The Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (German: Autonome Sozialistische Sowjetrepublik der Wolgadeutschen; Russian: Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика Немцев Поволжья, Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika Nemtsev Povolzh'ya) was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union. During the reign of Catherine the Great, Germans were allowed to colonize the region around the Volga River. The Volga German ASSR was establish on October 19, 1918, with Pokrovsk (renamed Engels in 1931) as the capital.