Skip to main content

School Reports, 1890s

Mennonite memoirs typically paint a golden picture of schools in the so-called “golden era” of Mennonite life in Russia. The official “Reports on Molotschna Schools: 1895/96 and 1897/98,” however, give us a more lackluster and realistic picture (note 1). What do we learn from these reports?

Many schools had minor infractions—the furniture did not correspond to requirements, there were insufficient book cabinets, or the desks and benches were too old and in need of repair. The Mennonite schoolhouses in Halbstadt and Rudnerweide—once recognized as leading and exceptional—together with schools in Friedensruh, Fürstenwerder, Franzthal, and Blumstein were deemed to be “in an unsatisfactory state.” In other cases a new roof and new steps were needed, or the rooms too were too small, too dark, too cramped, or with moist walls.

More seriously in some villages—Waldheim, Schönsee, Fabrikerwiese, and even Gnadenfeld, well-known for its educational past—inspectors recorded that pupils “do not attend classes very regularly.”

The training of teachers was now largely uniform. Almost all teachers in the reports had completed a four-year Zentralschule (high school) program in either Ohrlof, Halbstadt, or Gnadenfeld. Beyond this, most had also completed two post-secondary years of pedagogical training in Halbstadt—a program begun in 1878. A few of these teachers had done something equivalent in Chortitza, Kharkov, Berdjansk, Melitipol, Odessa, or Pavlograd. A minority of villages still appointed teachers who had not yet completed teacher training, including in Elisabethtal, Friedensruh, Großweide, Kleefeld, Klippenfeld, Landskrone, Marienthal, Nikolaidorf, Schardau and Waldheim. There may be more between the lines, because we know that one of those auxiliary teachers, the young Jacob H. Janzen, in Rudnerweide, was unusually gifted and on his way to becoming a leading educator, poet, playwright and later minister and elder.

All teachers were men, except for one Russian Orthodox auxiliary teacher in the Neu Halbstadt Girls School. The trustee of this school was the wealthy heiress Anna Schröder Franz. Not only Neu-Halbstadt, but Gnadenfeld, Sparrau, and Halbstadt also had a Russian Orthodox auxiliary teacher. Teacher David Dirks, born in Indonesia as a missionary child, had studied theology in Basel, Switzerland. Some schools had a small number of Lutheran or Catholic students.

Payment for teachers was not regulated yet—most were given a house attached to the school, plus a small salary in addition to defined contributions of farm products and the use of a small plot of land. A decade earlier an external assessment concluded that remuneration was “sufficient to support a teacher even with a larger family,” i.e., between 200 and 500 rubles per year in addition to some benefits (note 2). Not surprisingly, the specialized teachers in the school for the deaf--trained in Frankfurt, Germany—received the highest salary.

The wealthiest Mennonites often had their own small schools on their estates or estate clusters. In the 1890s Hochfeld, Neuteich, Rosenhof and Rykopol employed younger teachers with no teacher training. With very few exceptions “sports” was not taught in any villages, but it was practiced in the estate schools. In each case it was the “not fully qualified teachers” doing sports.

Notably almost all teachers were under the age of 40. A generation of older teachers with only Zentralschule training had been almost wholly retired and replaced. An outlier: lead teacher at the Neu Halbstadt Girls School was 62 years-of-age.

In 1881, all schools in the former German settlements were officially transferred to the Ministry of National Education and school boards lost the relative autonomy they had enjoyed. Teachers were now required to pass exams set by the state, and by 1891 pass state exams in Russian language. Graduates from schools with approved curricula could have their period of mandatory civil service reduced from six years to four. This could be reduced by a further year if they graduated from an approved high school—a strong incentive for Mennonite youth to study. The proviso put significant pressure on the board to redraw its curriculum and teacher qualifications to meet both the conditions of the state and the internal formational needs of the Mennonite faith and ethnic community. Though this intrusion by the state was not welcomed initially, it resulted in the formation of highly competent teachers, greater respect for teachers and their opinions, better local remuneration, and a broad awareness of the challenges of Mennonite self-preservation—including the need for better educated congregational leaders (note 3). Only after the 1905 revolution was a teachers’ union or association formed in Molotschna, which was joined by almost all area teachers (note 4).

At the Mennonite high school in Ohrloff, students under teacher J. J. Bräul used a 200-page Russian language theory text, as well as a 330-page Russian and world history text. Graduates were required to speak Russian correctly and fluently and write a large paper in Russian on an advanced topic without errors in grammar, spelling or sentence structure (note 5). An external examiner chaired the examinations, and by 1888 all 56 Molotschna village schoolteachers with only a few exceptions were graduates of this system. By order of government school inspectors, Mennonite representatives also participated in larger pedagogical conferences with academic papers, together with educators of nearby German colonies; this apparently proved satisfying for all (note 6). A visiting Prussian Mennonite colleague observed that Molotschna teacher-candidates were, in general, “comparable to the teacher-candidates from the Prussian teacher colleges (Lehrerseminaren)”: weaker in music, science and drawing, equal in geography, history, and mathematics, and superior in language and literature, mastering both the German and Russian materials (note 7). The same observer praised village school teachers for “the patience and effort required to train nine- to fourteen-year-olds in one of the most difficult European languages to the point that they can understand what they read, and freely discuss it orally as well as in writing” (note 8). 

In 1900, about three percent of Mennonites between ten and nineteen years of age were receiving secondary education—similar to Germany and higher than Great Britain. By 1914 that soared to fifteen percent—significantly higher than Germany and Britain, and similar to the United States (note 9). Literacy levels were the hallmarks of progress for Western nations, and by 1897 Mennonites had an almost hundred percent literacy rate for both males and females, whereas only about twenty-eight percent of Russians could read and write.

Excursus:

Whereas preachers had been traditionally elected from those with land and sufficient wealth to carry out their duties without remuneration, now there was a clear shift to the calling and election of teachers into those roles (note 10).

Village teachers not only completed two years of pedagogical training, but their high school examinations included detailed testing of Bible knowledge including the cultural-historical, geographical, and contextual knowledge of the Old and New Testaments; knowledge of the author, composition, goal, and contents of individual biblical books; ability to interpret five to seven Psalms, five chapters of prophetic Old Testament books, the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew and two sections of the Acts of the Apostles. Moreover, graduates had to give a chronological ordering of the life of Jesus, were tested on the basis of the standard German Protestant school church history text by Ottobald Bischoff, as well as on Mennonite church history and its theology using the catechism. Finally, teacher-candidates were tested in music and church hymnody, and were required to interpret eighteen hymns (note 11).

This laid a solid foundation not only for Mennonite teachers, but also for the election of competent lay-preachers, and the opportunity for a select few to pursue advanced studies in theology in Germany or Switzerland, or in other disciplines at Russian universities.

            ---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes---

Note 1: Glenn Penner and Wilhelm Friesen, trans., “Reports on Molotschna Mennonite Settlement Schools: 1895/96 and 1897/98.” From Odessa State Archives, Fond 89, Opis 1, Delo 3232 3258. Peter J. Braun Russian Mennonite Archive, reel 71. Posted by Richard D. Thiessen, https://www.mennonitegenealogy.com/russia/Molotschna_Schools_1896_and_1898.pdf. Cf. also Abraham Görz, Die Schulen in den Mennoniten-Kolonien an der Molotschna im südlichen Russland, edited by the Molotschner Mennoniten-Kirchenkonvent (Berdjansk, 1882), https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/?file=Pis/Goerz.pdf; Peter J. Braun, Der Molotschnaer Mennoniten-Schulrat, 1869–1919. Zum Gedenktag seines 50jährigen Bestehens, edited by Wladimir Süss (Göttingen: Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 2001).

Note 2: Wilhelm Neufeld, “Unterrichtswesen unter den Mennoniten in Rußland,” in Jahrbuch der Altevangelischen Taufgesinnten oder Mennoniten-Gemeinden, edited by H. G. Mannhardt, 134–143 (Danzig, 1888), 136, https://books.google.ca/books?id=ok5FAQAAMAAJ&dq.

Note 3: George K. Epp, Geschichte der Mennoniten in Rußland, vol. 3 (Lage: Logos, 2003), 137-140.

Note 4: Cf. “Gründerversammlung des Molotschnaer Lehrervereins,” reprinted in Mennonitische Volkswarte 2, no. 3 (March 1936), 88–90, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/vpetk351.pdf.

Note 5: On J. J. Bräul, cf. Epp, Geschichte der Mennoniten III, 131; P. M. Friesen, Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia 1789-1910 (Winnipeg, MB: Christian, 1978), 716f., https://archive.org/details/TheMennoniteBrotherhoodInRussia17891910/; Neuer Haus- und Landwirthschafts-Kalender Rußland auf das Jahr 1906 (Odessa: Nitzsche, 1905), 82, https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:355-ubr13400-7; A. Kröker, Christlicher Familienkalender 21 (1919), 64, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/Pis/CFK19a.pdf; Heinrich F. Goerz, The Molotschna Settlement, trans. by Al Reimer and John B. Toews (Winnipeg, MB: CMBC, 1993), 195; GAMEO, https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Br%C3%A4ul,_Johann_J._(1854-1916).

Note 6: Mennonitische Rundschau 4, no. 36 (September 5, 1883), 1, https://archive.org/details/sim_die-mennonitische-rundschau_1883-09-05_4_36. 

Note 7: W. Neufeld, “Unterrichtswesen unter den Mennoniten,” 136.

Note 8: W. Neufeld, “Unterrichtswesen unter den Mennoniten,” 136.

Note 9: Cf. James Urry, “Prolegomena to the Study of Mennonite Society in Russia 1880–1914,” Journal of Mennonite Studies 8 (1990), 57, https://jms.uwinnipeg.ca/index.php/jms/article/view/658/658.

Note 10: See the example of Jacob H. Janzen noted above; for more: https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Janzen,_Jacob_H._(1878-1950). An earlier example of the shift can be seen in the election of the school teacher Heinrich D. Epp as minister in Chortitza in 1864. He served as chair of the Chortitza School Board for seven years, and then as Elder of the Chortitza Church for the last eleven years of his life, 1885 to 1896. Cf. Heinrich Epp, Kirchenältester der Mennonitengemeinde zu Chortitza (Südrußland) (Leipzig: Prieß, 1897), 15, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/vpetk218.pdf.

Note 11: W. Neufeld, “Unterrichtswesen unter den Mennoniten,” 138f.

---

To cite this post: Arnold Neufeldt-Fast, "School Reports, 1890s," History of the Russian Mennonites (blog), June 10, 2023, https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/06/school-reports-1890s.html.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Jewish Colony (Judenplan) and its Mennonite Agriculturalists

Both Jews and Mennonites in Russia were dependent on separation, distinct external appearance, unique dialect, inner group cohesion, international familial networks, self-governing institutions, a sojourner mentality, sense of divine mission, and a view of the other as unclean or dangerous. Each had its distinct legal privileges, restrictions, and duties under the Tsar, and each looked out for their own. For both, moderation, spiritual values, family, learning and success were important, and their related dialects made communication possible. But the traditional occupation of eastern European Jews was as “middlemen” between the “overwhelmingly agricultural Christian population and various urban markets,” as peddlers, shopkeepers and suppliers of goods ( note 1 ). Jews were forbidden to stay for longer periods in German colonies or to erect houses or shops there. “If they try to stay, they are to be reported immediately. If they are not, the German mayor will be held responsible” ( no...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shaky Beginings as a Faith Community

With basic physical needs addressed, in 1805 Chortitza pioneers were ready to recover their religious roots and to pass on a faith identity. They requested a copy of Menno Simons’ writings from the Danzig mother-church especially for the young adults, “who know only what they hear,” and because “occasionally we are asked about the founder whose name our religion bears” ( note 1 ). The Anabaptist identity of this generation—despite the strong Mennonite publications in Prussia in the late eighteenth century—was uninformed and very thin. Settlers first arrived in Russia 1788-89 without ministers or elders. Settlers had to be content with sharing Bible reflections in Low German dialect or a “service that consisted of singing one song and a sermon that was read from a book of sermons” written by the recently deceased East Prussian Mennonite elder Isaac Kroeker ( note 2 ). In the first months of settlement, Chortitza Mennonites wrote church leaders in Prussia:  “We cordially plead ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Russia: A Refuge for all True Christians Living in the Last Days

If only it were so. It was not only a fringe group of Russian Mennonites who believed that they were living the Last Days. This view was widely shared--though rejected by the minority conservative Kleine Gemeinde. In 1820 upon the recommendation of Rudnerweide (Frisian) Elder Franz Görz, the progressive and influential Mennonite leader Johann Cornies asked the Mennonite Tobias Voth (b. 1791) of Graudenz, Prussia to come and lead his Agricultural Association’s private high school in Ohrloff, in the Russian Mennonite colony of Molotschna. Voth understood this as nothing less than a divine call upon his life ( note 1; pic 3 ). In Ohrloff Voth grew not only a secondary school, but also a community lending library, book clubs, as well as mission prayer meetings, and Bible study evenings. Voth was the son of a Mennonite minister and his wife was raised Lutheran ( note 2 ). For some years, Voth had been strongly influenced by the warm, Pietist devotional fiction writings of Johann Heinrich Ju...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flight from Flanders to Friesland

In the latter half of the sixteenth century Protestantism gradually spread throughout the northern Netherlands in the form of Calvinism—which had a direct impact on Anabaptists. When the Northern Provinces of the Netherlands led by the exiled Protestant Prince William of Orange went to war against Spain in 1568, persecution of Anabaptists in Catholic Flanders increased again. Long before the Protestant Northern Provinces would declare independence in 1581, the inquisition against Anabaptists in Bruges, for example, had achieved its goal. With the last two Anabaptist executions in the city in 1573, the once large and thriving Mennonite congregation was extinguished. Subsequently Mennonites lived in Bruges only on rare occasions, and when present, for only a short time, as for example the well-known art historian Karel van Mander in 1582 ( note 1 ). In the Northern Provinces Calvinism had become attractive theologically and politically. Not only was Christian resistance to tyrannical gov...
Post a Comment
Read more

Formidable Fräulein Marga Bräul (1919–2011)

Fräulein Bräul left an indelible mark on two generations of high school students in the Mennonite Colony of Fernheim, Paraguay. Former students and acquaintances recall that Marga Bräul demanded the highest effort and achievements of her students, colleagues and of herself—the kind of teacher you either love or hate but will never forget! In March 1947, Marga was offered a position at the Fernheim Secondary School ( Zentralschule ). A recent refugee to Paraguay from war-torn Europe, she taught mathematics, physics, and chemistry. In 1952, she was the only female faculty member ( note 1 ). Marga wedded a strong commitment to academics with a passion for quality arts and crafts. She provided extensive extra-curricular instruction to students in handiwork and was especially renowned for her artwork—which included painting and woodworking— end of year art exhibits with students, theatre sets, and festival decorations. Marga’s pedagogical philosophy was holistic; she told Mennonite ed...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Between Monarchs" a lot can happen (like revolt). A Mennonite "Accession" Prayer for the Monarch

It is surprising for many to learn that Russian Mennonites sang the Russian national anthem "God save the Tsar" in special worship services ... frequently! We have a "Mennonite prayer" and sermon sample for the accession of the monarch ( Thronbesteigung ) or its anniversary, with closing prayer-- and another Mennonite sampler of a coronation ( Krönung ) prayer, sermon and closing prayer ( note 1 ). After 70 years with one monarch, the manual is made for a time like this--try sharing it with your Canadian Mennonite pastor ;) Technically there is no “between” monarchs: “The Queen is Dead. Long live the King!” But there is much that happens or can happen before the coronation of the new monarch. Including revolt. Mennonites in Molotschna had hosted Tsar Alexander I shortly before his death in 1825. Upon his death in December, Alexander's brother and heir Constantine declined succession, and prior to the coronation of the next brother Nicholas, some 3,000 rebel (mos...
Post a Comment
Read more

"They are useful to the state." An almost forgotten Prussian view of Mennonites, ca. 1780s-90s

In 1787 Mennonite interest for emigration was extremely strong outside the quasi independent City of Danzig in the Prussian annexed Marienwerder and Elbing regions. Even before the land scouts Johann Bartsch and Jacob Höppner had returned from Russia later that year, so many Mennonite exit applications had flooded offices that officials wrote Berlin in August 1787 for direction ( note 1a ). Initially officials did not see a problem: because Mennonites do not provide soldiers, the cantons lose nothing by their departure, and in fact benefit from the ten-percent tax imposed on financial assets leaving the state.  Ludwig von Baczko (1756-1823), Professor of History at the Artillery Academy in Königsberg, East Prussia, was the general editor of a series that included a travelogue through Prussia written by a certain Karl Ephraim Nanke. Nanke had no special love for Mennonites, but was generally balanced in his judgements and based his now almost forgotten account of Mennonites on perso...
Post a Comment
Read more

"In the Case of Extreme Danger" - Menno Pass and Refugee crisis, 1945-46

"In the Case of Extreme Danger 1. We are Russian-Mennonite refugees who are returning to Holland, the place of origin. The language is Low German. 2. The Dutch Mennonites there, Doopsgezinde , will take in all fellow-believing Mennonites from Russia who are in danger of compulsory repatriation. 3. The first stage of the journey is to Gronau in Westphalia. 4. As a precaution, purchase a ticket to an intermediate stop first. The last connecting station is Rheine. 5. Opposite Gronau is the Dutch city of Enschede, where you will cross the border. 6. On the border ask for Peter Dyck (Piter Daik), Mennonite Central Committee, Amsterdam, Singel 452. Peter Dyck (or his people) will distribute the relevant papers—“Menno Passes”--and provide further information. 7. Any other border points may also be crossed, with the necessary explanations (who, where to, Mennonites from Russia, Peter Dyck, M.C.C., etc.). The Dutch border Patrol is informed. 8. Here the whole matter must be h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Swiss and Palatinate Connections

Sometime after 1850 Andreas Plennert and his family immigrated to South Russia from the Culm Region of West Prussia. Though there was at least one Mennonite “Plehnert” who had already immigrated to Russia in 1793, it is not a very common Prussian-Russian Mennonite name. As such, however, it is easier to trace than many and offers a minority narrative and identity within the longer and broader Russian Mennonite story. The account below is adapted largely from information in Horst Penner, Die ost- und westpreußischen Mennoniten , vol. 1, though I have expanded upon his work to offer a slightly different narrative. In 1724 there was a group of Mennonites forced out of the Memel region in East Prussia for political and religious reasons and were given assistance to resettle back to West Prussia in areas populated by Mennonites. Among the 23 households that went to the Stuhm region there is one Plenert listed, namely Christian Plenert. We know that Mennonites entered the Memel region ...
Post a Comment
Read more