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German settlers since 1880 (with illustrations): Tim Buchen, ‘The portrayal of the (Russian) German colonists as settlement pioneers 1880–1945’, Copernico, 2025 »

German settlers during WWI (with illustrations): Ron Hellfritzsch, ‘On the Road to the ‘New Eastern Lands’: Plans for the German Colonization of the Baltic States during the First World War’, Copernico, 2025

19Dec25

Excerpt: During the First World War, the German Empire had far-reaching plans for expansion in Eastern Europe. The Baltic states in particular were destined to become a German settlement colony known as the “Neues Ostland” (new eastern lands). With hindsight, some of these plans appear as forerunners of National Socialist conquest policy. Calculations “for a new farm to be established in Courland” The Latvian National Library (Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka) in Riga has in its collection a small brochure featuring drawings and statistics with the cumbersome title “Capital requirements, economic equipment and yield estimate for a new farm to be established in Courland with a total area of 20 hectares”. Behind this seemingly dry title lies the hitherto barely researched history of a gigantic imperial project developed during the First World War, in which the entire Baltic region was to be transformed into a German settlement colony under the name “Neuland” (new lands), “Ostland” (eastern lands) or “neues Ostland” (new eastern lands). But why did so many Germans at that time regard the Baltic states in particular as a utopian space that seemed to offer far-reaching prospects for a future land grab by German settlers?


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