Bischweiler (Bischwiller), a town in Alsace, which was a part of the possessions of the barons of Eschenau when about 1535 an Anabaptist movement became evident here. At the wish of Ludwig von Eschenau, who was the bailiff of the Duke of Zweibrücken, the parson of Zweibrücken, Johann Schwebel, sent to Bischweiler "a friendly admonition and instruction to some who are suspected of rebaptism." The Anabaptists of Bischweiler wrote an anonymous reply to this letter, and presented it to the baron through a Hans Hoffner. Thereupon Schwebel directed a second, still longer warning to Hans Hoffner in Bischweiler. The author of the Anabaptist reply was perhaps Georg Pistor, who was the Protestant pastor at Ernstweiler near Zweibrücken and had to resign because of his Anabaptist inclination.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 347. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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