A Visit to the Former Mennonite Villages in the Netzebruch
Mennonite Hollanders established homes in the Netzebruch –
the Netze River lowlands – in the mid-18th century. At the time, the area was just across the
western Polish border into Brandenburg which was controlled by the Kingdom of
Prussia. The Prussian government sought
to transform the area into productive farmland by constructing canals to drain
the marshy areas as well as importing skilled agriculturalists. Groningen Old Flemish Mennonites from
Jeziorki, Schönsee, and Przechówko established the villages of Brenkenhofswalde
and Franzthal, in the mid-1760s.
Brenkenhofswalde, in particular, became an important village in the Old
Flemish Mennonite community, and leaders from this village went on to influence
Mennonite culture in many ways.
Netzebruch area,
circled in red, c100 miles west of the Vistula River valley (1750)
The history of these villages seems to be often neglected
perhaps because the settlements were isolated and Mennonites only lived here
for slightly less than a century. More
than 100 miles west from the Vistula River, the village grouping was well out
of the way from other Polish-Prussian Mennonite settlements. Basic histories of the villages appear at
GAMEO or the Mennonite Lexicon while Mennonite historians such as B.H. Unruh or
Herbert Wiebe or Erich Ratzlaff also tell us the fundamentals. Recently, modern Mennonite researchers such
as Adalbert Goertz, Glenn Penner, John D. Richert, or Bob Buller, have begun
fleshing out a few more details.
Netzebruch, 1803,
edited by the author to include outlines of villages Brenkenhofswalde and
Franzthal with the Petri Canal (Gilly)
The prospect of migrating to Brandenburg was initially
explored by Jeziorki Mennonites who were unhappy with their lease, the terms of
which had been modified in the early 1760s.
In 1764, delegates from Jeziorki went to Berlin to seek new opportunities
and it was there that Franz Balthasar Schonberg von Brenkenhoff invited the
Mennonites to the Netzebruch.
Beginning in the mid-1760s, the Prussians undertook a
massive project to reclaim the marshes surrounding the Warthe (Pol: Warte) and
Netze (Pol: Noteć) Rivers east from Kustrin (Kostrzyn nad Odrą) to Driesen
(Drezdenko). Colonel Isaak Jacob von
Petri formulated the engineering but wanted far too much money for the
execution of the project. Brenkenhoff
was then given charge and delivered results for far less than von Petri had
estimated. With all the new land that
was reclaimed – some of it wonderfully fertile silt – new colonists needed to
be placed. By the mid-1770s, Brenkenhoff
had settled new colonists in 19 completely new villages within the Netzebruch. Connected to this reclamation project was the
1772-75 Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) Canal project which effectively connected the Oder
(at Kustrin) to the Vistula (at Bromberg) via the Netze and Warthe Rivers.
Brenkenhoff’s cost-cutting measures may have had
ramifications at least in certain aspects.
For instance, in the Warthebruch near Landsberg (Gorzów Wielkopolski),
Brenkenhoff was accused of providing shoddily and hastily built houses for
incoming colonists. Could the same have
been true in the Netzebruch? Could this
be why no Mennonite-era structures still stand in Brenkenhofswalde/Franzthal
today? Likely, no, Die
Siedlungsentwicklung im Oberen-_und Unteren indicates the Mennonites were
provided wood with which they built their own houses.
The Warthebruch and
Neztebruch in 1725, before the 1760s reclamation project
The Warthebruch and
Neztebruch in 1816, after completion of von Brenkenhof’s reclamation
project. For instance, note the change
in the mouth of the Warthe where it flows into the Oder and the presence of the
canal west of Driesen
The Mennonites’ move took place in 1765, at least partially
financed by brethren in the Dutch lowlands.
16 families/95 persons settled in Brenkenhofswalde while 19 families/97
persons settled in Franzthal. Until 1771,
neither settlement was taxed. In 1787
there were 266 Mennonites living in Brenkenhofswalde and Franzthal together. John D. Richert’s lists compile a total of
742 Mennonites who lived in all the villages (Brenkenhofswalde-Franzthal-Neu
Dessau-Rotes Haus) from 1765 until 1834. During their time in the Netzebruch, these
Mennonites’ cattle, dairy, and linen goods, were considered premium products
for the area.
I’ve personally been involved with the research of my own
Ratzlaff genealogy through Volhynia back to Przechówko for many years. Working closely with European friends, by
2020 we’d become active in restoring the cemetery at Przechówko, Poland, while
in Ukraine, before the 2022 Russian invasion, we’d identified several Hollander
houses still standing in the Ostrog area.
Given the close relationship between the Netzebruch villages and both
Volhynia and Jeziorki – the lot of them daughters to Przechówko – an excursion
to Brenkenhofswalde and Franzthal became inevitable.
Before the trip, there were indications that no Mennonite
structures still stood. Listings of
Mennonite buildings at the Catalog of Monuments of Dutch Colonization in Poland
included nothing in the Netzebruch.
Further, Zabytek.pl (Monuments),
administered by the National Institute of [Polish] Cultural Heritage, surveyed both
villages in decades past, noting the oldest and most significant buildings and
none were from the Mennonite era. Mennonites
presumably would have built housebarns similar to those found at Przechówko or
Jeziorki but perhaps nothing like that still existed.
In 1805, after the Mennonites had resided in the Netzebruch
for just short of half a century, strikingly accurate maps were produced,
showing not only the plots of land, but also the canals and houses and churches
too. One can very easily super-impose
the maps over a current satellite view and see that 18th century
village outlines still exist. Further, many
current structures seem to sit at exactly the same spots where Mennonite
buildings did. Brenkenhofswalde (today =
Błotnica) seems to have been heavily re-laid at some point with only the
current church and maybe a house or two occupying similar ground as Mennonite
structures. However, in Franzthal (today
= Głęboczek) the whole row of houses, as well as the church, seem to sit almost
exactly where they did two centuries ago during the Mennonite era.
Brenkenhofwalde and
Franzthal; 1805
In late August, 2023, I set off for the villages with well-known
Polish linguist, Professor Dr. Tomasz Wicherkiewicz, and we spent a day
exploring. Driving west from Przechówko,
one encounters all manner of wonders along the beautiful countryside including
large orchards, dense forests, and many roadside monuments recognizing the
early-autumn harvest season. Tomasz
pointed out to me that the areas into which we were traveling were economically
depressed but from the road perhaps this was not obvious. Areas such as these in western Poland have
passed back and forth between German and Polish control. Numerous red brick German buildings can be
seen in the towns and villages but today’s Poles may generally not be too keen
on remembering the German chapters of the history.
Arriving in Stare Kurowo (Alt Carbe), the seat of the local gmina
government, we met Mayor Magdalena (Magda) Szydełko who would be our guide
through Błotnica and Głęboczek; villages both built in the lowlands just off
the Noteć River. Interestingly, both
these modern-day Polish names derive from watery terms: błot is a Polish word
for mud, głębo- a term for deep (as in: deep water or deep mud).
Stare Kurowo itself stands along the ancient road running
from Strzelce Krajeńskie (Friedeberg) to Wieleń (Filehne). The road in this area travels almost parallel
to a railway line which was constructed in the 1840s, some years after the
Mennonites left the area. Both skirt the
south edge of the highland. South of the
road and railway, the land slopes downhill toward the Noteć, forming the
Netzebruch; the Netzebruch lowlands comprise the area between the road and the
river. It’s a featureless plane gently
sloping towards the south which would obviously become quickly inundated with
floodwaters if not for the canals. It
was here in the lowlands where we found the villages Błotnica and Głęboczek.
Both villages are almost completely flat east to west, and
the ground gently slopes downward from north to south. At the Stare Kurowo road, the elevation is
almost 33 meters above sea level. By the
northern tip of Błotnica the ground has dropped to 28 meters, only 3 or 4
meters above the level of the Noteć.
From the western edge of Błotnica, through Głęboczek, the fluctuation of
elevation is only around 1 meter up or down, holding steady between 26 – 24
meters; again, the elevation at the Noteć is 24 meters. Incidentally, at Brenkenhofswalde – literally
“Brenkenhoff’s Forest” – there is no forest.
Likewise, at Franzthal – literally “Franz’s [Brenkenhoff’s] Valley” –
there is no valley.
Magda already pointed out to us that we would notice the
“shaky” nature of the ground. The term
“shaky” lost a bit in translation but we did indeed notice her point very
quickly. “Unstable” or “unsteady” might
be better terms. Thesaurus.com lists
“jelly-like” as a synonym for shaky and indeed this might be a very good term
to express Magda’s thought. In many
places in these villages we witnessed moments when the ground, due to its
marshy nature, indeed felt “jelly-like” beneath the feet.
The local clay is yellow and therefore many buildings are
built of yellow bricks. Notably, buildings
often bear testament to the unstable nature of the ground. Walls in many places were heavily reinforced
and even still, many had developed cracks when the foundation sagged under one
side or another. Larger barns were
further reinforced with wall anchors.
Floors buckled and caved as the ground had shifted. Clearly, the construction of stable
structures in the lowlands was a challenge and perhaps buildings didn’t grow to
be as old as they might in other environments.
Perhaps this was a reason why no 200-year-old Mennonite buildings still
exist in the area when a fair number still do along the Vistula.
The entire area seemed to be very lush and green. While there were few large trees, many
varieties of bushes and shrubs were everywhere with weeds, grasses, and vines,
seemingly covering everything. A couple
standouts for me were hazelnut trees, which were common, as well as many apple
trees. In fact, wandering around the
villages we were able to simply walk by apple trees and pick and eat ripe
fruit.
The layout of Głęboczek in particular struck me a bit odd
because there was no road passing through the middle of the village where the
houses stood. The road ran along the
southern perimeter, but the houses are generally aligned along a central
canal. Thus, houses have long lanes to
the south out to the road. Błotnica was
originally set up in the same way but now a road has been built through the
middle of the village and most houses have been rebuilt along that road.
Błotnica, Głęboczek,
and environs
The Noteć River flows south and east of the villages, arcing
to pass Głęboczek immediately to the east.
The Petri Canal, built about the time when the Mennonites arrived in the
area, runs through both villages. The
canal is neither wide nor deep but provided crucial drainage for both villages
(the original village houses were built along the Petri). Today it is not well-maintained, and Magda
pointed out that the neglect has had detrimental effects.
Petri Canal, Głęboczek,
lot #26
Houses:
Magda was generally unconcerned with Błotnica since she knew
we were looking for buildings which might stretch back to the early years of
the 19th century. Błotnica
#18 is one of the oldest houses in the village; this was Brenkenhofswalde lot
#11. The house is one of the oldest in
the village but stands in a completely different spot to the Mennonite house
from the 1805 map. The brick walls are
buckled and patched because of the unstable nature of the ground.
In Głęboczek, however, many
older houses still stand, and many stand in the same spots where Mennonite
houses stood. We visited Głęboczek #23 (equivalent
to Franzthal #9), Głęboczek #21 (the more westerly of the two Franzthal #11s), Głęboczek
#26/Franzthal #5, and Głęboczek #4/Franzthal #13. All these buildings stand in the same spots
where Mennonite houses stood but none are housebarns. Construction was wattle and daub and the framing
timbers were joined with mortise and tenon joints held secure with wooden
pegs. These buildings were probably
built during the mid- to late-19th century, in the generation
immediately following the Mennonite exodus.
Głęboczek #23
According to Zabytek, #21 was apparently the most notable
old house in the village in 1987. Again,
the house lacks some essential Mennonite characteristics: it’s not a housebarn
nor does it have a centrally located kitchen (czarna kuchnia). A row of willow trees stands immediately east
of the house which could have been planted by Mennonites but the structure
itself is almost certainly not Mennonite-built.
Głęboczek #26/Franzthal #5 is actually the lot
where my 6th great grandfather Ratzlaff lived so this was a
particularly interesting spot for me.
The barn here apparently stands in almost the same location as the
Mennonite housebarn from the 1805 map.
This structure was fairly typical for these villages and we saw a lot of
similar barns. The house here is large
and in good condition but different to the other houses in that it has a second
story. It’s also wattle and daub
construction held together with pegs.
The house faces east and the barn faces south so the yard was a tidy
square. Magda was good friends with the
occupants, and they were very happy to show us even inside the house. The Petri Canal passed just behind (north of)
the barn and the farmyards were situated along this canal. A pathway likely led along the edge of the
canal in former days. In order to reach
the church, a few lots to the east, a walk along the canal would have been the
most direct method.
Głęboczek
#26/Franzthal #5
Churches:
The Brenkenhofswalde Mennonite church was built in
1778. It was located off the row of
village houses in the tip-top northeast corner of the village. It stood about 25 meters due south from
today’s Błotnica church. Today’s building, a fairly typical late-19th
century Lutheran style brick building was built at the end of the 19th century
and consecrated as a Catholic church in 1946.
Today it is the Catholic Church of St. Michael the Archangel but is not
used due to the poor condition of the roof.
Błotnica church (left); Głęboczek church (right)
The Franzthal Mennonite church was built in 1787 and stood,
apparently, at the same spot where today’s Głęboczek church stands, immediately
north of the canal. The Mennonite
building survived until the interwar period.
Today’s building is still in use, but it strikes me as in very poor
repair. The floor is badly buckling and
caving due to the unstable nature of the ground upon which it stands. It’s a brick building, covered with lime
mortar, and was consecrated as a Catholic church (Church of St. Barbara) in
1946. The adjacent school building is
built on a brick foundation. Both church
and school were likely built by the Lutherans in the mid-19th
century.
We don’t know how the Mennonite churches would have looked
but they would likely have been similar to other Vistula-area Mennonite
churches from the early 19th century. For instance, these folks were in close
communion with their brethren in Przechówko, Schönsee, Sady, etc., so their
church buildings could have looked similar.
Given the population of Mennonites in these villages, churches would
have needed to accommodate around 150 people each. These Netzebruch Mennonites had close ties to
brethren in the Dutch Lowlands and generous Dutch Mennonites contributed funds
toward the building of both churches.
Cemeteries:
On the 1805 map of Brenkenhofwalde, we see a small field
immediately north from the church building which indicates the cemetery. If we trust the map, the space could be
measured at approximately 1800 square meters.
Today, this is roughly the space occupied by the St. Michael the
Archangel church building and yard. No
gravemarkers can be seen here today.
Brenkenhofswalde
cemetery area (left) with corresponding (red) area marked for modern-day Błotnica
(right)
Documents at Zabytek.pl indicate the old Franzthal cemetery
was at the churchyard. The cemetery encompasses an area of
approximately 1500 square meters with the church building occupying the
southwest corner of the space. Again, no
gravemarkers can be seen here today.
Original Franzthal
cemetery (left) and with corresponding (red) area marked for modern-day Głęboczek
(right)
Apparently, at some point after the Mennonites left, burial
places were moved to new locations, up on higher ground and out of these
lowlands. Magda took us to the nearby
cemeteries which likely served the Lutheran population of the villages during
the 19th century. Both of these were
located north from the churchyards, fairly close to the Stare Kurowo road. Both lie in ruins, heavily overgrown by weeds
and bushes. The Błotnica cemetery contained many gravestone remnants
but no obviously legible inscriptions.
In the Głęboczek cemetery, however, we found several gravestones bearing
German names. Some of these names we
even know belonged to Lutheran families who bought out the Mennonites when they
vacated in 1830s.
Conclusions
Political events such as the Partitions of Poland and the
Napoleonic expansions created an environment which spelled an end to the
Mennonites’ time in the Netzebruch. A
quick listing of important events can explain:
·
1813: the Prussian government passed a military
conscription law which required all males to register for military duty.
·
16 May 1830: the Mennonite Edict of 1789 took
effect in West Prussia. This edict gave Mennonites a choice between military
service or paying an extra tax/accepting the loss of some civil rights,
including the right to buy land.
Mennonites filed an entreaty with King Frederick William III to restore the
terms of their original charter, but the king denied the appeal.
·
Summer 1832: 40 Netzebruch families petitioned
the Russian government for permission to immigrate. Permission was granted in autumn, 1833.
·
Summer of 1834: 28 Mennonite families as well as
10 Lutheran families, left for Russia.
Some of the Netzebruch Mennonites began to move into Volyn
by the first decade or two of the 19th century, while the balance liquidated by
1834 in favor of the Molotschna. Many
who moved to Molotchna helped to establish Gnadenfeld and indeed, the
ex-Brenkenhofswalde Mennonites became very influential Molotschna-wide,
especially in religious and educational matters.
