization" of Russia. In 1887, a law for foreigners was enacted which very much restricted foreigners' rights to lease and acquire property especially in areas near the borders. As of 1871, the privileges for colonists were abolished and Russian i.e. Ukrainian as the official language was introduced to the German colonies. By the end of the 19th century, lack of land and increasing political pressure had a great effect on the livelihood of Germans. Many of them decided therefore to leave the Black Sea region. As the German Empire was willing to take in only a small number of Black Sea Germans, many settlers participated with Russian and Ukrainian farmers in colonizing Siberia within the framework of the agrarian reform and founded new colonies there. Thousands emigrated to America at the beginning of the 20th century and settled in the states of North and South Dakota among other places.
