 |
|
Chronology for Germans in Kazakhstan
View Group Assessment
View Additional Chronology Information
 |
| Date(s) |
Item |
| Jan 1985 |
Soviet TV had broadcast on 8th December a 50-minute documentary film "Our Homeland is Here" on Germans living in Kazakhstan. An Alma-Ata radio announcer said: "My name is Nina Wagner. I am a Kazakh radio announcer, and I broadcast in German every day. We have almost 1,000,000 listeners, Germans living in our republic. This film is about my fellow-countrymen, German people of German nationality whose homeland has become Kazakhstan." (BBC, 01/03/85). |
| Mar 1989 |
A new all-Union public organization - the "Revival" society of Soviet Germans - has been set up in the USSR. This is the first public organization in the country formed by a national minority. But soon the association was dissolved by the authorities because of its leader's excessively radical stance on the restoration of a German republic. There are 2.2 million Germans including almost a million in Kazakhstan. Germans are the 14th largest ethnic group in the USSR. There are three German newspapers in the country, a national German drama theater, and a radio broadcast for Soviet Germans in their native tongue (Tass, 03/31, 89). |
| Oct 1989 |
A Soviet Parliamentary Commission has recommended that ethnic Germans regain their autonomous republic within the Soviet Union. The demands of ethnic Germans have gathered force with the flood of emigration since travel restrictions were lifted recently. In 1989 alone, over 63,000 are believed to have left for West Germany, including many skilled laborers and farmers. A special commission set up to study the problem concluded that the best solution would be to restore the former German autonomous republic on the Volga (Reuter, 10/19/89). |
| Apr 1990 |
Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet A. Lukyanov met with a delegation of Soviet Germans. They discussed the situation of the ethnic Germans and agreed that a just solution should be found (Tass, 04/21/90). |
| Sep 1991 |
Germany and Russia have agreed in principle to restore the German republic on the Volga, a senior Bonn official said. The two sides are likely to prepare a joint declaration on the ethnic German republic to be signed during Yeltsin's visit to Bonn on November 21 (Reuter, 09/21/91). German Foreign Minister Genscher made clear in a recent speech in Moscow that Germany already has its hands full and does not wish to welcome its cousins from the Soviet Union. One Soviet German leader said that if his people cannot regain their territorial autonomy, they may start a mass movement to reassemble "somewhere in North or South America." (Newsday 09/01/91). |
| Oct 1991 |
President Gorbachev promised that Soviet ethnic Germans would regain their homeland on the Volga. He sent a message to the first ever Congress of Soviet Germans in Moscow. The Congress was originally scheduled for late spring, but was postponed because of a conflict between two rival groups. One seeks the re-establishment of the Volga German homeland as a self-governing region, while the other insists that the suffering of Germans in the Soviet Union and their dispersal make the reconstitution of a homeland in Russia impossible. Main German settlements are in Omsk in Siberia and Kazakhstan. During the summer the groups settled their differences, but rival folk ensembles performed simultaneously and thus demonstrated that the conflict was still alive (Times, 10/19/91). |
| Nov 1991 |
Russian President Yeltsin says the planned republic for ethnic Germans in Russia could consist of two separate areas of about 1,150 sq. miles each - one of them a former military zone. The other would be located within the boundaries of the original 10,810 sq. mile republic. Bonn believes the proposed autonomous republic could be home to 300,000 to 400,000 of the estimated 2 million Soviet Germans (UPI, 11/22/91). |
| Mar 1992 |
On the 2nd instant, Yeltsin signed a presidential decree restoring the Volga German Autonomous Republic. Two districts are to be set up on the banks of the Volga. Local Russians resist the establishment of the republic, viewed as a potential Fourth Reich on Russian soil. |
| Sep 1992 |
The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) State Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner for Resettlers made an official visit to Kazakhstan early this month. During the meeting with the State Secretary, President Nazarbayev said that he intended to address the Congress of Kazakh Germans next month and declare some commitments to improve the lot of the republic's German population (Tass, 09/21/92). Kazakh President Nazarbayev met in Moscow with Hugo Wormsbecher, Chairman of the Interstate Union of Ethnic Germans in Russia, and with Heinrich Groot, Chairman of the "Rebirth" society. The meeting took place before Nazarbayev's visit to Germany. Wormsbecher pointed out to the President that the Kazakh language law is sometimes used in the provinces as a means of forcing out Germans. He suggested German representation in the Kazakh parliament and other government structures. He also suggested that unless Germans were granted national-territorial self-government, they will leave Kazakhstan over time since their national future will not be ensured. However, the President said the creation of national-territorial formations in Kazakhstan is virtually impossible (Tass, 09/21/92). German Chancellor H. Kohl and the visiting Kazakh President signed a joint statement on the basic principles governing relations between the two countries (Tass, 09/22/92). The two sides also signed a treaty to develop large-scale cooperation in the economy, industry, science and engineering, and a treaty to encourage and protect mutual capital investments. The investment agreement provides for the protection of private German investors in Kazakhstan - the first deal of its kind with a Soviet successor state. A German Interior Ministry official who monitors the position of ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan said the accord was an important success in safeguarding rights for ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan. The accord guarantees the right of Germans to speak their language, follow traditions and practice the religion of their choice (Reuter, 09/22/92) |
| Oct 1992 |
Ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan have held their first national congress to voice support for the demand put forth by Germans residing in Russia for the restoration of a German autonomous republic which was liquidated after Nazi Germany attacked Russia in 1941. The congress adopted a resolution calling for close interaction with people of other nationalities in expediting economic reforms in the republic and building a cohesive, humane and democratic society. The resolution emphasizes the need to organize teaching and learning of the mother tongue and restore and develop national customs, traditions and culture. The congress elected a Council of Germans residing in Kazakhstan (Tass, 10/30/92). |
| Dec 1992 |
Tass reports that an estimated 300,000 Germans have left Kazakhstan since 1990 (12/3/92). There is a German cultural center and German theater, both financed by the German government. After Russia approved a plan to establish the German Volga region, the chances are very small for a state autonomy for Germans in Kazakhstan. Most of the Russian Germans, who do not speak German, plan to leave Kazakhstan. Only a minority thinks of moving to the Volga region, or the free economic zone of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. |
| Mar 1993 |
A Kazakh parliamentary delegation headed by Supreme Kenges Chairman S. Abdildin arrived in Bonn on 2nd March for a four day visit. The purpose was to strengthen cooperation between the two law-making bodies. Abdildin said the main subject discussed was the situation of Germans in Kazakhstan. (BBC, 03/06/93). |
| Jun 1993 |
Visiting German Minister of Economic Cooperation Carl Dieter Spranger discussed, among others topics, the issue of ethnic Germans with Kazakh officials. They decided to sign a cultural accord. There is a joint commission on economic cooperation and the two countries opened direct air links. A German bank was established in Almaty to facilitate investment (XGONS, 06/04/93). |
| Jul 1994 |
The number of ethnic Russians, Ukrainians and Germans in Kazakhstan has fallen mainly due to emigration, but also because of a declining birth rate. According to a Kazakhstan State Statistics Committee bulletin, the Russian population in the republic has fallen by nearly 200,000 since 1989, the Ukrainian population by slightly under 40,000, and the German population by 344,000. Kazakhstan remains the fourth largest CIS state in terms of population, after Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. As of 01/01/94 there were 16,942,000 people living in the republic (BBC quoting Tass, 07/26/94). |
| Aug 1994 |
President Nazarbayev has said the departure of ethnic groups is a loss for the republic. He especially singled out the German diaspora, emphasizing how exceptionally hard-working and assiduous these people are. A study conducted recently by the State Committee on Statistics and Analysis states that although the average income of German households is higher than those of Russians and Kazakhs, about 85% are not satisfied with their living conditions. The study showed that during the first quarter of 1994, with the same economic conditions, the monetary income of the Germans are 35% and 10% higher respectively than those of the Kazakhs and Russians. This difference is ascribed mainly to greater income the Germans derive from agricultural works. According to the poll, 73% of the German households are engaged in agriculture. More than one-third of the families think their condition has deteriorated significantly over recent years. More than half - 56% - expressed their intention to emigrate (BBC quoting an article in Karavan (in Russian), 08/18/94). |
| Apr 1995 |
While visiting Kazakhstan, German President Roman Herzog offered support for the reform process and called for speedy parliamentary elections in the republic. Nazarbayev had dissolved parliament last month, giving himself wide-ranging powers. The President and parliament had been at loggerheads on future economic reforms. Herzog, the first German President to visit Kazakhstan, said he spoke "very intensively" with Nazarbayev on the rights of the German minority. He said the aim of the German government was to improve the status and living conditions of the 610,000 ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan. A further exodus to Germany robbed Kazakhstan of great talent and many of the returnees had problems adapting to life in Germany, he said (Deutsche Presse-Aqentur, 04/10/95). |
| Aug 10, 1995 |
A German government official said Germany planned to provide financial aid worth 106 million dollars to ethnic Germans in central and eastern Europe for 1996. The funds were for projects aimed at improving the quality of life for ethnic German communities in Russia's West Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland's Silesia region (Deutsche Presse-Agentur). |
| Jan 30, 1996 |
President Nursultan Nazarbayev opened a newly elected parliament in Kazakhstan with an appeal for political and social cohesion. At the same time a dozen demonstrators protested the lack of heating, fuel, water and electricity in front of the parliament. Demonstrators called on the deputies to come and meet them (Agence France Presse). |
| Mar 21, 1996 |
It is reported that in 1995 about 217,898 ethnic Germans arrived back in Germany from the former Soviet Union and mainly from Kazakhstan. Among them, 22% were over the age of 60 and 37% were between 20 and 45. Since the late 1980s, in one of Europe’s greatest population shifts in decades, more than a million ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union have taken advantage of German laws permitting them to reclaim full citizenship. Paul Heilfuss, 39, explains his departure from Kazakhstan saying: ''We had no real problems. My wife, Lydia, was a bookkeeper and I was a locksmith. We had good jobs. But after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Kazakh government became nationalist and the economy got worse. All my German friends started to leave. We decided to follow them, bringing our parents and four children with us.''(The Financial Post) |
| May 31, 1996 |
Visiting German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel held talks with Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev on how to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation and provide assistance to ethnic Germans living in Kazakhstan. President Nazarbayev told Kinkel that the two countries should work out plans for large-scale political and economic cooperation and in this regard it is of great importance for Germany to increase investment in Kazakhstan. Kinkel told a press conference after the talks that Bonn wants to speed up its cooperation with Kazakhstan. He said he had discussed with president Nazarbayev the issue of the 500,000 Germans living in Kazakhstan and they both hoped that these people would stay in the central Asian country and serve as a bridge for closer German-Kazakh relations. Kinkel signed an agreement with Tokayev on providing assistance to the ethnic Germans and guaranteeing the respect of their minority rights.(Xinhua New Agency) |
| Aug 27, 1997 |
A bank consortium led by the Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau and Dresdner Bank formally agreed to finance the final $107 million needed to begin exploitation of a Kazakh oil field. The German firms leading the joint venture, including RWE-DEA and Erdoel-Erdgas Gommern, expect crude oil to start flowing at a rate of 300, 000 metric tons per year in mid-1998 from its Akshabulak project in Kazakhstan and rise to a peak rate of 1 million metric tons a day by 2001. This deal will allow the joint venture to begin building the first phase of the project, to include six new drillings, a pre-refinement facility and a 60-kilometer pipeline to connect the projection areas to an existing pipeline. After the field goes on line in mid-1998, a second phase of the project to include 30 new drillings - both for oil extraction and water injection - is expected to begin in 1999. RWE-DEA and Erdoel-Erdgas Gommern expect oil to flow from the Akshabulak field for 20 years - depending on how it is developed - and estimate it to hold 15 million metric tons of oil in reserve. From the field the oil will travel via pipeline to a refinery in Chimkent. From the refinery the refined product will then be transported to Germany. The security of the overland transportation was believed to be assured due to the stable political situation in Kazakhstan (Journal of Commerce). |
| Aug 28, 1997 |
A two-day congress of ethnic Germans exiled to labor camps during World War II in accordance with a resolution of the Soviet government opened on the premises of the Kargalinsky" sanatorium in the neighborhood of Alma-Ata. Taking part in the congress were over 170 delegates who had gone through hard times during the war as people were mobilized to work in the labor army. The congress planned to adopt as a final document an appeal to the Kazakh president and the people and government of Germany, in which the problem would be raised of the full political and social rehabilitation of members of labor armies. The congress was addressed by the German ambassador to Kazakhstan who read out a letter by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl addressed to former workers of labor armies. In his letter the German chancellor assured ethnic Germans that despite limited possibilities Germany was prepared to take back all those wishing to return to their historic motherland and that large-scale support would be given to all former labor army members who remained in Kazakhstan (ITAR-TASS). |
| Nov 25, 1997 |
President Roman Herzog told his visiting Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, that Germany wanted to help Kazakhstan exploit its huge mineral reserves. Germany could help by training Kazakh managers or through the direct involvement of German businesses. The Kazakh leader, who was returning a visit by Herzog in April 1995, urged investment in his country where, he said, there had been "very positive developments" since independence from Moscow nearly six years ago. Officials said Herzog and Nazarbayev agreed that ethnic Germans from Russia living in Kazakhstan could become a bridge between both nations. The two presidents also agreed that the situation of the ethnic Germans had improved and many wanted to remain in Kazakhstan. There were no problems in German-Kazakh relations, officials noted. A number of bilateral agreements were due to be concluded during the three day visit. Germany was also to grant Kazakhstan a further 25 million marks (14.3 million dollars) development aid, bringing the total so far to 130 million (Deutsche Presse-Agentur). |
| Nov 26, 1997 |
During his visit to Germany, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed five documents, including documents on cooperation in the areas of finances, technology, transport, as well as an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation. One agreement provided for German teachers to be seconded to Kazakhstan where 350,000 ethnic Germans lived. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the agreements "provide a legal foundation for raising Kazakh- German economic and political contacts to a new level." (ITAR-TASS) |
| Oct 20, 1998 |
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev launched his re-election campaign for next January's elections by promising to defend Kazakhstan against the world's financial crisis.(Agence France Presse) |
| Dec 5, 1998 |
An extraordinary session of the Council of Germans of the CIS opened in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The session was attended by representatives of ethnic Germans from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The main items on the agenda were the political and legal problems of ethnic Germans (Interfax Russian News). |
| Jan 23, 1999 |
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed an edict about the new Cabinet of Ministers (Itar-Tass News). |
| Oct 6, 1999 |
The representative office of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Central Asia held a round table at the German Club in Almaty on "The idea of unification of ethnic groups of Kazakhstan in politicians' election programs" (BBC). |
top
|
