Mennonite Heritage Museum (Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada)
The Mennonite Heritage Museum in Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada is both a heritage school building and a large collection of artifacts. It is a Municipal Heritage Property situated prominently on a one-hectare corner lot in the Town of Rosthern, Saskatchewan. In 1963 the original German-English Academy school building became the Mennonite Heritage Museum when it was replaced by a new larger and more functional high School building constructed on the adjacent lot. At this time the school’s name changed to Rosthern Junior College (RJC).
The original building was constructed in 1910 as the German-English Academy. It is two-story and constructed from locally-made orange-red brick with a fieldstone foundation surrounded on a large, landscaped green space. The building has elements that reflect the mixture of Georgian and Colonial Revival architectural, such as the four dormers with lunettes, the symmetrically spaced windows and four front columns. The interior is unchanged from its form as a school with the classrooms used as museum displace space.
The artifacts reflect the local prairie culture and Mennonite religious practices. It holds a bronze bust of the early Mennonite leader David Toews by the well-known Saskatchewan sculptor William "Bill" Epp. On display are a collection of books in both German and English used by Mennonites, old schoolbooks and RJC yearbooks. The seven rooms of the museum display the everyday tools of pioneer Mennonite farmers, trades men, and home makers illustrating the daily toil in field, church, garden and home. Some unusual artifacts are also exhibited such as a jeweler’s lathe and an old Edison cylinder phonograph player which plays the many cylinder recordings in its collection.
A charitable non-profit corporation is responsible for the museum, its collection and programs.
In 2015 the Museum began planning a new venture with the development of an Anabaptist Interpretive Centre. The plan is to move and convert the 100 year old Rosthern Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) church building to the land adjacent to the Museum Heritage museum.
Rosthern is the principle town in the area between the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers known as the Saskatchewan River Valley and since the mid 1890s has been the main service center of the Mennonite settlement area known as the Hague–Osler Mennonite Reserve. Two other towns in this reserve, Hague and Waldheim, both have town museums with significant collections of Mennonite relevant artifacts.
The museum is usually open afternoons and Saturdays from May to September.
Additional Information
Address: 7010 5th Street, Rosthern, Saskatchewan, S0K 3R0, Canada
Maps
Map:Mennonite Heritage Museum, Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada
| Author(s) | Victor G Wiebe |
|---|---|
| Date Published | February 2015 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Wiebe, Victor G. "Mennonite Heritage Museum (Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2015. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mennonite_Heritage_Museum_(Rosthern,_Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=130798.
APA style
Wiebe, Victor G. (February 2015). Mennonite Heritage Museum (Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mennonite_Heritage_Museum_(Rosthern,_Saskatchewan,_Canada)&oldid=130798.
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