What were Molotschna Mennonites reading in the early 1840s?

Johann Cornies expanded his Agricultural Society School library in Ohrloff to become a lending library “for the instruction and better enlightenment of every adult resident.” The library was overseen by the Agricultural Society; in 1845, patrons across the colony paid 1 ruble annually to access its growing collection of 355 volumes (see note 1).

The great majority of the volumes were in German, but the library included Russian and some French volumes, with a large selection of handbooks and periodicals on agronomy and agriculture—even a medical handbook (note 2).

Philosophical texts included a German translation of George Combe’s The Constitution of Man (note 3) and its controversial theory of phrenology, and the political economist Johann H. G. Justi’s Ergetzungen der vernünftigen Seele—which give example of the high level of reading and reflection amongst some colonists.

The library’s teaching and reference resources included a history of science and technology with an accompanying volume for students by Carl P. Funke; natural science text for children (note 4); an elementary school Russian reader for German pupils; Russian-German, Turkish-German (note 5), and Latin-German dictionaries; encyclopedia; many songbooks; pedagogical journals; the St. Petersburgische Zeitung (conservative Baltic-Russian German newspaper); a Prussian newspaper (Preußische Staats-Zeitung; note 6) many travelogues (an English original; note 7); a biography of Peter the Great, and a church history for use in schools.

German Pietism had a strong impact on Molotschna Mennonite spirituality in the first half of the nineteenth century; Cornies’ 1843 lending library gives ample evidence of this. The library’s many tools for preachers and religion classes included biblical commentaries, biblical word-studies, a prayer books, a selection of Protestant catechisms, as well as religious-devotional texts especially for youth. Mennonite theology and history books are fewer in number but included selections of Menno Simons’ writings curated by the Mennonite Pietist Johann Deknatel (note 8), Menno’s larger Foundation of Christian Doctrine (note 9), Confession of Faith of Mennonites in Prussia, and Reiswitz and Wadzeck’s volume on Mennonites in Europe and America (note 10).

German Pietist writings however dominate the collection’s religious materials, with song books, sermon collections, biblical studies, historical letters from the Moravian “Herrnhut” community, children’s stories (from Hernnhut; note 11), and resources for family worship by Johannes von Albertini (sermons from Herrnhut; note 12), Johann Arndt, Samuel Elsner, Christian Gottlieb Frohberger (letters from Herrnhut; note 13), August Spangenberg, Gerhard Tersteegen, and Johann G. Uhle among others. The latter materials complemented the Pietist influences incorporated into important eighteenth-century Prussian Mennonite publications, and would be the dominant theological influence—together with the later sermons of Pietist preacher Ludwig Hofacker (note 14) on the Russian Mennonite tradition as a whole, with the exception of the Kleine Gemeinde.

Other traditions were also represented in the Cornies library, including the medieval classic Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, a history of the Friends/Quakers (English; note 15), a German-language Russian Orthodox theology (note 16), and works by J. F. W. Jerusalem, whose enlightenment, non-dogmatic theological writings echo those of German Mennonite Abraham Hunzinger (note 17), plus a few philosophical-apologetic texts, as well as a work on the religion of Mohammed and the Koran (note 18).

In 1836, eighteen percent of the Agricultural Society's budget over three years was used for the acquisition of books, agricultural journals, newspapers, and to prepare topographic sketches and maps (note 19). Cornies made many of the acquisition decisions and book orders personally, in all cases with the dual purpose of improving the colony "morally and economically" with reading materials in the areas of religion, history and economic/agricultural matters--as he reported to the President of the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers. With focus and commitment to broad, life-long education accessible for all in the colony, Cornies opened Mennonites to the larger world of ideas and best practices to remain a "model community," a light on a hill. This was his interpretation of the Mennonite call and purpose in Southern Russia.

---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes/ Sources---

Note 1: Johann Cornies, “Catalogue of Books—1841 [actually 1845; German; handwritten] .” In Peter J. Braun Russian Mennonite Archive, file 797, reel 34. From Robarts Library, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. Also see: Johann Cornies, “Ueber die landwirtschaftlichen Fortschritte im Molotschner Mennoniten Bezirke in dem Jahre 1845 (Fortsetzung),” Unterhaltungsblatt 1, no. 2 (May 1846) 10, https://www.hfdr.de/sub/pdf/unterhaltungsblatt/1846_Teil-1.pdf .

Note 2: https://books.google.ca/books?id=nNY_AAAAcAAJ&dq=medizinisches%20handbuch&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 3: https://books.google.ca/books?id=D3sMAAAAYAAJ&dq=Combe%2C%20The%20Constitution%20of%20Man&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 4: https://archive.org/details/naturgeschichte00raff/page/n3.

Note 5: https://books.google.ca/books?id=FAAtNtfUk7cC&dq=Theoretisch-Praktische%20T%C3%BCrkishe%20Sprachlehre%20f%C3%BCr%20deutsche&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 6: ht,tps://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN657064149&PHYSID=PHYS_0005.

Note 7: https://books.google.ca/books?id=yhZUAAAAYAAJ&dq=michael%20symes&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 8: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN657064149&PHYSID=PHYS_0005.

Note 9: In Menno Simons, The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, edited by J. C. Wenger (Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1984), https://archive.org/details/completewritings0000menn_b6u1/.

Note 10: Georg von Reiswitz and Friedrich Wadzeck, Beiträge zur Kenntniß der Mennoniten-Gemeinden in Europa und Amerika, Parts I and II (Berlin, 1821/1829), https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009717700.

Note 11: https://books.google.ca/books?id=Sd4g3bnimbgC&dq=Einige%20Reden%20an%20die%20Kinder%2C%20gehalten%20in%20Herrnhut&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 12: https://books.google.ca/books?id=1bU_AAAAcAAJ&dq=Albertini%2C%20Dreissig%20Predigten&pg=PP5#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 13: http://mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10449078-1.

Note 14: https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10463596_00007.html.

Note 15: https://books.google.ca/books?id=aAxNAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 16: https://books.google.ca/books?id=My9fAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP5#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Note 17: See previous post, https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/01/ideas-for-educational-reform-1832.html.

Note 18: See previous post on Cornies and Molotschna's Islamic Nogai neighbours, https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/01/islamic-nogai-neighbours.html.

Note 19: Johann Cornies to Andrei M. Fadeev, January 28, 1837, in Transformation on the Southern Ukrainian Steppe: Letters and Papers of Johann Cornies, 1836-1842, vol. 2, translated by Ingrid I. Epp, edited by John R. Staples, Harvey L. Dyck and Ingrid I. Epp (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020), no. 40, pp, 37f. See also pp. 156, 434, 598, https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/100164/1/Southern_Ukrainian_Steppe_UTP_9781487538743.pdf.

---

To cite this post: Arnold Neufeldt-Fast, “What were Mennonites reading in the early 1840s?,” History of the Russian Mennonites (blog), June 15, 2023, https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/06/what-were-molotschna-mennonites-reading.html.

Comments

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...

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 ...

Catherine the Great’s 1763 Manifesto

“We must swarm our vast wastelands with people. I do not think that in order to achieve this it would be useful to compel our non-Christians to accept our faith--polygamy for example, is even more useful for the multiplication of the population. … "Russia does not have enough inhabitants, …but still possesses a large expanse of land, which is neither inhabited nor cultivated. … The fields that could nourish the whole nation, barely feeds one family..." – Catherine II (Note 1 ) “We perceive, among other things, that a considerable number of regions are still uncultivated which could easily and advantageously be made available for productive use of population and settlement. Most of the lands hold hidden in their depth an inexhaustible wealth of all kinds of precious ores and metals, and because they are well provided with forests, rivers and lakes, and located close to the sea for purpose of trade, they are also most convenient for the development and growth of many kinds ...

“First Arrival of German Troops in Halbstadt” (Volksfreund, April 20, 1918)

“ April 19, 1918 will always remain significant in the history of the Molotschna German Colony. That which until recently could hardly be imagined has occurred: the German military has arrived to free us from the despotism, rape and pillaging of barbarous people and to reestablish the order and security of life and property--something desperately necessary for our land. For this we give thanks above all to the One in whose hands the peoples and nations and also individuals rest. ...” ( Note 1 ) Mennonites greeted their “guests and liberators” with festivities that included baked goods (Zwieback), meats and even the German anthem “ Deutschland, Deutschland über alles "—all before the watchful eyes of their Russian /Ukrainian neighbours. The troops arrived by train; and to the shock of most present, three bound prisoners—all well-known bandits and terrorists—“were brought out of one of the railway cars without any prior notice, lined up and shot right in front of us” as an exampl...

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 ...

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...

The Beginnings: Some Basics

The sixteenth-century ancestors of Russian Mennonites were largely Anabaptists from the Low Countries. Because their new vision of church called for voluntary membership marked by adult baptism upon confession of faith, they became one of the most persecuted groups of the Protestant Reformation ( note 1 ). For a millennium re-baptism ( a na -baptism) had been considered a heresy punishable by death ( note 2 ), and again in 1529 the Imperial Diet of Speyer called for the “brutal” punishment for those who did not recognize infant baptism. Many of the earliest Anabaptist cells were found in Belgium and The Netherlands--part of the larger Habsburg Empire ruled after 1555 by “the Most Catholic of Kings,” Philip II of Spain. The North Sea port cities of the Low Countries had some limited freedoms and were places for both commercial and cultural exchange; ships arrived daily not only from other Hanseatic League like Danzig, but also from Florence, Venice and Genoa, the Americas and the Far Ea...

Mennonite Medical Orderlies in World War I

Russia declared war on Germany on July 20, 1914. Mennonite ministers and civic leaders met on July 22, and called for the extension of their community’s alternative service agreement beyond forestry service: to form complete medical units to gather the wounded from the front and to transport them by hospital trains to interior hospitals; to establish special hospital facilities for the wounded in the colonies; to fundraise large sums for the Red Cross; and to grant financial aid to families of soldiers ( note 1 ). Mennonites knew that they would have to prove their patriotism in positive and tangible ways in order to retain property rights and privileges. Abraham Kröker, editor of the Friedensstimme , wrote just before the start of the war: “Do we not owe it our government and Russian neighbours to show that if a war … broke out, we would be ready to serve the interests of the Fatherland [Russia], and to help the needy?” D. H. Epp, editor of Der Botschafter , wrote: “We need to show ...

Last Days of Mennonite Life on the Molotschna, September 1943

The Molotschna Mennonite Colony was established in 1803; 140 years later its villages were evacuated by retreating German armies. A map of the larger German operation of 1943 and the various "Trecks" is attached. The tens of thousands of evacuees included some 35,000 Mennonites. Nazi Germany had utterly failed Ukrainians, but continued to have plans for their "ethnic Germans" in the east. On Sept. 8, 1943 , the Red Army successfully took Donetsk (Stalino), 230 km east of Molotschna. The next day, S.S. administrators gave orders that every Molotschna family should load one wagon with their possessions and prepare for an orderly evacuation. Hitler was intent on holding Crimea, and sought to set up a defensive line from Zaporizhzhia to Melitopol and south to the Sea of Azov. Evacuation plans east of this line were in place since late June—initially to be resettled “somewhere” west of the Dnieper; on Aug. 17 first steps were taken to move 8,000 hospital beds west o...

From USSR to Cherrywood Station: Mennonites winter in Markham-Stouffville, 1924

On September 26, 1924, 126 Russian Mennonite passengers disembarked the S. S. Melita at Quebec City ( note 1 ). They were among some 20,000 Mennonites who could immigrate to Canada from the Soviet Union in the 1920s. A number of these families received train cards to Cherrywood (Pickering) and Locust Hill (Markham) stations, where they were received by Markham area Mennonites. The Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization (CMBC) registration forms record each family's travel dates as well as their "first place of arrival" in Canada. The attached artifacts—a few pages from the financial records booklet kept by Markham-Stouffville treasurer J. L. Grove, plus some correspondence—profile concretely the level of support of this community north-east of Toronto for co-religionists fleeing the Soviet Union. Mennonites in Ontario had been well informed of the relief needs in Russia since 1921 and plans for mass immigration ( note 2 ). In April 1924 the local Stouffville Tribune ...

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog