Caucasus Germans

Caucasus Germans (German: Kaukasiendeutsche) are part of the German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union. They migrated to the Caucasus largely in the first half of the nineteenth century and settled in the North Caucasus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and in the region of Kars (present-day Turkey). In 1941, the majority of them were subject to deportation to Central Asia and Siberia during Joseph Stalin's population transfer in the Soviet Union.

North Caucasus

The end of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) ensured Russia's expansion into the Caucasus and created a need in populating these lands with Russian subjects in order to hasten its exploration. In the late eighteenth century the government permitted families of Volga Germans to settle in Kuban. However poor infrastructure, lack of organization of the officials responsible for the settlement, and the refusal of the military personnel to have these lands populated by non-Russians were an obstacle to steady and constant migration of the Germans. By the late 1840s there were five German colonies in the North Caucasus. The migration waves (especially to Don Voisko Province) grew beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century with the capitalist influence on farming in Russia. Germans would immigrate not only from the regions adjacent to the Volga River but also from the Black Sea region and Germany. By the time of the October Revolution, there were over 200 German colonies in the North Caucasus; of those over 100 were in Rostov Oblast, 60 in Stavropol Krai and around 20 in Krasnodar Krai. In 1942 more than 160,000 Germans were deported from these entities as well as from elsewhere in the North Caucasus and the Don region (Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, North Ossetia, Dagestan, and Checheno-Ingushetia).

Caucasus

The Caucasus /ˈkɔːkəsəs/ or Caucasia /kɔːˈkeɪʒə/ is a region at the border of Europe and Asia, situated between the Black and the Caspian seas.

It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, which contain Europe's highest mountain, Mount Elbrus, 5,642 metres (18,510 ft). Politically, the Caucasus region is separated between northern and southern parts. The southern parts consist of independent sovereign states, and the northern parts are under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.

The region is known for its linguistic diversity: aside from Indo-European and Turkic languages, the Kartvelian, Northwest Caucasian, and Northeast Caucasian families are indigenous to the area.

Name

Pliny the Elder's Natural History (AD 77–79) derives the name of the Caucasus from the Scythian kroy-khasis (“ice-shining, white with snow”).

Throughout Persian history, particularly Sassanid Persia, the Caucasus region was the furthest point of Persian expansion, with areas to the north of Northern Caucasus practically impregnable. Therefore, the mythical mountain of Cafcuh, the highest mountain in the world, was said to be situated in this region, making the Caucasus the limit of the world. Therefore, the Caucasus was the name given to this area for its association with the legendary mountain. The modern name of the region in local languages are all similar to the mountain name, with the main difference being that f has been replaced with a softer w and the last letter being replaced with z.

Caucasus Mountains

The Caucasus Mountains are a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region.

The Caucasus Mountains include the Greater Caucasus Range, which extends from the Caucasian Natural Reserve in the vicinity of Sochi on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea, aligned west-northwest to east-southeast and reaching nearly to Baku on the Caspian Sea; and the Lesser Caucasus, which runs parallel to the greater range, at a distance averaging about 100 km (62 mi) south. The Meskheti Range is a part of the Lesser Caucasus system. The Greater and Lesser Caucasus ranges are connected by the Likhi Range, which separates the Kolkhida Lowland from the Kura-Aras Lowland. In the southeast the Aras River separates the Lesser Caucasus from the Talysh Mountains which straddle the border of southeastern Azerbaijan and Iran. The Lesser Caucasus and the Armenian Highland constitute the Transcaucasian Highland, which at their western end converge with the highland plateau of Eastern Anatolia in the far north east of Turkey. The highest peak in the Caucasus range is Mount Elbrus in the Greater Caucasus, which rises to a height of 5,642 metres (18,510 ft) above sea level. Mountains near Sochi hosted part of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Caucasus (Fabergé egg)

The Caucasus Egg is a jewelled enameled Easter egg made by Michael Perkhin under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1893. The egg was made for Alexander III of Russia, who presented it to his wife, the Empress Maria Feodorovna.

Currently the egg is a long term installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York, as part of the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation.

The Egg

The egg is made of yellow and varicoloured gold, silver, ruby enamel, rose-cut diamonds, portrait diamonds, platinum, ivory, pearls, rock crystal and watercolour on ivory.

It commemorates the Imperial hunting lodge in Abastumani in Caucasus where Grand Duke George spent most of his life after being diagnosed with tuberculosis. Miniatures were done and signed by Krijitski. The miniatures are revealed by opening four pearl-bordered doors around the egg. Each door bears a diamond-set numeral of the year, forming the year 1893. Behind the hinged cover at the top is a portrait of the Grand Duke in his naval uniform.

Germans

Germans (German: Deutsche) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe, who share a common German ancestry, culture and history, and speak the German language as their native language. Alternatively, Germans are those who live or were born in Germany.

The English term Germans has historically referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages. Before the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1990, Germans constituted the largest divided nation in Europe by far. Ever since the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire, German society has been characterized by a Catholic-Protestant divide.

Of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, roughly 80 million consider themselves Germans. There are an additional 80 million people of German ancestry mainly in the United States, Brazil (mainly in the South Region of the country), Argentina, Canada, South Africa, the post-Soviet states (mainly in Russia and Kazakhstan), and France, each accounting for at least 1 million. Thus, the total number of Germans lies somewhere between 100 and more than 150 million, depending on the criteria applied (native speakers, single-ancestry ethnic Germans, partial German ancestry, etc.).

German

German(s) may refer to:

Places

People

Mythological beings

Germans (band)

Germans were a Canadian indie rock band whose members included Julian Kado, Roman Harrison, Livingston Fagan,Aidan Koper, Steven Lappano, Jesse Foster, Michael Rozenberg, and Leon Taheny. They are signed to Portland, Oregon-based label Arena Rock Recording Co. Based in Toronto, the bandmembers are from various nearby Ontario cities: Mississauga, Richmond Hill, and Guelph.

Critics have noted that the music is reminiscent of 1990s indie rock, and, in their "Artist of the Day" feature, Spin magazine compared the band's music to 1990s indie rock band Archers of Loaf. Taheny has cited the band Pavement as a significant influence. Most of the band members contributed to the 2006 Polaris Music Prize-winning album He Poos Clouds by Final Fantasy, which Taheny produced.

Their track "I Am the Teacher" has been in rotation at CBC Radio 3, and played on the CBC Radio 3 podcast. The band is touring the U.S. and Canada in early 2007.

Band member Aidan Koper appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing a "Stupid Human Trick" in which he contorted his body through a tennis racquet while juggling.