German historians on visit to Chisinau

The Embassy of Germany in Moldova is preparing a broad program on the occasion of the anniversary of 200 years of the settlement of German colonists in Bessarabia. A number of German historians came to Chisinau on this occasion, Info-Prim Neo reports. Ambassador Matthias Meyer told the press that a scientific conference centering on the Bessarabian Germans’ contribution to the religious life, education and agriculture of Bessarabia will take place at the National Museum of Archeology and History next year. Within the preparations for this event, a group of experts in April will look for facts about Bessarabian Germans at the National Achieve. German historian Ute Schmidt said he wrote a book about the German colonists in Bessarabia, which will be translated into Romanian by the next year’s conference. “It is many years since the Germans left Bessarabia, but those who left still consider Bessarabia their motherland. We are glad that we will celebrate this event together,” he stated. Vossler Guenther, chairman of the Association of Bessarabian Germans from Germany, said that the association has 3,000 members and 8,000 sympathizers. It has an archive, library and museum. During and after the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812, the south of Bessarabia started to be colonized. The German colonists came to Bessarabia in multiple waves between 1814 and 1842. According to the census of 1930, the Germans represented 3% of Bessarabia’s population. After Bessarabia was annexed by the USSR, the Germans were transferred to the current territory of Poland, in accordance with a Soviet-German agreement.