Dobrujan Germans - Colonization

Colonization

The first of these German settlers came between 1841 and 1856 from the Russian Empire. They were farming families from the neighboring areas of Bessarabia and Cherson, who immigrated because of an economic recession in their home territories. Thirty years later colonists from Swabia also moved into the region. During this period, Dobruja still belonged to the Ottoman Empire and the colonists were subject to colonization regulations from Turkey. Consequently, the Dobruja Germans were the only ethnic Germans to ever be Turkish subjects without actually moving to Turkey (as did the Bosporus Germans). They contributed to the agricultural development of the fertile steppes.