Coat of arms of Royal Prussia. From 1772 coat of arms of West Prussia – Source Wikipedia

After the last significant plague epidemic that took place in East Prussia in 1709-10, and following religious disturbances in south west Germany, Austria, and France, King Fredrick I devised a way to attract Lutheran settlers to the region. Many accepted his offer, but where did they settle?

1. The majority of the French, with a Huguenot background settled in the Gumbinnen-Judtschen area.
2. The German speaking protestant refugees expelled from Salzburg in a series of waves, ending in 1731 settled in Lithuanian Minor, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
3. The remaining Salzburg Protestants scattered to other protestant states across Europe and the British colonies in America – (Georgia Colony, which became known as Ebenezer). 

In 1732 the Archbishop of Salzburg expelled 16,000 protestants who had been practicing their religious practices in secret. A group of 25 miners and peasants from the Gastein Valley emigrated to the British colony of Georgia in the American colonies, arriving at Savannah in 1734. This group of migrants started the first community and consequently were given the broad term of “Austrians”. 

Two more groups, totalling about 150 people arrived in the area, settling in Georgia, whilst a larger group, of about 16,000 settled in East Prussia.