From: The Bauer Family History by Oswald Bauer

The family name "Bauer" seems to have originated from the German name Bauer, meaning farmer.

Our ancestors in Germany and Austria were mostly farmers, as a lot of the family names were taken from the family occupations at that time.

He also told how the Bauer family came to live in Russia, as he could remember what his family told him. It was during the reign of Katherine the Great of Russia, as she felt the southern part of Russia had fertile soil and needed to be developed. Being of German and Austrian background, she had German and Austrian people immigrate to southern Russia, as the Russian people at that time, were illiterate in development. They would rather trade one hectare of land for a bottle of vodka.

He also told me that Katherine the Great was a firm and cruel ruler of the country. She often kept people in chains, and this may be why great, great grandfather was in chains for a few years. It is not known why and records are not available, due to the communist revolution, so it must be assumed that he had disagreed with the government at that time. He also related to me that Katherine the Great was bald and had a hairdresser to do her wig, and being afraid the hairdresser would make this public, she kept her locked in a room for 3 years. Checking these facts in the encyclopaedia, this is true.

Due to the revolution and wars that have taken place in Europe and Russia it is almost impossible to trace any records.