History UsefulNotes / GermanRussians

After this time, the First World War and the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]] tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in the Second World War official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said in 1945, as his armies were marching into heart of Germany, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''[[GuiltFreeExterminationWar Vernichtungskrieg]]'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") such as a number of heavy-handed pieces from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942. To be fair, Ehrenburg, being Jewish, has had [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust his own bone to pick with the Germans]], and he actually took flak from some Soviet officials on that, and was denounced in ''Pravda'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their well-documented mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Jokes]]

* Hoffman, an old bum from the Peterburg's graveyard in ''Film/{{Brother}}''.

** Carlin (Kar-Karych in the original version) is a more subtle example, since there is no indication of his ethnicity, but one of the episodes reveals that the original name of his family was [[TheVonTropeFamily "von Karych"]].

** Kar Karych is a more subtle example, since there is no indication of his ethnicity, but one of the episodes reveals that the original name of his family was [[TheVonTropeFamily "von Karych"]].

* ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' features {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of various World War II warships serving alternate universe versions of their original nations, with the Soviet Union represented as the Northern Parliament. One of the Northern Parliament's shipgirls happens to be Tallinn, who (as per the real ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Lützow_(1939) Tallinn]]'') was originally a German ''Admiral Hipper''-class ship named Lützow that was sold to the Soviets during the brief period when the Nazis and Soviets weren't at war with each other. As such, her MeaningfulAppearance combines a Russian-style uniform with a physical appearance similar to that of fellow ''Admiral Hipper''-class shipgirl Prinz Eugen (most noticeably the single streak of red hair) to signify her status as an "ethnically" Iron Blood (aka German) girl working for the Northern Parliament. This also makes her a TokenEnemyMinority, as the Northern Parliament and Iron Blood are at war as per the real USSR and Nazi Germany.

* ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' features the AnthropomorphicPersonification of various Naval Ships of World War II presented as Anime Girls, with the Soviet Union represented as the Northern Parliament. One of its Ship Girls is Tallinn, who as per the real [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_L%C3%BCtzow_(1939) Tallinn]], was originally a German ''Admiral Hipper''-class ship named ''Lutzow'' that was sold to the Soviets in between the brief period the Nazis and Soviets weren't at war with each other. Tallinn's former name is thus Lutzow, and her MeaningfulAppearance combines a Russian uniform with the appearance of the other ''Admiral Hipper''-class girls, Admiral Hipper herself and Prinz Eugen, who are still with Ironblood to signify her status as an "ethnic" German Ironblood girl working for the Soviet Northern Parliament. This also makes her a TokenEnemyMinority as the Northern Parliament and Ironblood are at war as per the real USSR and Nazi Germany.

* ''Animation/{{Smeshariki}}'':

* Alexander Schmorell from the German Anti-Nazi student group known as White Rose. Schmorell was born in Orenburg, Russia from a ethnic German father and a Russian mother. After the revolution his family moved to Germany and he grew up cosindering himself as both German and Russian. He was even baptised in the Russian Orthodox Church and now glorified as a Passion bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
* German pop-star Helene Fischer was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia by a family of ethnic Germans who moved to Germany after the end of USSR. Her paternal grandparents were Volga Germans deported to Siberia in 1941 as stated by Stalin during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]].
* Swiss optician Theodor Schwabe, who settled in Moscow in mid-19th century, is commonly credited with jusmpstarting the Russian optical industry, and his workshop, after more than a century and half of transfers, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings is now known as a Urals Optical-Mechanical Plant and is a core of the Russian precision mechanics conglomerate named after the man himself, the Schwabe Holding. This enormous company is active in the fields as diverse as aircraft engines, robotics, baby incubators and other medical technology, not to mention their core business -- optics.

* ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' features the AnthropomorhpicPersonification of various Naval Ships of World War II presented as Anime Girls, with the Soviet Union represented as the Northern Parliament. One of its Ship Girls is Tallinn, who as per the real [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_L%C3%BCtzow_(1939) Tallinn]], was originally a German ''Admiral Hipper''-class ship named ''Lutzow'' that was sold to the Soviets in between the brief period the Nazis and Soviets weren't at war with each other. Tallinn's former name is thus Lutzow, and her MeaningfulAppearance combines a Russian uniform with the appearance of the other ''Admiral Hipper''-class girls, Admiral Hipper herself and Prinz Eugen, who are still with Ironblood to signify her status as an "ethnic" German Ironblood girl working for the Soviet Northern Parliament. This also makes her a TokenEnemyMinority as the Northern Parliament and Ironblood are at war as per the real USSR and Nazi Germany.

* Wolfgang Bogdanow from ''Series/Sense8'' has a German name, but a very stereotypical Russian last name. Also his relatives have Russian names like Anton, Sergei and Irina, and his uncle is in the TheMafiya. Since he lives in the former [[UsefulNotes/EastGermany East Berlin]], where there is a sizeable community from Russia and the former Soviet Union who now have German citizenship.

Much of this ethnic mix-up dates back to the time of UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, who recruited a great many German artisans and nobles to as part of his plans for modernizing [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces which he conquered from the Swedish Empire (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). (Incidentally, the Baltic Germans predate the rise of Russian Empire by centuries--many German merchants, mercenaries, and crusaders settled in the Baltic regions from high Middle Ages on). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was (also) born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] to UsefulNotes/EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in UsefulNotes/WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

* Baron UsefulNotes/UngernSternberg

Right up until 1943, Germans were found right across Eastern Europe - and not just as Order Police or Wehrmacht troopers. They lived there as naturalised citizens. One consequence is that when reading accounts of the North-Eastern (Polish/Baltic) and South-Eastern (Belorussian/Ukrainian) Fronts of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI it is nigh-impossible to tell which side a general is on based just on their names. For instance, on the one side you might have General Paul von Hindenburg and on the other, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (or, as was the case during the disastrous--for the Russians--invasion of East Prussia by the Russians in 1914, German general Hermann von Francois--a descendant of French Huguenots who settled in Prussia, itself worthy of a trope--opposing his Russian counterpart, Paul von Rennenkampf, a Baltic German).

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]] tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said in 1945, as his armies were marching into heart of Germany, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") such as a number of heavy-handed pieces from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942. To be fair, Ehrenburg, being Jewish, has had [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust his own bone with the Germans]], and he actually took flak from some Soviet officials on that, and was denounced in ''Magazine/{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their well-documented mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

* And yet another, this time slightly risque:

* Several of the important characters in the Book/mini-series ''Series/{{Centennial}}'' are of this stock (having imigrated to the US in the late 19th century).

* In Solzhenitsyn novel ''August, 1914,'' the protagonist wonders what the nationality of the Russian Army invading East Prussia really is, noting that it is led by a bunch of generals with German names like von Rennenkampf.

* ''Runaways in Novorossiya'', novel by Danilevsky: many characters are German businessmen.

** Lev Knipper was Olga Knipper's nephew and Olga Chekova's younger brother. Je was a gifted composer, who famously wrote Polyushko Pole (also know as Meadowlands), one of the most popular Russian folk song.

* Swiss optician Theodor Schwabe, who settled in Moscow in mid-19th century, is commonly credited with jusmpstarting the Russian optical industry, and his workshop, after more than a century and half of transfers, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings is now known as a Urals Optical-Mechanical Plant and is a core of the Russian precision mechanics conglomerate named after the man himself, the Schwabe Holding. This enormous company is active in the fields as diverse as aircraft engines, robotics, baby incubators and othe medical tech, not to mention their core business -- optics.

[[folder: Fan Works]]
* Mello from ''Manga/DeathNote'' is said to be this in some fanworks, based on his real name [[spoiler: Mihael Keehl]], although [[NonspecificallyForeign no one is sure of]] his ''exact'' ethnic background.

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]] tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said in 1945, as his armies were marching into heart of Germany, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") such as a number of ''[[http://rense.com/general75/ehr.htm extremely heavy-handed]]'' pieces from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942. To be fair, Ehrenburg, being Jewish, has had [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust his own bone with the Germans]], and he actually took flak from some Soviet officials on that, and was denounced in ''Magazine/{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their well-documented mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

Much of this ethnic mix-up dates back to the time of UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, who recruited a great many German artisans and nobles to as part of his plans for modernizing [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces which he conquered from the Swedish Empire (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). (Incidentally, the Baltic Germans predate the rise of Russian Empire by centuries--many German merchants, mercenaries, and crusaders settled in the Baltic regions from high Middle Ages on). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] to UsefulNotes/EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in UsefulNotes/WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

[[Fan Works]]

* Hoffman, an old bum from the Peterburg's graveyard in {{Film/Brother}}.

Much of this ethnic mix-up dates back to the time of UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, who recruited a great many German artisans and nobles to as part of his plans for modernizing [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces which he conquered from the Swedish Empire (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). (Incidentally, the Baltic Germans predate the rise of Russian Empire by centuries--many German merchants, mercenaries, and crusaders settled in the Baltic regions from high Middle Ages on). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] to UsefulNotes/EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

Much of this ethnic mix-up dates back to the time of UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, who recruited a great many German artisans and nobles to as part of his plans for modernizing [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces which he conquered from the Swedish Empire (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). (Incidentally, the Baltic Germans predate the rise of Russian Empire by centuries--many German merchants, mercenaries, and crusaders settled in the Baltic regions from high Middle Ages on). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to UsefulNotes/EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.