More Royal News! Mennonites give gifts of “Oxen, Butter, Ducks, Hens & Cheese” to new King (1772)

What do Mennonites offer a new king? The ritual ceremonies of homage to a new European king—as we see on TV these days--are ancient. Exactly 250 years yesterday, Frederick the Great became king over Mennonites in the Vistula River Delta where most of our ancestors lived. Here is how that played out.
On May 31, 1772, Heinrich Donner was elected elder of the Orlofferfelde Mennonite Church, 25 km north of Marienburg Castle in Polish-Prussia; thankfully he kept a diary (note 1). Only a few months later the weak Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth collapsed and was partitioned by powerful, land-hungry neighbours: Austria, Prussia and Catherine the Great’s empire. In the preceding decades Mennonites had lived with significant autonomy, felt secure under the Polish crown and could appeal to the king for protection. Now some 2,638 Mennonite families were under Prussian rule.
Frederick II took possession of his new lands on September 13, and then invited four persons of nobility plus clergy from each district to Marienburg for Sept. 27 to pay homage in a formal ceremony and recognize him as king; penalties were threatened for those who refused. The Marienburg Castle is only 7 kilometres from the Mennonite Heubuden Church. At the castle the Polish political elite (Szchlachta) took a pledge of loyalty and obedience, and in turn Frederick granted them the right to becomes members of the Prussian nobility (note 2).
Mennonites scrambled to prepare as well, and Donner records that “all Mennonite congregations” contributed to the large food gift of two fattened oxen, 400 pounds of butter, 50 ducks, 50 hens, and 20 wheels of cheese—a gift most appropriate to feed those gathering for the large Huldigung event (note 3). The gift not only symbolized Mennonite recognition of Fredrick’s sovereignty, but opened the door for Mennonites to deliver their own formal supplication for freedom of religion and freedom from military enlistment.
This was appropriate procedure and protocol. Historically at such an event, a new king promises his subjects protection and the preservation of their rights and privileges. For example in Frederick’s September 1772 “patent of possession,” the Protestant king granted Roman Catholics freedom of religion, and promised “to govern the whole country in such a way that the reasonable and well-thinking inhabitants may be happy and be content."
Mennonites received their response from the new rulership on October 6, 1772: “His Royal Majesty lets the Mennonite Congregation in Polish-Prussia know that …they are under supreme protection from any hindrances with regard to their religious practices. With regard to the “the enlistment of themselves and their children for soldiering in the regiments, this shall be decided shortly to their satisfaction … they will have to pay a yearly contribution, and then they can pursue their trade without disturbance.” (Note 4)
Mennonites were fundamentally opposed to military enlistment, and the new king agreed pragmatically that these subjects could serve his state “better as taxpayers and producers of goods than as soldiers” (note 5). The deal: in lieu of military service, Mennonites would be required to support the military with a large annual lump sum tax—enough to pay the majority capital portion and annual operating costs of a new military cadet school in Culm (note 6).
Moreover, because Prussian army conscription was not universal but canton-based, falling almost exclusively upon agricultural workers, the king also placed restrictions on Mennonite land acquisitions per canton as well. Frederick exerted only enough pressure on Mennonites to successfully increase their military tax obligations and to curtail their rates of land ownership, but not so much as to lose them as productive citizens. His heirs were less savvy or willing to negotiate—which would lead many Mennonites to consider the offers of the Catherine and immigration.
Finally, here is a petition and appeal by Donner and a ministerial colleague eight years later to the king. In 1780 they could not pay the large military tax because of the flooding of the Nogat River (note 7). Unfortunately the petition and appeal was unsuccessful (note 8).                                       
---
Most Sublime Great King, Most Gracious King and Lord.
[We trust] Your Royal Majesty will not take it amiss that we Mennonites of the two congregations of Orloff and Tiegenhagen, situated in the district of Tiegenhoff, take refuge in your throne in our extreme distress.
We have been ruined by the flooding of the Nogat River; some of our lands have silted over completely, and the rest have become unusable for this year. We still have our livestock from which we must feed ourselves in order to keep alive.
In this distress, on the 8th of April we made a humble presentation to the Royal West Prussian Chamber for the remission of the current year's amount payable for the cadet school, which affects our two congregations. However, we have received a decision in which our request for this and future years was completely rejected.
With great effort we made the first payment in the month of June. However the September deadline for the second is now approaching, and despite employing our full strengths, we are unable to meet it, because we are completely unable to earn our own bread.
For this reason, we take refuge in the throne of our Most Gracious King, humbly asking for a glimpse of Your gracious mercy, and to graciously waive the cadet school fee due from us this year. Most gracious King, we reverently honour the great mercies that Your Majesty has shown us in granting us the gracious Privilegium [charter of privileges]. However we also live in the firm hope that Your Majesty does not want us poor and lowly people to be put in the position of enjoying this grace only in prosperous times, but also in times of scarcity. This is our only consolation in our misery and we die waiting for a gracious hearing.
Your Royal Majesty's most humble servants,
Dirk Tiessen, Elder of the Tiegenhagen [Mennonite] Congregation
Heinrich Donner, Elder of the Orloff [Mennonite] Congregation
August 12, 1780, Tiegenhoff
								--Arnold Neufeldt-Fast
 
---Notes---
Note 1: Heinrich Donner and Johann Donner, Orlofferfelde Chronik, transcribed by Werner Janzen and edited by Merle Schlabough, 2022. From Mennonite Library and Archives-Bethel College, Prussian-Polish sources (online), https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/cong_303/ok63/orlofferfeldechronik.html.
Note 2: Cf. Walter Kuhn, Geschichte der deutschen Ostsiedlung in der Neuzeit, vol. 2: 15. bis 17. Jahrhundert (Graz: Böhlau, 1957), 89; for list of participants and background, see Max Bär, Westpreußen unter Friedrich dem Großen, vol. 2, Quellen (Leipzig: Hirzel, 1909), 737-763, https://pbc.gda.pl/dlibra/publication/379/edition/1971/content.
Note 3: Westpreußischer Adel 1772, Institut Deutsche Adelsforschung, https://adelsquellen.de/adelsforschung/huld.htm.
Note 4: Donner and Donner, Orlofferfelde Chronik.
Note 5: Gordon A. Craig, The Politics of the Prussian Army: 1640–1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 22.
Note 6: Cf. Frederick II, “Mennonite Charter of Privileges, 1780,” in Mark Jantzen, Mennonite German Soldiers: Nation, Religion, and Family in the Prussian East, 1772–1880 (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010), 255.
Note 7: “Two copies of a letter to the mighty king and Lord, his majesty etc. etc. from ‘your most humble servants,’ the two congregations at Orloff and Tiegenhagen,” August 12, 1780, Dirk Tiessen, Elder, Tiegenhof, and Heinrich Donner, Elder, Orloff. Mennonite Library and Archives—Bethel College, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/V_18/00_Register/SKMBT_C35109030510350_0023.jpg.
Note 8: Donner and Donner, Orlofferfelde Chronik, 1780.

Comments

Turning Weapons into Waffle Irons!

Turning Weapons into Waffle Irons: Heart-Shaped Waffles and a smooth talking General In 1874 with Mennonite immigration to North America in full swing, the Tsar sent General Eduard von Totleben to the colonies to talk the remaining Mennonites out of leaving ( note 1 ). He came with the now legendary offer of alternative service. Totleben made presentations in Mennonite churches and had many conversations in Mennonite homes. Decades later the women still recalled how fond Totleben was of Mennonite heart-shaped waffles. He complemented the women saying, “How beautiful are the hearts of Mennonites!,” and he joked about how “much Mennonites love waffles ( Waffeln ), but not weapons ( Waffen )” ( note 2 )! His visit resulted in an extensive reversal of opinion and the offer was welcomed officially by the Molotschna and Chortitza Colony ministerials. And upon leaving, the general was gifted with a poem by Bernhard Harder ( note 3 ) and a waffle iron ( note 4 ). Harder was an inf...

Sesquicentennial: Proclamation of Universal Military Service Manifesto, January 1, 1874

One-hundred-and-fifty years ago Tsar Alexander II proclaimed a new universal military service requirement into law, which—despite the promises of his predecesors—included Russia’s Mennonites. This act fundamentally changed the course of the Russian Mennonite story, and resulted in the emigration of some 17,000 Mennonites. The Russian government’s intentions in this regard were first reported in newspapers in November 1870 ( note 1 ) and later confirmed by Senator Evgenii von Hahn, former President of the Guardianship Committee ( note 2 ). Some Russian Mennonite leaders were soon corresponding with American counterparts on the possibility of mass migration ( note 3 ). Despite painful internal differences in the Mennonite community, between 1871 and Fall 1873 they put up a united front with five joint delegations to St. Petersburg and Yalta to petition for a Mennonite exemption. While the delegations were well received and some options could be discussed with ministers of the Crown, ...

What is the Church to Say? Letter 4 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accurate and carefully considered. ~ANF Preparing for your next AGM: Mennonite Congregations and Deportations Many U.S. Mennonite pastors voted for Donald Trump, whose signature promise was an immediate start to “the largest deportation operation in American history.” Confirmed this week, President Trump will declare a national emergency and deploy military assets to carry this out. The timing is ideal; in January many Mennonite congregations have their Annual General Meeting (AGM) with opportunity to review and update the bylaws of their constitution. Need help? We have related examples from our tradition, which I offer as a template, together with a few red flags. First, your congregational by-laws. It is unlikely you have undocumented immigrants in your congregation, but you should flag this. Model: Gustav Reimer, a deacon and notary public from the ...

Fraktur (or Gothic) font and Kurrent- (or Sütterlin) handwriting: Nazi ban, 1941

In the middle of the war on January 1, 1942, the Winnipeg-based Mennonitische Rundschau published a new issue without the familiar Fraktur script masthead ( note 1 ). One might speculate on the reasons, but a year earlier Hitler banned the use of the font in the Reich . The Rundschau did not exactly follow all orders from Berlin—the rest of the paper was in Fraktur (sometimes referred to as "Gothic"); when the war ended in 1945, the Rundschau reintroduced the Fraktur font for its masthead. It wasn’t until the 1960s that an issue might have a page or title here or there with the “normal” or Latin font, even though post-war Germany was no longer using Fraktur . By 1973 only the Rundschau masthead is left in Fraktur , and that is only removed in December 1992. Attached is a copy of Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann's official letter dated January 3, 1941, which prohibited the use of Fraktur fonts "by order of the Führer. " Why? It was a Jewish invention, apparent...

Village Reports Commando Dr. Stumpp, 1942: List and Links

Each of the "Commando Dr. Stumpp" village reports written during German occupation of Ukraine 1942 contains a mountain of demographic data, names, dates, occupations, numbers of untimely deaths (revolution, famines, abductions), narratives of life in the 1930s, of repression and liberation, maps, and much more. The reports are critical for telling the story of Mennonites in the Soviet Union before 1942, albeit written with the dynamics of Nazi German rule at play. Reports for some 56 (predominantly) Mennonite villages from the historic Mennonite settlement areas of Chortitza, Sagradovka, Baratow, Schlachtin, Milorodovka, and Borosenko have survived. Unfortunately no village reports from the Molotschna area (known under occupation as “Halbstadt”) have been found. Dr. Karl Stumpp, a prolific chronicler of “Germans abroad,” became well-known to German Mennonites (Prof. Benjamin Unruh/ Dr. Walter Quiring) before the war as the director of the Research Center for Russian Germans...

The Flight to Moscow 1929

In 1926, my grandfather’s sister Justina Fast (b. 1896) and her husband Peter Görzen moved from Krassikow, Neu Samara (Soviet Union) to village no. 5 Dejewka, Orenburg. “We thought we would live our lives here with our children secure in the hands of God. But the times were becoming turbulent,” Justina recalled. In May 1929 they travelled back to Krassikow for Pentecost to visit with her mother, brothers and their families. But when they returned to their home, she writes, “… a large quota of grain was demanded of us. But we had nothing, and the harvest was not yet in. Then we heard that many were planning to move to Canada, including my three siblings with my mother, and my husband's three sisters too. My husband decided to go to Moscow first to see if it was possible and what was required for emigration. We made the decision to leave when the harvest was complete. At that time so many people were leaving [for Moscow], and early in September we sold everything we had. Only the b...

"A Small Town near Auschwitz” – Chortitza Mennonite Refugee/ Resettlement Camps

Simple proximity to a place of horrors does not equal knowledge or complicity. Many Gnadenfeld-area Mennonite refugees were, for example, temporarily housed 20 km. away from the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp where 15-year-old Anne Frank died ultimately of typhus ( note 1 ). The day after liberation by British troops on April 15, 1945, camp survivors began to flow through neighbouring villages. “What a sight they were! They had been tortured and starved, and were swollen from lack of food. … We could hardly believe that the glorious country of Germany could commit such crimes against people,” Susanna Toews wrote ( note 2 ). My mother was only seven, but she remembers overhearing shocking descriptions given by their host family’s teenaged girls forced by the British to clean some of the camp buses. What about the much larger death camp at Auschwitz? There is a book entitled: A Small Town near Auschwitz: Ordinary Nazis and the Holocaust. It is about an administrator living near the ...

1921: Formation of the “Union of Citizens of Dutch Lineage in Ukraine”

Famine was imminent; unprecedented drought; taxes and requisitions exceeded what was harvested; some villages had no horses; extortion and arrests were widespread; many men were disenfranchised and barred from village affairs (see note 1 ). Lenin responded with the 1921 “New Economic Policy” (NEP), which allowed for a degree of market flexibility within the context of socialism to ward off complete economic collapse. A fixed-tax was imposed, grain quotas were eased, farmers were allowed a small amount of land and could sell excess produce at free-market prices after taxes had been paid. Much was in the air. In secret talks, Soviet Trade Commissar Leonid Krasin told the head of the Eastern Section in the German Foreign Office, Gustav Behrendt, that the USSR was “prepared—just like Catherine the Great of old—to call hundreds of thousands of German colonists into the land and transfer them to large, closed complexes for settlement,” especially in Turkestan and the North Caucasus, be...

Molotschna Elder Heinrich Dirks and tensions with Mennonite Brethren

Russian Mennonites were not always kind to each other—and nowhere is this seen better than in the tensions between “old” Mennonites and the “separatist” Mennonite Brethren, who had their beginnings in Gnadenfeld, Molotschna in 1860. Heinrich Dirks (1842-1915) was the first Russian Mennonite overseas missionary and later long-time Gnadenfeld, Molotschna ( note 1 ). Everything about Dirks’ life suggests that he would have joined the Brethren in 1860. He too was influenced by the "powerful and gripping” conversionist ministry of Eduard Wüst in his youth. Dirks was a young adult in the Gnadenfeld congregation in South Russia where the Mennonite Brethren /separatist movement began. Shortly thereafter, he was trained in the German pietist Barmen Mission School (1863-67), and famously travelled to Sumatra (Indonesia) where he started a mission outpost and school. The Mennonite Brethren too would later connect the global mission imperative with the impending return of Christ as did Dirk...

1920s: Those who left and those who stayed behind

The picture below is my grandmother's family in 1928. Some could leave but most stayed behind. In 1928 a small group of some 511 Soviet Mennonites were unexpectedly approved for emigration ( note 1 ). None of the circa 21,000 Mennonites who emigrated from Russia in the 1920s “simply” left. And for everyone who left, at least three more hoped to leave but couldn’t. It is a complex story. Canada only wanted a certain type—young healthy farmers—and not all were transparent about their skills and intentions The Soviet Union wanted to rid itself of a specifically-defined “excess,” and Mennonite leadership knew how to leverage that Estate owners, and Selbstschutz /White Army militia were the first to be helped to leave, because they were deemed as most threatened community members; What role did money play? Thousands paid cash for their tickets; Who made the final decision on group lists, and for which regions? This was not transparent. Exit visa applications were also regularly reje...

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog