Sprunck, Johan Peter (d. 1753)
Johan Peter Sprunck (Sprunk, Sprung, Spronck), (Jan Pieters) (d. 1753), a resident of Danzig, West Prussia, moved to Königsberg , East Prussia, in 1716, where he in 1717 obtained a license to distill rye brandy "nach Danziger Art." Sprunck also organized the small group of Mennonite immigrants then living in Königsberg into a Mennonite congregation; he became the elder of this "Clercksche" congregation in 1727. He was also watchful of the interests of a group of Mennonite farmers in the Tilsit Niederung (Lowlands), however with little result, because they were expelled by the King of Prussia in 1723. In 1732 the Mennonites of Königsberg were also forced to leave the city; Sprunck and others moved to Danzig, but soon obtained permission to return to Königsberg. This and a number of particulars concerning the Mennonites of Königsberg are found in some letters sent by Sprunck to the Dutch Mennonite Committee of Foreign Needs at Amsterdam. One of these letters contains the information that he personally paid the rent for the room used as a meeting place, and for the purchase of a pulpit, benches, and chairs. This indicates that he was well-to-do. He fell into discord with Jan Bruinvisch, a Mennonite from Holland who had established a warehouse at Königsberg and who was also an agent of the Dutch Committee of Foreign Needs. Bruinvisch, a member of the Königsberg congregation, was reprimanded by Sprunck for marrying outside the church. Sprunck seems to have been very active, with a great love for the church, but was not free of a certain presumption and ambition; this and a tendency toward the more liberal Collegiant views, of which he was accused, caused his dismissal from the eldership in 1743. Peter (Pieter) Sprunck, probably his son, was the elder of the Königsberg congregation 1758-1768.
Bibliography
Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam, 2 vols. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: v. I, No. 1622; v. II, 2, Nos. 771, 776, 787, 794, 796, 799 f.
Mennonitische Blätter (1857): 25, 27, 55, 62.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Sprunck, Johan Peter (d. 1753)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Sprunck,_Johan_Peter_(d._1753)&oldid=112811.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Sprunck, Johan Peter (d. 1753). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Sprunck,_Johan_Peter_(d._1753)&oldid=112811.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 604-605. All rights reserved.
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