This page was begun 21 June 2001 -- rak. All pictures are thumbnails. Click on them to enlarge them for better viewing.
This is the first view one gets 
of Schilling as you proceed east towards the Volga from the main north-south
highway. In the picture, the village is off to the right up against the
Volga. The light-colored material in the front is gravel. People had told
us that the access road to Schilling was really bad -- dirt and mud.
However, a new paved road to Schilling from the main road has just been
completed, so there was much new grading to each side as the road cuts down to
the village from higher ground further inland.
The first actual part of Schilling you come to, on the right of the access
road, is the cemetery which as you can see here 
overlooks both the village and the Volga. Apparently no Germans returned
to Schilling since all Germans were deported in 1941, so although the cemetery
is quite large, on a quick walk through neither I nor Elena, my translator,
noticed any German graves.
There had been two Lutheran churches, no longer used as such, in the village,
but the larger, newer one burned down last year. Only part of its
foundation was visible. The older church still exists. 
As you can see from these two views, it is quite sizeable. The second
picture is the narrow end of the building which is in the shadow on the right of
the first picture. The next picture was taken to the immediate right of
the second church picture. 
It is a German-built house next down the street from the church. The
Russian lady in front of it lives there and told us about the two
churches. She also pointed out the rather large brick parish house just
down the street where the last Lutheran priest lived. She said the church
is now used for club and other civic sorts of meetings. As you can see the
interior is spacious. I suspect the altar used to be where the stage is
now. 
This Russian neighbor lady referred us to an older Russian woman who told us
that there, in fact, was one half-German woman still living in the village and
she directed us to her.
Here she is with her "cousin" from the US. 
We surely are related but we may never now how exactly. Her mother was a Maul
-- a very common German Schilling name -- and could scarcely escape being
related to a Schilling Kraus. Her
mother had married a Russian man and so did not have to be sent away to slave
labor. She still lives in the family home which was neat but very
rustic. We sat and talked in her kitchen which is the little building sun
reflecting off the yellowish roof in the picture. The rest of her house is
in the larger building to the right, most of which you cannot see. She had
a propane like small stove top and an old-fashioned oven stove made of clay and
mortar -- the type one could sleep on top of if one needed to keep warm.
She was most excited to talk, was bowled over to think she might have relatives
in the US, but knew nothing of her mother's people.
Her home may be one of the best pieces of Schilling property since it
directly abuts two of Schilling prime assets. Just a little down the hill
in front of us as we stood to have our picture taken was the Schilling
spring. 
She said it was the best water on the Volga. I can attest that while we
were waiting to talk to her, I saw two loads of plastic and glass spring water
bottles being filled presumably to be taken off to some larger place for
sale! She also says that the inlet which 
you can see from her property is one of the most famous spots on the
Volga. Earlier in the spring it is filled with flowers and blooming
trees. Evidently every important artist and photographer has come at least
once to capture it.
Our cousin lives at near the northern edge of the villages. So just
before leaving the village, I went to the southern edge to see what the view of
the Volga was like there. 
The Volga truly is like an ocean, with large and small islands, huge ships,
gigantic barges, and small boats.
To get a bit of Schilling history, click on it. To go to visit other villages, click here.