Susannental

Susannental was founded on the 3 August 1767 by Baron Caneau de Beauregard. The village is about 60 km north of Saratov on the east side of the Volga River. Originally 19 families populated the village. These in families were ethnic Germans that had been lured to the area by free land and are considered to be Volga Germans. The land had been offered by the Catherine II for two main reasons, firstly to fill vast areas of land with subjects that could be taxed and secondly to create a buffer zone between Russia proper and nomads that were difficult to govern. The immigrants were Lutherian. The German colony rapidly fell apart in the early 1900s, due to emigration, famines, wars, and deportations.

The city is currently known as Sosnovka.fact|date=October 2008

References

*http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~susannental/index.html