Hildmann Village Website 

Brief overview of the immigration of the Volga Germans in Argentina

The Volga Germans are one of the largest groups of immigrant descendants in Argentina. They came to Argentina from 1872, but before that, members of that group lived in Russia for an entire century. Migration to Russia had begun in 1763, when Tsarine Catherine II "The Great" of Russia invited the Germans to colonize the lands around the Volga River. Despite the long duration of their stay in Russia, most Volga Germans did not learn Russian before their departure for Argentina.  However, Russia still left traces on type of German spoken by the Germans of the Volga in Argentina.
It is estimated that today there are more than two million descendants of Germans from the Volga in Argentina. Most are found in small colonies of 1500-2000 inhabitants in the provinces Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires and La Pampa. The reasons for their migration to Argentina had to do with the change of laws in Russia that led to a cut in privileges that were initially provided to German colonizers by the Tsarine on the one hand and the worsening economic situation in the German colonies in the Volga on the other.  At the same time, workers were sought to colonize lands in America.   The Argentine government encouraged colonization by providing facilities for the travel of immigrants and promising various privileges, such as land for settlers.
Until the mid - 20th century, settlements of Germans of the Volga in Argentina managed to exist autonomously. They maintained their traditions, including the language, almost completely. The German dialect was used in daily life, standard German in the church and school.  Spanish was used for colony administrative purposes.

Our original German surname was Amrhein but in Russia the letter "h" is removed so it becomes Amrein.  In Argentina, due to the pronunciation and/or lack of documentation, the surname became Amarain. There are cousins and uncles that resident in La Pampa who retain the surname Amrein. 
Johann Adam Amrhein, born in Aschaffenburg, Germany was the first ancestor of my family to reach Russian lands in 1767.  He established himself as one of the first settlers in the village of Hildmann, Saratov, Volga, Russia. 

Bibliographic Reference:

Anna Ladilova

Russian in the speech of Volga Germans in Argentina (2019)

Justus-Liebig-University of  Giessen, Alemania, anna.ladilova@romanistik.uni-giessen.de
https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0719-32622019000100109

Descendants of Johannes Amrein in Argentina – Hildmann

Author: Sandro Amarain

Johannes Amrein was the firstborn and only son of Joseph Amrein and Margarita Muller.  He was born on January 25,1885 in Hildmann Village, Saratov Province, Russia.

On November 3, 1903, Johannes Amrein married Anna Margarita Groh of Leichtling (born August 7, 1885).  Johannes and Anna Margarita were my great grandparents.   (Anna Margarita Groh’s parents were Adam Groh and Catalina Dieser.)

Johannes Amrein and Anna Margarita Groh had their first son on October 22, 1904.  His name was Joseph and he was born in Hildmann…

Johannes Amrein departed from the port of Hamburg on June 06, 1905 and arrived in Argentina as a Russian immigrant of German ethnic origin on July 01,1905.  He landed in the port of La Plata, Buenos Aires on the steamer Cap Roca of the German company Hamburg S.D. 

Johannes stated that he came alone on the ship.  We believe that Anna Margarita travelled later with her little son Joseph but he died on the ship.  There is no record of these events but that is how our ancestors told it.

My grandfather, Juan Amrein is the 2nd son of Johannes and Anna Margarita.  He was born in 1906, in the town of Santa María, Coronel Suárez, province of Buenos Aires in Argentina.  Juan Amrein married Apolonia Holmann in 1929.

Gaspar Amarain, my father was born in 1945 in the town of Rivera, province of Buenos Aires.  He married my mother, Susana Caballin in 1965 in Rivera, Argentina.
My brother Marcelo was also born in Rivera. My brother Diego, my sister Paula, and I were born in Bahía Blanca, province of Buenos Aires.  We are the third generation of Amrein born in Argentina.

 

From our ancestors in Hildmann, Saratov, Volga, Russia  came the family of Amrein in Argentina today.

The Amrein family in Colonia Barón, La Pampa, Argentina in the year 2018.