Kronsweide Mennonite Church in the Chortitza settlement of South Russia had its principal church in Neu-Kronsweide; the congregation also met in churches at Schönwiese , Kronsgarten, and Einlage, and in schools in the villages of Insel Chortitza (an island in the Dniepr), Neu-Schönwiese, and Jakovlevo. The Kronsweide Mennonite Church represented the Frisian Mennonites, while the Chortitza Mennonite Church was of Flemish background. The first elder of the congregation was (?) Klassen, who died in 1794. In that year a preacher (or elder?) was chosen at a meeting in charge of Cornelius Warkentin, an elder of the Prussian brotherhood. It is, however, not known who was at the head of the congregation before 1800. Since that time the elders were Heinrich Janzen 1800-1824; Jakob Hildebrand (son of Peter Hildebrand) 1825-1867; Peter Klassen 1867-1902; Jakob Wiebe 1902-1907; Johann Klassen 1907-1923; Johann Martens, who was chosen in 1924, was exiled in the Ural territory 1930-1936, returned and was exiled again in 1938. During this time public worship and religious activities were made impossible.

In 1887 (Mannhardt, Jahrbuch, 67 f.) the Kronsweide congregation numbered 750 baptized members and 765 children. Meetinghouses then were found at Neu-Kronsweide and Schönwiese, and in all seven villages schools of good quality were being conducted.

In 1905 the Kronsweide Mennonite Church had a population of 1,925, of whom 900 were members. Unser Blatt reported in 1928 that the total population was 860 and the membership was 489. This apparently refers to the Kronsweide congregation and does not include the other Frisian branches. If it does, it would indicate that many of the members had emigrated to Canada. The same statistics reveal that the congregation had five ministers, four ministerial candidates, four deacons, in addition to the Elder Johann Martens. The majority of them had a secondary school training. Of the total congregation, 686 had Zentralschule education, 10 normal training, 52 secondary, and 3 university training.

Of the 80 families of Kronsweide who were taken to Germany by the German army in 1943, some 350 persons were sent back to Russia by the Russian army.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 249. 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:

MLA style: Enns, John H. and Cornelius Krahn. "Kronsweide Mennonite Church (Kronsweide, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 06 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/kronsweide_mennonite_church_kronsweide_zaporizhia>

APA style: Enns, John H. and Cornelius Krahn. (1957). "Kronsweide Mennonite Church (Kronsweide, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 06 July 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/kronsweide_mennonite_church_kronsweide_zaporizhia>