Volga Germans

The Volga Germans (German: Wolgadeutsche or Russlanddeutsche, Russian: Поволжские немцы, Povolzhskie nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who colonized and historically lived along the River Volga in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov and to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in the 18th century, they were allowed to maintain their German culture, language, traditions, and churches (Lutheran, Reformed, Catholics, and Mennonites). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many Volga Germans emigrated to Kansas, the Dakotas and other states across the western United States, as well as to Canada and South America (mainly Argentina and Brazil).

After the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 during World War II, the Soviet government considered the Volga Germans potential collaborators, and transported many of them eastwards, where thousands died. After the war, the Soviet Union expelled some ethnic Germans to the West. In the late 1980s and 1990s, many of the remaining ethnic Germans moved from the Soviet Union to Germany.

Volga River

The Volga (Russian: Во́лга; IPA: [ˈvolɡə]) is the longest river in Europe; it is also Europe's largest river in terms of discharge and watershed. It flows through central Russia and into the Caspian Sea, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia.

Eleven of the twenty largest cities of Russia, including the capital, Moscow, are in the Volga's watershed (drainage basin).

Some of the largest reservoirs in the world can be found along the Volga. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture and is often referred to as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka (Mother Volga) in Russian literature and folklore.

Nomenclature

The Russian hydronym Volga (Волга) derives from Proto-Slavic *vòlga "wetness, moisture", which is preserved in many Slavic languages, including Ukrainian volóha (воло́га) "moisture", Russian vlaga (влага) "moisture", Bulgarian vlaga (влага) "moisture", Czech vláha "dampness", Serbo-Croatian vlȁga "moisture", and Slovene vlaga "moisture" among others.

The Slavic name is a loan translation of earlier Scythian Rā (Ῥᾶ) "Volga", literally "wetness", cognate with Avestan Raŋhā "mythical stream" (also compare the derivation Sogdian r’k "vein, blood vessel" (*raha-ka),Persian رگ rag "vein") and Sanskrit rasā́- "liquid, juice; mythical river". The Scythian name survives in modern Mordvin Rav (Рав) "Volga".

Fred C. Koch

Fred Chase Koch (/ˈkoʊk/; September 23, 1900 – November 17, 1967) was an American chemical engineer and entrepreneur who founded the oil refinery firm that later became Koch Industries, a privately held company which, under the principle ownership and leadership of Koch's sons, Charles and David, is listed by Forbes, as of 2015, as the second-largest privately held company in the United States.

Early life and education

Fred C. Koch was born in Quanah, Texas, the son of Mattie B. (née Mixson) and a Dutch immigrant, Harry Koch. Harry began working as a printer’s apprentice in Workum, Netherlands. He worked over a year at printers shops in The Hague and in Germany before coming to the U.S. in 1888, and owned the Tribune-Chief newspaper. Fred attended Rice Institute in Houston from 1917 to 1919, and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1922, where he obtained a degree in Chemical Engineering Practice.

Business career

Koch started his career with the Texas Company in Port Arthur, Texas, and later became chief engineer with the Medway Oil & Storage Company on the Isle of Grain in Kent, England. In 1925 he joined a fellow MIT classmate, P.C. Keith, at Keith-Winkler Engineering in Wichita, Kansas. Following the departure of Keith in 1925, the firm became Winkler-Koch Engineering Company.

Germans

Germans (German: Deutsche) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe, who share a common German ancestry, culture and history, and speak the German language as their native language. Alternatively, Germans are those who live or were born in Germany.

The English term Germans has historically referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages. Before the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1990, Germans constituted the largest divided nation in Europe by far. Ever since the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire, German society has been characterized by a Catholic-Protestant divide.

Of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, roughly 80 million consider themselves Germans. There are an additional 80 million people of German ancestry mainly in the United States, Brazil (mainly in the South Region of the country), Argentina, Canada, South Africa, the post-Soviet states (mainly in Russia and Kazakhstan), and France, each accounting for at least 1 million. Thus, the total number of Germans lies somewhere between 100 and more than 150 million, depending on the criteria applied (native speakers, single-ancestry ethnic Germans, partial German ancestry, etc.).

German

German(s) may refer to:

Places

People

Mythological beings

Germans (band)

Germans were a Canadian indie rock band whose members included Julian Kado, Roman Harrison, Livingston Fagan,Aidan Koper, Steven Lappano, Jesse Foster, Michael Rozenberg, and Leon Taheny. They are signed to Portland, Oregon-based label Arena Rock Recording Co. Based in Toronto, the bandmembers are from various nearby Ontario cities: Mississauga, Richmond Hill, and Guelph.

Critics have noted that the music is reminiscent of 1990s indie rock, and, in their "Artist of the Day" feature, Spin magazine compared the band's music to 1990s indie rock band Archers of Loaf. Taheny has cited the band Pavement as a significant influence. Most of the band members contributed to the 2006 Polaris Music Prize-winning album He Poos Clouds by Final Fantasy, which Taheny produced.

Their track "I Am the Teacher" has been in rotation at CBC Radio 3, and played on the CBC Radio 3 podcast. The band is touring the U.S. and Canada in early 2007.

Band member Aidan Koper appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing a "Stupid Human Trick" in which he contorted his body through a tennis racquet while juggling.