Approximately one year later, as a result of his continued German spirit and convictions, he received an order to leave Hoffnungstal and move 100 km (62 miles) to the east.
The February 1917 Revolution, with the overthrow of the Tsarist government and resulting March 1917 proclamation of civil rights for all inhabitants of the Russian Empire, raised the hopes of the German population for an improvement in their situation.
The work of the German deputy to the Tsar's Duma and that of professor Karl Lindemann experiences with the activities of the government after 1915 contributed significantly to the colonists dissatisfaction.
Pastor Immanuel Winkler, in the meantime, chairman of the main committee of the "All-Russian Federation of Russian Germans" campaigned for the creation of a "Crown Colony Crimea-Taurida".
Winkler presented his plan to Friedrich von Lindequist, the settlement politician and former Secretary of State, Erich Ludendorff, first General Quartermaster of the Supreme Army Command, and government officials in Berlin in March 1918.
After an initial expression of interest the plan it was rejected by the Privy Council, on 2 July 1918, stating that in the eventuality of war Germany would not be able to defend the colony.
Probably, he fled to Germany after the withdrawal of German and Austrian troops, where in 1920 his daughter Irene and second son Gerhard were born in Frankfurt an der Oder.