Sharing the history of our Germanic ancestors
from Russia

Our Members

Our membership is made up of people of various origins, who are interested in migration history of Germanic peoples. This includes those whose ancestors emigrated from western Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries to Prussia, Russia and Austria-Hungary. The territories of these former empires include present-day Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Russia, Moldova, Czechia and Slovakia. Subsequent reverse migrations brought families back to western Europe and to North and South America in the late 19th century and through the 20th century. 

Discover your roots; Share your heritage

Memberhip dues for the AHSGR Edmonton & District Chapter are C$30 per calendar year.
New members: Join now and have your membership extended through to the end of next calendar year.
To join, send an email to the President (membership officer).

A Brief History of Edmonton & District 

Treaty 6

In 1876, the Crown and representatives of the Cree, Assiniboine and Ojibwe signed Treaty 6. The treaty boundaries extend across the central part of present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan and include Edmonton and District. These are the traditional lands of First Nations and Métis people.[1]

 Initial Emigration of Germans from Russia to the Edmonton District

Subsequent completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway across the southern prairies in western Canada in 1885 facilitated the settlement of the then North-West Territories by immigrants from Europe. The settlement of Germans in Alberta proceeded from South to North.[2] In areas around Edmonton, settlement was dependent in part on the development of north-south railway lines.[3]

In the 1890s, German Baptists from Volhynia settled in the Leduc district and in nearby Wiesenthal. Moravian Brethren founded the communities of Bruderheim and New Sarepta, east of Edmonton, and Brüderfeld (now part of the southeast Edmonton community Mill Woods) and also settled in Heimthal, south of Edmonton. German Lutherans from Galicia founded Hoffnungsau and Rosenthal near Stony Plain. German Reformed from Galicia founded Josephsburg near Fort Saskatchewan, and German Lutherans from Russia founded Heimthal and Lutherhort south of Edmonton. Volga Germans settled west of Edmonton in Stony Plain and Glory Hills (they had come from the village of Norka). [4] [5] [6] [9] 

German emigration from the United States began in the 1890s, but was more significant from 1903 to 1910. These Germans from the United States seemed to prefer Alberta, particularly along the Red Deer-Wetaskiwin-Leduc-Edmonton railway line.[7] Many of these Germans and their parents were originally from Russia.

 Subsequent Migrations of Germans to the Edmonton District

Following a hiatus resulting from World War I, relatively large-scale immigration of Germans to Alberta was permitted beginning in 1927. More Mennonites and other German settlers arrived in 1929 and 1930. Another larger migration began after World War II from 1947 to the early 1950s. A more in-depth history of Germans in Alberta after 1918 may be found in Citation [8]. 

 A Map of German Settlements in the Edmonton District

https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/ed-map.gif. 

 Alberta's German-Speaking Communities

A comprehensive discussion of German-Speaking Communities and their history is found on the University of Alberta site: https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/historyframetop.html 

Revised January 18, 2025.

Citations

[1] https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/treaty-6, retrieved February 22, 2023.

[2] https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/Edmonton1914.htm#:~:text=The%20settlement%20of%20Germanspeaking%20immigrants%20in%20Alberta%20proceeded,persons%20of%20German%20origin%20in%20the%20Edmonton%20District, retrieved February 22, 2023.

[3] Lehmann, Heinz: The German Canadians 1750-1937 (first edition); translated and edited by Gerhard P. Bassler, ©1986, Jesperson Press, St. John’s, NL; ISBN: 0-920502-76-8. Chapter IV.1: From the Russian Steppes to the Prairie Frontier; The Opening of the West, pp. 96-98.

[4] Ibid. Chapter IV.3: From the Russian Steppes to the Prairie Frontier; The German Exodus from Russia to Western Canada, 1874 – 1914; ii. Volhynia and Central Poland; p. 116.

[5] https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/immhistory1.htm, retrieved February 22, 2023.

[6] https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/Placenames.htm, retrieved February 22, 2023.

[7] Lehmann, Heintz: The German Canadians 1750-1937 (first edition); Chapter IV.3: pp. 130-132.

[8] https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/immhistory2.htm#_edn2, retrieved February 22, 2023.

[9] https://sites.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/Volgagermans.htm, retrieved March 6, 2023.