Jakob Höppner (Hoeppner): Mennonite deputy; born 3 January 1748 in Brodsack, Prussia. He was the son of Jakob Höppner by his first wife. Jakob was married on 12 October 1773 to Sara Dueck (17 November 1753, Neustaedterwald, Prussia - 27 February 1826, Insel Chortitza, Chortitza, South Russia) and they had six children that survived childhood: Helena, Anna, Maria, Katharina, Elisabeth, and Jacob. Jakob died 4 March 1826 in Insel Chortitza, Chortitza, South Russia, where he was buried.

Jakob was 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 (Insel Chortitza). The monument has been moved to the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum in Steinbach, Manitoba.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 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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