Köppental, a village of the Trakt Mennonite settlement in the province of Samara, Russia, was founded in 1855 by Mennonites from Prussia who settled on both banks of the Malyshevka River. It was named after the Russian state councilor von Köppen, who promoted the settlement. The village originally consisted of 25 families each farming 175 acres. In 1897 it had 56 farms and a population of 174 and in 1914 there were 168 inhabitants. In 1880-81 some of the settlers followed Claas Epp to Central Asia.

The administration of the Trakt settlement (Malyshinskaya Volost, later Köppental Rayon) was located in Koppental. Koppental also built a church in 1864 (dedicated Sunday 24 July 1864 (12 July 1864 Old Style), and had a secondary school (Zentralschule) which was erected before World War I and was the center of many of the organizations and activities of the Trakt settlement. At the beginning of World War II its population with that of the entire Trakt settlement was evacuated to Asiatic Russia.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 225-226. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2013 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

MLA style: Krahn, Cornelius and Victor Wiebe. "Köppental (Am Trakt Settlement, Samara Oblast, Russia)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2011. Web. 19 May 2013. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/koppental_am_trakt_settlement_samara_oblast_russia.

APA style: Krahn, Cornelius and Victor Wiebe. (June 2011). Köppental (Am Trakt Settlement, Samara Oblast, Russia). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 May 2013, from http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/koppental_am_trakt_settlement_samara_oblast_russia.