A new Mennonite settlement in southern Siberia was established along the newly opened Trans Siberian Railroad at the city of Omsk. Omsk had been a significant military fortress founded in 1716 at the junction of the Irtysh and Ob rivers. With the opening of the railroad between Omsk and Moscow in 1896 it became a key trade center for European businessmen and Eastern Asian countries. By 1914 Omsk was a boom city with 1,028 commercial establishments, and 183 industrial enterprises.
The Mennonites of the Omsk settlement were generally fairly well off when they arrived so began establishing their way of life as it was in the Molotschna colony. They built village schools and a school board was established to build a central secondary school in Kulomzino near Omsk in 1911. Many of the villages had a train station so transportation was convenient and markets were easy to reach.
Omsk Railroad Station 1899
The first Mennonite settlements in Siberia were situated west and east of Omsk along the railroad. The first Mennonite settlers, Peter J. Wiens, his wife Justina, together with several farming families from Molotschna, moved to Omsk in 1897. Peter J. Wiens established a general store and agricultural machinery business in anticipation of many Mennonites who were planning to move to Omsk. The Omsk settlement expanded quickly and within a few years a dozen villages and many business were flourishing.
Mail Train Near Omsk 1899
The Mennonites of the Omsk settlement were generally fairly well off when they arrived so began establishing their way of life as it was in the Molotschna colony. They built village schools and a school board was established to build a central secondary school in Kulomzino near Omsk in 1911. Many of the villages had a train station so transportation was convenient and markets were easy to reach.
Inset says: West Siberian German Mennonite Colonies
(in the area surrounding the underlined places)
_______ Bahnen = train tracks
Map courtesy of "In The Fullness of
Time" p. 75
This map shows the distance from Molotschna in the bottom left to Omsk in the upper right.
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