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“Visions of Azerbaijan”.-2011.-March-April.-P.54-59. German Colonies in Azerbaijan by Rustam Alasgarov The German page of Azerbaijan’s history is one of the more interesting. The founding of the first German colony in Azerbaijan, life therein and relationships with local people, the deportation of Germans by the Soviet Government during World War II and other episodes were key elements. We published Rustam Alasgarov’s article on the establishment of the first German colonies in our January- February 2010 edition. He now continues the story.... As we reported, 500 families of landless German peasants accepted the invitation of the Russian tsar, left their native German princi pality of Wurttemberg at the beginning of the 19th century, and found shelter many thousands of kilometres away in Azerbaijan, which was then part of the Russian empire. In 1819 began a period in which their new native land would prove to be a general blessing, but this was only be achieved by hard work. In that year the new settlers formed the first German colony, which they named Yelenendorf. A little later other settlements appeared: Annenfeld, Georgfeld, Grunfeld, Aigenfeld, and finally, Traubenfeld. The settlers did not work solely to their former German regime, they soon adopted certain methods from their Azerbaijani neighbours and put them into useful practice. They began to cultivate rice and tobacco, they planted large areas of olive trees and cotton and also produced oil from sunflower seeds. The colonists were not wholly concentrated on agriculture, they were also magnificent artisans. And while the 1820s were mainly a question of simple survival for the colonists, then in the 1830s their position gradually stabilised and at last the birth rate exceeded mortality. From the mid 1840s it seemed that the settlers had fully adapted to the new climate and land conditions. However, the breakthrough came only in the second half of the century, with specialisation in viticulture. Although grapevines were cultivated from the very beginning, until the 1860s they were mainly for their own consumption. All this resulted in a strengthened differentiation both within and between colonies and also between immigrants and local residents in the early 20th century. Growing through the grapevine Only twenty years after foundation, Yelenendorf already had eight cobblers, four high-class tailors, eight smiths, four joinery workshops and carriage workshops which delivered their products to all corners of Russia. After the colonists had organised wine-production at the beginning of the 20th century, they also arranged for the manufacture of the best oak casks. The first German wine-production and other co-operative societies were soon formed. Including their branches, more than half of the privately-run German colony businesses in the South Caucasus were concentrated in the Yelizavetpol province. A huge part of this business belonged to the trading houses of the Vohrer and the Hummel families. The history of the Vohrer house goes back to 1847 when Christoff Vohrer planted vines on one hectare of land. Constantly short of money, he was compelled to work simultaneously as a shoemaker, a postman and a coachman until 1860 when he worked solely on vine growing. In 1862 he founded a joint-stock company and then, in 1868, he built a brewery in Yelizavetpol province which, however, was fated to remain an ‘auxiliary trade’. In 1870 the private family company, Christoff Vohrer and sons (from 1892, Vohrer Brothers) was established with his four sons. By the outbreak of World War I, the company was selling 350 thousand litres of wine annually through the Vohrer Brothers’ Trading House (1913), and also running several distilleries and cognac factories, an alcohol distillation factory, a water-mill, a brewery and a horse-breeding centre. By the beginning of the 20th century, the company had 6 wine cellars holding 100 thousand buckets, by 1910 there were already 30 cellars for 750 thousand buckets. As well as storing wine in large casks instead of the usual wine tanks (wineskins) used in the Caucasus, from 1882 wines and spirits were poured into bottles made at the glass factory of Baron von Kuchenbach. However, with the production of ethyl alcohol, the development of cognac production as a second product was decisive. In 1892 two modern distillation plants with a daily production of 100 buckets were put into operation. In 1896 a new cognac distillery was constructed. This distillery not only helped to overcome a crisis related to overproduction from 1895-96, followed by a fall in the price of wine, but it also strengthened their monopoly position; by 1906 over 6 thousand buckets of cognac were sold to 38 Russian provinces. The enlarged storage and processing capacities allowed the company to expand beyond its own harvest and to process surplus grapes and young wine from other colony winegrowers and local residents; this provided a third of the Vohrers’ trade turnover. The wine cellars were supplemented by installations for the production of distillate and in 1905 the company constructed a storage and processing facility at the Yelizavetpol city railway station. The enterprise also expanded its marketing network in Russia. In 1913 the Vohrer Brothers’ Trading House had branches not only in Yelizavetpol, Tbilisi and Baku, but also in Batumi, Ashkhabad, Merv, Kars, Aleksandropol, Tomsk and Krasnovodsk. Their products were presented at international fairs in Paris and London and won awards. Thus the quality of their wine and cognac was fully up to European standards. While the Vohrer family had an eagle and wine cask logo as the symbol of their successful business, the other family of businessmen, the Hummels, adopted a slightly more modest symbol - bees and a grapevine; this, however did not at all belittle their position in the Caucasian wine and alcohol trade. The Hummel family was regarded as one of the leading families in the colony and thanks to a skilful conclusion of marriages, 5 further enterprises were attached to the family. In 1878 four brothers bought 10 dessiatinas of land and planted additional vineyards. In 1883 a cellar was constructed for wine to be sold in Baku and Tbilisi. The cooper’s shop not only supplied its own cellars, but also brought in additional income, providing the means for the further acquisition of land. In 1895 the Hummel brothers, as well as this craft industry, had several other vineyards in the parent colony and a vineyard of 6 dessiatinas and a cellar with a capacity of 15 thousand buckets in Yelizavetpol. Brandy-led boom However, the true economic breakthrough came only at the turn of the century. The construction of cognac factories in Yelenendorf in 1895 and the establishment of purchasing points in the province convenient for the Baku – Tbilisi railway promoted the efficiency of the enterprise. The Hummel brothers, like the Vohrer family, did not restrict themselves to supplies from German colonists, but bought increasingly from people in Goychay and Shamakha and processed them. Hummel Brothers cognacs and wines were of such high quality that they were awarded prizes at international exhibitions in 1899 and1900. The opening of an inn at the resort of Hajikend in 1898, 12 km from Yelenendorf, was not very successful and it closed in 1906. In 1900 a decision was taken to integrate within the Hummel Brothers’ Trading House all stages of manufacture, that is: cultivation, processing and sale. This decision allowed the company not only to purchase new land, but also to cultivate areas previously considered unfruitful, where both foreign and local varieties of grapes were planted. Modern processes of selection and pest control were employed and this paid off with a substantial growth in income. New cellars were constructed and supplied with larger casks in wood and concrete, and new extraction and cooling systems improved the quality of the wines. Preparing for grape-crushing, Aigenfeld The Hummel family’s business, like that of the Vohrers’ company, sold much of their wine, ethyl and fruit alcohol, as well as cognac, through dealers in 39 provinces of the Russian Empire. These companies created a monopoly which affected small wine-growers, and not only in the colony. A large number of winemaking co-operative societies were established in order to resist the dictation of prices but, first of all, to cope with the growing demands of technology, following the example of the family enterprises. The first associations in 1904 included Hilfe (Help), producing wine and cognac and Einverständnis (Consent) producing vodka in Yelenendorf; the Hoffnung (Hope) association appeared in Georgfeld and was devoted to the manufacture of magnificent wine. This land was the Germans’ friendly homeland for twelve decades; here they developed a successful local economy, amassed great fortunes and achieved high status. Azerbaijanis in neighbouring villages and in Ganja city accepted the immigrants with open hearts and, in the beginning helped as they could, especially during the first, most difficult winter, when they were all overtired because after their long journey. The immigrants were settled as families in the houses of local residents until spring. Most of the German families endured deprivation at first, but then they established and developed successful businesses and trade. The German settlements profited notably from their adaptation to their new life. Thus the second colony, Annenfeld, grew into a large settlement and consisted of three long streets built straight as an arrow and strictly parallel. At one end of the third street was the market where agricultural products from neighbouring villages were sold on Sundays. Tailor’s workshops, barbers’ shops and hairdressing salons were located near the market. The oil-fired baths adjoined the market. As well as Annenfeld, the colonies of Georgfeld (nowadays Chinarli), Grundfel (now Vurgun near Agstafa), Aigenfeld (Irmashli near Shamkir), Traubenfeld (Tovuz), Yelizabettal (Khatai near Agstafa) and others were also renovated and extended.

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