Germans in Abkhazia?
lemsalough - neidorf - sukhumi

The first German villages near Sukhumi appeared in 1870s, after completing of last Russo-turkish war (1876-77). These are grouped around a system of woody hills, between Beslet and Kelassuri rivers, and mostly around one called Gnadenberg (Germ. "Gracious Hill"). The czar government hoped "civil nations" would positively influence the newly incorporated "wild" Caucasian tribes, 'push' them to develop faster. The names of villages were Lindau, Gnadenberg and Neydorf (Neidorf). Just in 1942, as the WW2 Caucasus reached, Stalin and Beria have ordered, the Germans, as an "unfaithful" nation, to Kazakhstan as fast as possible to move. The majority of inhabitants, who have "German" note in passports, said 'goodbye' to their homes forever. Accordingly to the main Beria conception, thousands of Georgians from inside of Georgia the leaved homes should have occupied freely or forcibly. German village names were later deleted on all maps and changed mostly into Georgian (e.g. Neidorf into Akhali Sop'eli). The benefits of Sukhumi German population allow them to join stocks and build in 1913 a normal Lutheran Church nearby Market place.

Lawrenti Hardt, today's leader of Abkhaz Germans is saying the number of parishioners of the church isn't high - about three dozens. The priest - a young gentleman, studying German language in the Abkhaz University, named Mikhail Schlegelmilch - says his sermon mostly to feminine people in the church. His mother, a gentle woman with soundly voice and with a classic Russian pronounce, is full of pride to be belonging to a famous guns master family from Thuringia. The language local urban Germans use is Russian. The sermons in the Kirche are preached in Russian, too, but some chants are singed in German. Sounds often also the universal "Κύριε έλέησον!" It is a very interesting thing: are remaining the Germans in villages who remember the native local German?

Wonderful - the German speakers in village Neidorf are found! A courtyard in the margin of village belongs to Peter Mußmann and his family, daughter and son. In 21st century, contrary all the Beria's movings, the real German survived! Naturally, the Deutsch is not in use anymore, but, straining hard and encouraged by daughter Violette, Peter speaks us a pair of sentences. "Ich un mei' Vater seie... seie... ach, scho' vergess' werd' ich... vergäß jä' sehr..." He's ready to cry - he don't remember where his forefathers have come from. "It seems, from Australia", he says finally, with some doubt. He has Austria in mind, for sure. Funny old man... It was very interesting and exciting to hear all what he talks...

Meanwhile, it's a certain 'hybrid' offspring from expelled Germans in today's Neidorf. The married women, mostly with Armenians, Greeks and Georgians, would not be moved anyway. We meet Leon (65), the head of local 'kolkhoz' (named First May). Caucazzy-hospitable, with a big bottle of Neidorf red wine, he remembers with feelings his mother who brought up six kids. "She was of Friedrich family, moved to Central Asia. She was a really nice woman... My father, an Armenian, was a local party boss and, nevertheless, has fallen into disgrace and thrown into the Beria's prison...", he said. Leon doesn't remember the German, but his brother Vladimir, who was aged about 5 before the war began, has recollected something in German - from his faraway childhood, too. "We remember all about our village history", he said. "We are already Armenians, only a little Germans", his brother adds. "Many of our neighbors call this village, Neidorf I mean, 'Lamsalough' in the local Armenian dialect. This is 'German Meadow', 'German Gorge'. Lord willing, this name, Lamsalough, will be the good name for our village for a long while".

Link: http://www.radiosoma.com/

Listen to this http://www.radiosoma.com/germans/germans.mp3
Old men remember German!

Source: http://www.kaukasus.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=185