Kars Germans are a German-origin immigrant community that settled in the Kars region during the period of Russian administration from 1878 to 1918. Although their numbers were limited, they left a notable mark on Kars’s demographic structure, rural settlement patterns, and particularly on dairy production.

Historical Background and the Russian Period in Kars

Kars was occupied by Russia in 1828, 1855, and 1877, and was ceded to Russia under the 1878 Treaty of Berlin.^【1】 Under Russian rule, Kars was granted the status of a province subordinate to the General Governorate of Transcaucasia, headquartered in Tiflis, and a railway line was extended from Tiflis through Gümrü to Kars.^【2】 Following the 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Kars, Ardahan, and Batum were returned to the Ottoman State; however, due to the actual situation on the ground after the Russian withdrawal, the Turkish army entered Kars on 23 April 1918.^【3】 After the Armistice of Mudros, Kars was evacuated; the process culminated in the reoccupation of Kars in 1920 and subsequent border adjustments following the 1921 Moscow and Kars treaties.^【4】

Within this broader context, the Russian occupation period significantly altered Kars’s population composition. In line with its colonization policy, the Russian administration relocated non-Muslim communities such as Germans, Ossetians, Greeks, Molkans, Armenians, and Poles to the region; conversely, the decline in the Muslim population is associated with migrations from the region to Anatolia during the Russian occupation.^【5】

Origins and Settlement Process in Kars

The presence of Germans in Kars emerged as part of a broader movement linked to German colonies in South Caucasia. The history of the Germans in Kars traces back to a group of descendants of Evangelical German settlers who migrated from Württemberg to South Caucasia between 1817 and 1818. In 1891, this group arrived from the Borçalı and Signagi/Signahuyezd districts of the Tiflis Governorate and founded the village of Petrovka, approximately 5 km west of Kars.^【6】 The village was named in honor of Peter Tomiç, the governor of Kars at the time.^【7】

According to the first general census conducted in the Russian Empire in 1897, a total of 429 people of German descent lived in the Kars province, of whom 370 were male.^【8】

Settlement Geography and Place Names

Petrovka / Paşaçayırı

At the time of its founding, Petrovka housed a German immigrant community of 58 people in 15 households.^【9】 By 1911, it was recorded that approximately 200 people, or 12 families, lived in the village.^【10】 Petrovka is associated with the present-day neighborhood of Paşaçayırı in Kars.^【11】

Nova Estonka – Paulinenhof – Karacaviran – Karacaören

In academic studies on the Kars Germans, settlement names and their historical transformations are considered a significant element. The village of Nova Estonka, founded in 1892, was known throughout its history as Paulinenhof (in German), Nemis köy (German village), Karacaviran, and Karacaören; this has led to conceptual confusion in some studies.^【12】 The village’s name was officially changed to Karacaviran in 1921 and to Karacaören in 1960.^【13】

Although this settlement was initially established as an Estonian village, its identification as a “German village,” particularly after World War I, is noteworthy.^【14】 This may be linked to the local population’s identification of German language use and German cultural influence with “Germanness,” and/or to a search for protective state support. Within the village context, it is especially emphasized that the Estonians spoke German and were under German cultural influence.

Other place names: Kümbet, Zavod (Boğatepe), and Alagöz

Settlements in the Kars and Ardahan regions where traces of Germans and Estonians have been identified include Paşaçayırı (Petrovka), Karacaören (Paulinenhof), Kümbet/Kars, Zavod (Boğatepe/Kars), and Alagöz/Ardahan.^【15】 Additionally, it is noted that the Russian word “zavot,” meaning “factory” or “workshop,” came to denote “dairy” in the Kars region.^【16】

Population and Demographic Profile

The increase in the non-Muslim population during the Russian administration of Kars is linked to the resettlement of various communities in the region. The overall population growth recorded in the 1897 census for the Kars district is explained by the Russian colonization policy, which brought in various non-Muslim groups including Germans; conversely, the decline in the Muslim population is associated with migrations to Anatolia during the Russian occupation.^【17】

The 1897 census recorded 429 people of German descent in the Kars province, making it one of the primary indicators of the numerical scope of the Kars Germans.^【18】

Livelihood and Economic Life

Dairy and Dairy Product Production, Gruyère, and Dairying

The economic visibility of the Germans in Kars is primarily explained through dairy and dairy product production. It is noted that the Germans played a significant role in introducing Gruyère cheese to the region. With the arrival of Molkans, Estonians, and Germans, Montafon (Zavot/Malakan) cattle, a breed originating in the Swiss Alps, began to be raised in Kars.^【19】

In the early 1900s, Russians who opened butter and cheese factories in Kars created conditions for Swiss and German cheese producers to achieve higher quality and more efficient production. In 1901, ten households from the village of Malaya Vorontsovka (İncesu) established a zavot (dairy) on the Bazarcık state land in what is now Boğatepe village.^【20】 David Moser, who arrived in Kars in the same year and later brought his family, became one of the region’s major Gruyère producers; he expanded his business by purchasing milk from Molkans but was forced to leave Kars after the 1917 revolution, as he could no longer sustain his trade.^【21】

In terms of production data, a dairy established in the Suludüz area of Ardahan produced 17.6 tons of cheese and 5.7 tons of butter in 1904 with 54 workers. In 1907, nine major dairies in the Kars province produced over 36 tons of butter and more than 87 tons of cheese. A report from 1910 noted that the number of major dairies in the province had reached 24.^【22】

This trend illustrates the institutionalization of dairy production in Kars. After the departure of Orthodox Russians and Swiss Germans in 1917 and of Greeks, Armenians, and Molkans in the early 1920s, Gruyère production in Kars was continued by the Karapapaks who came from Borçalı.^【23】

Boğatepe Cheese Museum

The Boğatepe Cheese Museum, established in 2011 through the restoration of a former dairy in Boğatepe village, was supported by the United Nations Development Programme and holds the distinction of being Turkey’s first environmental museum.^【24】

Animal Husbandry, Hunting, Fur Processing, and Carpet Weaving

In addition to cattle breeding, the Germans and Estonians in Kars also raised small livestock such as pigs and sheep; community members engaged in hunting and fur processing, while women distinguished themselves in carpet weaving.

Social Life, Culture, and Daily Life

Marriages, Religious Conversion, and Social Integration

The Germans living in Kars mostly married within Christian communities or with Muslim locals. Emilia Kaiser from Petrovka village, after marrying Semistan Koçulu, one of the few wealthy families in Kars and Ardahan, adopted the name Emine and died in 1984.^【25】 Emilia Kaiser’s sister Sofya also married into the Koçulu family; Lidya, Senta, and Anna Maria (Kevser) married Turks.^【26】 The daughters of Karl Kaiser, who settled in Boğatepe village of Kars, also married Turks. This family, which sustained itself through cheese production, later adopted the surname Koçulu and gradually became Turkified.^【27】

“German House” (Deutsches Haus): Function, Ownership, and Restoration

A single-story detached building known as the “German House” (Deutsches Haus) is located in Paşaçayırı village (Petrovka) in Kars. Built in 1910 by the Württemberg German clergyman Pfeiffer, the structure served as both a school and a place of worship until World War I.^【28】 After the Germans emigrated from Kars, the building was purchased by the Şükrü Tekel family. In 2010, with the initiative of Dr. Eckart Cuntz, the German Ambassador to Ankara, and with support from German companies such as Robert Bosch and Daimler Mercedes, partial restoration was carried out.^【29】 Nevertheless, it is noted by Yılmaz Kuskay, Honorary Consul of the Kars Germans, that interior wall inscriptions and decorations urgently require intervention.^【30】

Music and Entertainment Culture

While the Molkans and Duhobors primarily sustained their musical life through religious choral traditions, the Germans turned toward dance music in entertainment settings and used instruments such as the violin and accordion.^【31】

Military Service and Honors

Unlike other non-Muslim groups in Kars, Germans serving in the Russian army were occasionally honored by Russian tsars; for example, Tsar Nicholas II awarded the Georgi Heroism Medal to Germans during his visit to Kars in 1916.^【32】

Regional Trade Relations: The Vohrer Family Example

The Vohrer family, which owned businesses within the German colony in Azerbaijan, established intensive commercial ties with Kars. Christoff Vohrer and his sons founded the family enterprise in Yelizavetpol in 1870 and sold approximately 350,000 liters of wine by 1914.^【33】

The Place of the Kars Germans in the History of Kars

The Kars Germans are viewed as part of the multi-layered demographic and economic transformation that occurred during the period of Russian administration in Kars. Their inclusion among the communities resettled in the region under Russia’s colonization policy, as reflected in the population growth recorded in the 1897 census, establishes their presence as one of the fundamental elements in Kars’s modern demographic and settlement history.