History UsefulNotes / GermanRussians

* In AlexanderPushkin's tale "The Captain's Daughter" there is an old general, a German in Russian service, who speaks with a thick German accent, presumably for comic effect. When Catherine II appears in the story, her dialogue is rendered in proper, unaccented Russian.

!!Examples

* The doctor from ''The Revisor'', who can't even speak Russian.
* Andrey Karlovich Stolz from ''Oblomov'' (a very positive example).
* Ivan Arnol'dovich Bormental from Mikhai Bulgakov's HeartOfADog (positive example too).

* Several of the important characters in the Book/mini-series {{Centennial}} are of this stock (having imigrated to the US in the late 19th century). TruthInTelevision, this troper's Grandmother grew up on the great plains and was of this stock (Prussian-Russian).

* In the German police series ''Tatort'', Münster Kommissar Frank Thiel's assistant Nadezhda Krusenstern is from a German-Russian family that emigrated to Germany after 1990.

<<|RaceTropes|>>

** A joke persists, nevertheless, that she managed to misspell щи (''shchi', a kind of soup); the punchline asks how it is possible to make eight spelling errors in a two-letter word. (In German, this word would be transliterated ''Schtschi''.)

* Heinz Erhardt, one of [[GermanHumor Germany's greatest comedians]], was born in [[{{UsefulNotes/Latvia}} Riga]].

It is therefore not surprising that German characters appear a fair bit in Russian literature, especially of the earlier periods.

It is therefore not surprising that German characters appear a fair bit in Russian literature of the period.

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by [[TsaristRussia Russia under Peter the Great]]. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under CatherineTheGreat (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with {{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. Meanwhile in WestGermany (and then [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]]), the laws made(/make) it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they could(/can) proof German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans).

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by [[TsaristRussia Russia under Peter the Great]]. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under CatherineTheGreat (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with {{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. Meanwhile in WestGermany (and then [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]]), the laws made(/make) it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they can proof German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans).

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by {{UsefulNotes/Russia}} under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under CatherineTheGreat (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with {{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. Meanwhile in WestGermany (and then [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]]), the laws made(/make) it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they can proof German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans).

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to East Germany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. Meanwhile in WestGermany (and then [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]]), the laws made(/make) it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they can proof German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans).

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to East Germany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. Meanwhile in WestGermany (and then [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]]), the laws made(/make) it relatively easy for Russians of German descent (the ''Spätaussiedler'') to gain citizenship there too.

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to East Germany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. Meanwhile in WestGermany (and then [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]]), the laws made(/make) it relatively easy for Russians of German descent (the ''Spätaussiedler'') to also gain German citizenship.

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to East Germany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. Meanwhile in WestGermany (and then [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]]), the laws made(/make) it relatively easy for Russians of German descent (the ''Spätaussiedler'') to gain German citizenship too.

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to East Germany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. Meanwhile in WestGermany (and then [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]]), the laws made(/make) it relatively easy for Russians of German descent (the ''Spätaussiedler'') to gain German citizenship.

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to East Germany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. In WestGermany and [[TheBerlinRepublic today's united Germany]], the laws made/make it relatively easy for Russians of German descent (the ''Spätaussiedler'') to gain German citizenship.

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to East Germany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany. In WestGermany and [[BerlinRepublic today's united Germany]], the laws made/make it relatively easy for Russians of German descent to gain German citizenship.

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to East Germany, and who are now citizens of a united Germany.

These characters are often portrayed in the stereotypical German manner- humourless and efficient, but there are exceptions.

After this time, WorldWarOne and the GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, but they're still humans. Germans don't even get to be human... [[RussianGuySuffersMost Surprisingly]] (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.

* Andrey Karlovich Stolz from ''Oblomov'' (a very positive example.)
* Ivan Arnol'dovich Bormental from Mikhai Bulgakov's HeartOfADog(positive example to).

** TruthInTelevision... errr.... in books. The first thing Catherine did after coming to Russia is learning proper Russian.
** A joke persists, nevertheless, that she managed to misspell щи (''shchi', a kind of soup), asking how to make eight spelling errors in a two-letter word. (In German, this word would be transliterated ''Schtschi''.)

*** Ironicaly, one may argue that she had a ''better'' claim to the throne. Holstein-Gottorps were connected to real Romanovs very distantly, while the princely house of Anhalt was, if This Troper remembers correctly, directly coming from the Grand Prince of Tver, in other words, from a cadet branch of the previous Rurikid dinasty.
**** By that logic, half the Russian old nobility probably had a better claim to the throne. But between Peter the Great and Paul I, succession did not go by consanguinity; the czars had the right to name their own successors regardless of it. Thus Peter the Great was followed by his widow, Catherine I (born Marfa Skavronskaya, a commoner). Peter III was a grandson of Peter the Great (son of his daughter Anna).
* Alfred Rosenberg, leading Nazi, executed at Nuremberg, Baltic German.

* Ivan Arnol'dovich Bormental from Mikhai Bulgakov's AHeartOfDog(positive example to).

* Andrey Karlovich Stolz from ''Oblomov'' (a very positive example)

** And for that matter, Peter III (Duke of Holstein-Gottorp before ascending to the Russian throne) and Catherine II (born in Stettin, wife of the former, had him murdered and took the throne herself).

* In the German police series ''{{Tatort}}'', Münster Kommissar Frank Thiel's assistant Nadezhda Krusenstern is from a German-Russian family that emigrated to Germany after 1990.

* In the German police series ''Tatort'', Münster Kommissar Frank Thiel's assistant Nadezhda Krusenstern is from a German-Russian family that emigrated to Germany after 1990.

* German (Hermann) from ''Pikovaja dama'' (The Queen of Spades) by Pushkin.

* In Pushkin's tale "The Captain's Daughter" there is an old general, a German in Russian service, who speaks with a thick German accent, presumably for comic effect. When Catherine II appears in the story, her dialogue is rendered in proper, unaccented Russian.

* Several of the important characters in the Book/mini-series ''Centennial'' are of this stock (having imigrated to the US in the late 19th century). TruthInTelevision, this troper's Grandmother grew up on the great plains and was of this stock (Prussian-Russian).

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by Russia under Peter the Great. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under Catherine the Great (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of Poland) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with Prussia/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the Soviet Union to Communist Germany, and who are now citizens of Capitalist Germany.