Ursprung, Entwickelung und Schicksale der alt-evangelischen Taufgesinnten oder Mennoniten in kurzen Zügen übersichtlich dargestellt, by Anna Brons, was a book of 447 pages, published by the author at Emden in 1884 and in a second edition at the same place in 1891 without changes. The third edition was revised slightly by E. M. ten Cate and published by Johannes Müller at Amsterdam in 1912, with 403 pages. How this book came into being has been related in the article Anna Brons. The significance of the book lies in the fact that it was the first detailed German history of the Mennonites of Europe and America. It consists of ten parts. The author treats the Mennonites of Switzerland, South Germany, the Netherlands, Moravia, Prussia, Russia, and North America, and the influence of the Mennonites on other groups. Anna Brons has a pleasant and appealing style without burdening her text with scholarly problems. Her basic convictions were those of the enlightened liberal 19th-century North German and Dutch Mennonites, and she accordingly did not have much interest in the theological problems of the preceding centuries. The book has served as a valuable source of information.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 789. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

To cite this page: