Ladekopp (Polish, Lubieszewo), an ancient village once in the Free State of Danzig, in the middle of the Vistula-Nogat delta, and now known as Lubieszewo in Poland. It is known to have existed in 1255. A Mennonite church was organized here in 1735 with the same name. In 1935 it had 537 baptized members and 213 children. The members were mostly farmers, owning 545 hectares of land, some merchants, industrialists, and retired persons. The Flemish Mennonites who settled in Ladekopp and surrounding localities belonged to the Grosswerder church, while the Frisian Mennonites united with the Orlofferfelde church. In 1735-1740, when the Grosswerder congregation was divided into four parts, Ladekopp became the Orloff Quarter. They had their own preachers and deacons, but the elder served all four quarters. The Naamlijst of 1743 names as preachers of Ladekopp (Flemish church) Jakob Wiebe, Abraham Wiebe, Hans Penner, and Pieter Klaassen (Clasen). They were followed by Gillis Wiens, Jakob Suckau, Cornelis Suckau 1753-ca. 1783, Abraham Konrath 1759, Peter Wiebe 1758-before 1800, Cornelis Wall 1762-before 1800, Isaak Teeuws (Töws) 1762-after 1802, Hans Wall 1762-before 1780, Peter Klaassen 1777-after 1802, Cornelis Klaassen 1782-ca. 1796, Johann Töws Jr. 1787-after 1802, Johann Wall 1787- ca.1797, Hans Wall 1798-?, Peter Regier 1799-?, Abraham von Riesen 1801-? In later years Ladekopp was served by its own elder, six preachers, and two deacons. The later elders of Ladekopp with year of ordination were Jakob Wiebe 1833, Johann Töws 1853, Johann Wiens 1873, Johann Neufeldt 1905, and Johann Penner 1919.

In 1768 the congregation, with the consent of the bishop of the state church, built a meetinghouse in Ladekopp which seated 600 persons. For the members living in the southwest a church was built at Pordenau in 1800, with a seating capacity of 250. Both churches had adjoining cemeteries for their members. The home for poor members, built in 1800, was sold in 1894; needy members were by that time supported in their homes. Church records were kept from 1775 to the end of World War II. The baptized membership of Ladekopp-Pordenau was 564 in 1852, 400 in 1882; that of Ladekopp-Pordenau-Orlofferfelde 707 (1,114 souls) in 1888; 1,141 souls in 1928; 1,021 souls in 1941 (739 baptized members). The last elders were Johann Penner of Prangenau (preacher 1903, elder 1919-d. 1943) and Johannes Dyck II (preacher 1919-?).

In 1882 the congregation was incorporated. Since the members of the Ladekopp congregation and the Frisians of the Orlofferfelde church lived side by side in the same village, and since to obtain corporation rights it was necessary to define limits, these congregations merged for business purposes. Their leaders met for the discussion of common problems.

The Ladekopp church belonged to the Conference of the East and West Prussian Mennonite Churches, and from 1892 was a member of the Vereinigung. In the fighting at the end of World War II in 1945 the meetinghouses at Ladekopp and Pordenau were burned down. The members were all evacuated westward into Denmark and Germany.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 267. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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