Ludwig von Baczko was a versatile German author, b. 8 June 1756, at Lyck (East Prussia), d. 27 March 1823 at Königsberg. His father, a Catholic, of a Polish family living in Hungary, was an officer under Friedrich the Great and later the owner of an estate in Prussia. He himself was first Lutheran like his mother, then Catholic, was filled with a variety of interests and blessed with a good memory, lost his vision just before completing his formal education. Nevertheless he found opportunity for a many-sided activity in Königsberg, and a permanent residence there. Religious questions occupied him throughout his life; his membership in the Catholic Church in a Protestant community somewhat impeded his progress.

For a livelihood von Baczko wrote on many subjects -- on history, political economy, besides literary subjects. The Mennonites received his attention in connection with the history of the locality; thus he mentioned the church at Königsberg in his Versuch einer Geschichte und Beschreibung Königsbergs (Königsberg, 1787, 2nd ed., 1804). An independent work, a family portrait in three acts, Die Mennoniten (Königsberg, 1809; also in Dutch, De Doopsgezinden, Haarlem, 1809), served the express purpose of "calling attention to the spirit which animates the adherents of this religious party"; the foreword laid the foundation for the benevolent description by relating several true anecdotes. Thomas Münzer, dessen Charakter und Schicksale (Halle and Leipzig) -- now antiquated -- was a historical inquiry. The travel booklet, Reise von Posen durch das Königreich Polen und einen Teil von Russland bis an das Meer von Asow, by Ferdinand von Baczko, published by his father, Ludwig von Baczko (Leipzig, 1821, 2nd ed. 1824), contained a detailed account of the Mennonites from Prussia living on the Molotschna.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 205. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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