It was no accident that the wild Helianthus was adopted by the State of Kansas as the official state flower in 1903. Not everybody knows, though, that sunflowers were originally brought to Kansas and Missouri by Russian Germans in the 1870's.

Thousands of Germans left Russia for Kansas in the closing decades of the XIX century. Many of them were Mennonites, members of a very religious Protestant sect. Others were known as the Volga Germans. Only a hundred years prior to their  westward migration, they had left war-torn Germany for Russia's unsettled agricultural provinces. In these isolated lands they lived, preserving many of their German customs. Catherine the Great gave the Germans exemption from military service, freedom from taxation, and free land. As of 1870, however, they began to lose these privileges. Meanwhile, Kansas railroads began a major campaign to recruit  new settlers into the State.

As official statistics indicate, in just a five-year period, from 1874 to 1879, more than 12,000 Russian Germans settled in Kansas. Mennonites introduced to Kansas the Turkey Red Wheat that was to transform the state into the bountiful "bread basket."

Russian Germans also brought sunflower seeds and started to grow the flowers in their gardens. Now Kansas is one of the nation's leading producers of sunflowers.

The ancestors of Russian Germans still can be found in the 4-state area:  Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Cynthia Pfannenstiel, from Pittsburg, Kansas, has Russian-German roots.

"My grandparents, George and Barbara Bittel came to Kansas with their families from a Volga village Obermunjou in 1884," Cynthia said. "Grandma was 2 years old; grandpa was 5 years old." Both families worked as farmers and were growing wheat and breeding cattle.

"My father's family initially came to Topeka, then moved to Munjor, and finally settled in Ellis," Cynthia recalled. "All of them were hard workers. To get sufficient money for his marriage, my dad labored for the railroad, being paid one dollar per day."

Russian Germans gave the Midwest not only sunflower seeds and wheat, but also many customs and traditions. The clothing of Russian Germans was a constant source of amusement to newspaper columnist of the time. Accustomed to severe Russian winters, they were dressed much heavier than Kansas climate required.

"My father told us he remembered that his parents wore high heavy boots they brought from Russia," Cynthia mentioned. "My grandma always covered her head with dark shawls decorated with tapestries."

Cynthia's father also told her that his parents and other Volga Germans celebrated German holidays and always cooked national foods.

"Russian German wedding ceremonies lasted for two days and included a big escort of horses, as well as singing of German songs and Polka dancing," Cynthia said. "Additionally, many Germans used to have summer houses in the country where they grew vegetables, blueberries and sunflowers."

Cynthia declared pride in her Russian-German roots. She has always wanted to visit Russia and see where her ancestors used to live. Her husband, Bill, also had grandparents who came to Kansas from German settlements in Russia.

One day, the couple expects to fulfill their wish of seeing the land of their grandfathers.