The first church in Seelmann was constructed of wood. The new stone church was approved to be built in the Gothic Revival style in 1902. The new building was dedicated 15 September 1911.
Seelmann served as the lead parish for several surrounding colonies, and as such was where the residence of the priest was located. The surrounding colonies served by the priests from Seelmann included: Neu-Kolonie , Hölzel , Marienberg, Streckerau, Preuss, and Dehler .
This church building was torn down in 1939.
Seelmann was founded on 15 July 1767 by colonists from the areas of Mainz, Alsace, and Isenburg in Germany and from Luxembourg. These colonists had been recruited by LeRoy & Pictet. On 12 November 1775, Seelmann was attacked by Pugachev and his rebels.
Seelmann is located right on the banks of the Volga River and was a major grain trading port for the Wiesenseite colonies.
|
Year
|
Households
|
Population
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
||
| 1767 |
89
|
257
|
128
|
129
|
| 1769 |
74
|
229
|
127
|
122
|
| 1773 |
71
|
280
|
145
|
135
|
| 1788 |
|
208
|
|
|
| 1798 |
|
310
|
|
|
| 1816 |
|
540
|
|
|
| 1834 |
|
1,018
|
|
|
| 1850 |
|
1,650
|
|
|
| 1857 |
|
|
|
|
| 1859 |
|
2,080
|
|
|
| 1889 |
|
4,945
|
|
|
| 1891 |
|
|
|
|
| 1894 |
|
|
|
|
| 1897 |
|
6,816*
|
3,480
|
3,336
|
| 1905 |
|
6,930
|
|
|
| 1910 |
|
7,508
|
|
|
| 1912 |
|
8,089
|
|
|
| 1920 |
|
8,412
|
|
|
| 1922 |
|
6,279
|
|
|
| 1923 |
|
6,106**
|
|
|
| 1926 |
|
6,218***
|
|
|
| 1939 |
|
7,363
|
|
|
*Of whom 5,014 were German.
**Of whom 5,344 were German.
***Of whom 5,240 were German.
Catholic
Censuses : 1767, 1798, 1834, 1850, 1857
Beratz, Gottieb. The German colonies on the Lower Volga, their origin and early development: a memorial for the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first German settlers on the Volga, 29 June 1764 . Translated by Adam Giesinger (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1991): 353.
Dietz, Jacob E. History of the Volga German Colonists (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 2005): 94.
Pallas, P.S. Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs. Theil 3,2, Reise aus Sibirien zurueck an die Wolga im 1773sten Jahr (St. Petersburg: Kaiserl. Academie der Wissenschaften, 1776): 609.
Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 4 (Göttingen: Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2008): 11, 149-165.
"Settlements in the 1897 Census." Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (Winter, 1990): 17.
Laikam, Raimund. "Das Grosse, Schöne Dorf Seelmann-Rownoje an der Wolga." Volk auf dem Weg (April 2007): 25.