Ethnographic expeditions to the German villages of Altai, Volga region and Ukraine

The article presents the main stages of ethnographic study of the German villages of the Volga region, Altai and Ukraine. The experience of pre-revolutionary and Soviet linguists and ethnographers (G. G. Dinges, A. P. Dulzon, V. M. Zhirmunsky etc.) in the study of dialects, history and culture of Germans is described. Subsequent expeditions, which were organized by specialists of local history museums and scientists from universities, contributed to the formation of modern collections of museums and sites dedicated to the ethnography of Germans in the regions of Russia and Ukraine.