Jakob Höppner (Hoeppner) (3 January 1748-4 March 1826), appointed with Johann Bartsch as a deputy of the West Prussian Mennonites; they traveled to Russia in the fall of 1786 to investigate the offer for colonization made by Catherine II. Under very difficult circumstances they performed their task. The outcome was the emigration to Russia beginning in 1788. Their services were miserably rewarded. When the emigrants reached the colonization site at Chortitza, all the resentment of the disappointed settlers, who had expected better land, was heaped upon Höppner and Bartsch. Höppner was expelled from the Flemish congregation. He was accused of misappropriation of funds and imprisoned in Ekaterinoslav, and was to be deported to Siberia. When Emperor Paul I died and was succeeded by Alexander I, Höppner was pardoned and released after a year's imprisonment. Meanwhile his property had been sold. Finally he was received into the Frisian church at Kronsweide, where he quietly spent the last years of his life. After his death a beautiful monument was erected in his honor on the island of Chortitza. The monument has been moved to the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum in Steinbach, Manitoba.

Höppner was married to Sara Dyck (17 November 1753-     ); they had four children.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 811. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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