The book by Ute Schmidt about the full 125-year history (1814–1940) of German colonies on the Black Sea’s northwestern coast describes the origin of Bessarabian Germans, their rural culture shaped by local autonomy, a Protestant ethic as well as the coexistence with other nationalities such as Romanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Jews and Bulgarians. The extended English edition was published in summer 2011 by the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection and the Deutsches Kulturforum östliches Europa.

Ute Schmidt studied history, art history, German, sociology and political science in Munich and Berlin. University lecturer at the Free University of Berlin

Book review by Horst Gutsche

Short reviews on the webpage Germans from Russia Heritage Collection