There were four different churches built in Mariental, each one larger than the last because of the increasing number of colonists living there. Early settlers worshiped in their homes. The first church building was constructed of oak and fir timbers and was consecrated "Maria Himmelfahrt" in honor of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
The second church was built in 1800 and was 12.8 meters wide and 25.6 meters long. Already in 1816, they increased the length of the chancel by 12.8 meters.
Construction of a brick church began in 1830 under the direction of master-builder Ivan Minevich from Saratov. It was 51 meters long, 20 meters wide, with eaves 15 meters high and designed in the neo-classical (Kontor) style. It was consecrated in November 1834, however it was not until 1842 that all the interior and exterior details were completed. The bell tower was 32-meters tall.
In 1860, a vestry structure was added to the church which made it possible to move the altar back into the Apse.
Mariental was founded on 16 June 1766 by LeRoy & Pictet as a Roman Catholic colony.
|
Year
|
Households
|
Population
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
||
| 1767 |
92
|
360
|
|
|
| 1769 |
88
|
358
|
180
|
178
|
| 1773 |
87
|
400
|
190
|
210
|
| 1788 |
82
|
385
|
186
|
199
|
| 1798 |
82
|
527
|
257
|
270
|
| 1816 |
152
|
924
|
498
|
426
|
| 1834 |
242
|
1,777
|
886
|
891
|
| 1850 |
336
|
2,957
|
1,496
|
1,461
|
| 1857 |
397
|
3,500
|
1,768
|
1,732
|
| 1859 |
369
|
3,663
|
1,857
|
1,806
|
| 1886 |
|
|
|
|
| 1891 |
|
|
|
|
| 1894 |
|
|
|
|
| 1897 |
|
5,058*
|
2,478
|
2,580
|
| 1904 |
|
|
|
|
| 1910 |
884
|
6,663
|
3,296
|
3,367
|
| 1912 |
|
7,566
|
|
|
| 1920 |
951**
|
7,133
|
|
|
| 1922 |
|
4,570
|
|
|
| 1926*** |
893
|
4,883
|
2,350
|
2,533
|
*Of whom 5,052 were German.
**Of which 948 households were German.
***Of whom 884 households with 4,839 individuals (2,328 male & 2,511 female) were German.
Catholic
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): 352.
Flegel, Arthur E. "Mariental on the Volga." AHSGR Clues (1982, pt. 2): 14.
Obholz, Albert. "The Clerics in Mariental on the Volga." Volk auf dem Weg (June 2009): 46.
Orlov, Gregorii. Report of Conditions of Settlements on the Volga to Catherine II , 14 February 1769.
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): 612.
Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 3 (Göttingen: Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2005): 95-118.
Preliminary Results of the Soviet Census of 1926 on the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Pokrovsk, 1927): 28-83.
Schneider, Anton (ed. Victor Herdt). Aus der Geschichte der Kolonie Mariental an der Wolga . Göttingen: Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999.
"Settlements in the 1897 Census." Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (Winter, 1990): 17.
Mariental (wolgadeutche.net) - in Russian
Deutsche Siedlungen im Porträt – Mariental (heute Sowetskoje) YouTube video