The NDSU Libraries’ Germans from Russia Heritage Collection has published a new book translated from German to English, “The Russian Germans under the Double Eagle and the Soviet Star: Including a Pictorial History of Cities, Landscapes and People,” by Bernd G. Längin.
Längin paints a picture of the rise and fall of a German minority under the Double Eagle and the Soviet Star. Their history is recalled before all traces of the German generations on the Volga and in Ukraine Caucasus, Bessarabia and Volhynia are lost.
The book includes dramatic historical black and white photographs of the Russian-Germans who advanced the cause of the Russian Empire for 200 years before emigrating with the onset of glasnost and perestroika. Längin blends the images with the story about the various ethnic groups.
“Bernd had a particular interest in the Amish, Hutterite and Mennonite German communities and includes many outstanding photographs of their life. He wrote over 24 books in his lifetime and was a wonderful storyteller,” said Michael Miller, collection director. “He travelled the world many times and dedicated his life to the impact that leaving Europe, and Germany in particular, had on its many emigrants. We were deeply honored when his wife, Christiane Längin, donated his important personal library for The Bernd G. Längin Collection at the NDSU Libraries’ Germans from Russia Heritage Collection.”
For more information about the book or to order online, visit http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/order/general/doubleeagle.html. For additional information about the NDSU Libraries’ Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, call 701-231-6596 or email jeremy.kopp@ndsu.edu.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.