The North Star Chapter of Minnesota is an organization dedicated to the preservation of the Germans from Russia Heritage. The Germans from Russia are a unique people who emigrated from South Russia to the United States and Canada in the later part of the 19th Century.   They settled in areas from Oklahoma to North Dakota in the United States and also immigrated to Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada.   More information is available through the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia and the Germans from Russia Heritage Society.  Links to each societies website can be found elsewhere in this website.

The Germans from Russia are descendents of Germans who settled in Russia during a period of approximately one years, from 1763 to 1862.  The history of German settlements in Russia began with the reign of Tsarina Catherine II (Catherine the Great) and her issuance of a manifesto in July 1763 enticing West Europeans to settle in Russia. 

Much history including wars and oppression by the government that followed Catherine and turmoil within Russia is what lead up to many immigrating to North and South America.  Those in North America settled from Kansas to North Dakota and also into Colorado but you will find descendents of Germans from Russia in other states including Ohio, Wisconsin, Washington and California. 

Others did stay in Russia and it is estimated that perhaps two million of German ethnic origin remain in the former USSR today. 

More about us

The North Star Chapter of Minnesota (organized in 1979) is a local chapter affiliated with AHSGR and GRHS (websites for each of these groups are available in the links section of this site).  The chapter is approximately 100 family members in the Twin Cities area with most of the German areas in Russia represented.  The Black Sea, Bessarabia, Crimea, Caucasus, Volga etc.  The chapter meets regularly during the year but breaks during the summer when other activities seem to draw the membership in many directions.  The chapter often has speakers on various topics of interest to the German Russian community as well as genealogy workshops and typically, banquets or potluck gatherings perhaps twice per year.  In all, about 6 meetings.  The chapter publishs a newsletter which is paid for by the dues that are required annually.  Membership to AHSGR or GRHS is required to join the group and to receive the newsletter via US postal mail.  We also have a library of books which can be viewed at the regular meetings or genealogy workshops and we have the AHSGR Journal and GRHS Heritage Review.  In this website you'll find links of interest.  "click" on the links within the paragraph below to take you to the subject of interest or click on the link to the left to take you to many of the same pages. Note that these links will be visible from many of the other web pages also to allow you to navigate through the website with ease.