Low German Mennonite Heritage Path: Vistula Delta and Valley/Masovia

 Rod Ratzlaff's Low German Mennonite Heritage Path: Vistula Delta and Valley/Masovia 

Low German Mennonites began settling in areas along the Vistula River valley, south of where the Nogat splits from the Vistula River, sometime soon after the mid-16th century.  Some of the congregations were established right about the year 1600 but the first settlement may have been right about the area directly across the Vistula from Grudziądz (Graudentz).  By the early 17th century, congregations were established at Montau, Schoensee, Przechowko, and Obernessau, with another valley congregation placed at Tragheimerweide in the early 18th century (see the previous blog post with the Delta portion of the travel Path).  All of these congregations except Przechowko were adhered to the Frisian sect so the culture (Mennonite culture, that is) of the Valley, as opposed to that of the Delta, was somewhat different.  Again, as in the Delta, Mennonites almost always co-habitated villages with local Lutherans or Catholics.  According to the 1772/3 Prussian census, the only village inhabited exclusively by Mennonites was Przechowko (Przechowko was also the only congregation/village with a Polish name).  And then, the earliest evidence we have for Mennonite settlement in Masovia is in 1785 when Przechowko congregants settled at Sady.

Link to the map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1OCzRo5OpT9n8fFhhQ7-Z1nhoHqyOWB0&usp=sharing

11. Montau Church, Mątawy (Montau).  This church represents a later time period for this congregation; this building constructed in the 19th century even though the congregation can trace its history back into the last decades of the 16th century.

12. Montau-Klein/Gross Sanskau-Gross/Klein Lubin-Dragass villages (Mątawy-Wielkie Zajączkowo-Wielki Lubień-Dragacz); Vistula River Dike: 53°29'51.8"N 18°44'15.5"E; Vistula River access point: 53°29'34.2"N 18°44'26.7"E.  The way these villages were laid out deserves explanation and these Montau congregation villages illustrate the point well.  Many Mennonite will be familiar with the way Molotschna villages were organized in New Russia.  Johann Cornies made sure all the houses were lined up exactly and spaced evenly.  There's a joke saying that if you'd open all the doors to all the houses in those villages you'd be able to look through the doorways of each house from one end of the village to the other.  However, the villages in Polish Prussia were different.  Houses were spaced irregularly and they were not aligned with one another.  They were also oftentimes placed upon their fields rather than having fields stretch out behind or beside the village.  The villages were themselves just a group of farms until a convenient border naturally appeared (perhaps a waterway of some sort) and then the next village began, so villages butted right up against one another.  This stretch of villages, driving along the 207 from Montau south to Dragass illustrates this layout.  

And there are numerous points along the Vistula where you can get a good look at a dike.  Near Dragass, at about 53°29'51.8"N 18°44'15.5"E, is one of these points.  If you've read this far, then you're a Low German Mennonite and you need to understand about these dikes.  Your ancestors built and maintained them.  They were absolutely crucial to survival in these flood-prone areas so take a good look.  If you're particularly bold, there are spots like this one where you can drive up the path to the top and you can continue driving along the top of the dike.  And if you take a look at your GPS, you might notice areas where the level of the ground is actually lower than the level of the river on the opposite side of the dike.

And again, if you've read this far, this Vistula should be very important to you.  Take the crossing to the other side of the dike at 53°29'51.8"N 18°44'15.5"E and follow the road down to the edge of the river.  Sit there and take it it.  Walk to the edge of the water and at least dip your hands in it.  Seriously, take off your shoes and wade it just a little.  One thing, as "Russian" Mennonites, that we may have forgotten is how important water was to our ancestors.  As Low German Mennonites, water and water management is in our blood.  In the Russian colonies, Mennonite life became all about wheat and sheep.  But before that, during the Polish era, Mennonite life was all about water management (building dikes and canals and mills).  Mennonites were all about controlling water and, indeed, that's why they were imported into these Vistula lowlands in the first place.  Take a good look at the dike here, and the Vistula River as well.

Finally, at this stop at the Vistula, look up and you'll see the granaries and fortress of Graudentz across the river.  This is the view your ancestors had as they worked their fields or tended their gardens.  

13. Przechówko Cemetery, Przechówko; 53°23'26.2"N 18°23'17.7"E.  I could write pages and pages about this cemetery.  Mennonites left Przechowko by the 1830s although, inevitably, some intermarried with local Lutheran Hollenders who moved in to replace these Mennonites.  The Lutherans lived in the Mennonite housebarns and likely built their own structures.  The last residents of Przechowko moved out in the early 2000s and the village grounds became a dumping ground, existing in the shadow of the cardboard factory across Bydgoska Street to the north.  The last internments in the cemetery were probably in the 1990s.  As such, the cemetery became forgotten... and thus was preserved.  We started a restoration project in the early 2020s and wrapped up in summer 2025.  More grave markers were discovered than anticipated and the cemetery became perhaps the largest collection of in situ 18th century grave markers in the whole country.  It's an astounding place.  A large memorial stone was carved by a member of the family which last lived in the village.  If you tromp around through the trees, you can find the foundation of the last housebarn.  The custodian of the cemetery will now be the City of Swiecie but the fine folks at the Lower Vistula Parks Complex will also keep close watch over it.

Standing in the cemetery is a profoundly moving experience.  If you have ancestors buried here, take some quiet time in this place and appreciate the history - the oldest authentic Mennonite cemetery in Poland - for that matter, in the world (but Lutherans and an occasional Catholic are also buried here).  I'll put right here special thanks to Michal and Mark for all their help with this cemetery.  Michal showed it to me and Mark opened up Poland to me.  I've spent a good deal of time working with this cemetery and, now that the project is "complete", I'll admit that I also spent a good deal of money to achieve this project.  

I'll honestly say that achieving this project has been a highlight of my life.  Mennonites oftentimes overlook cemeteries sometimes because perhaps a fancy headstone or some sort of memorial candles or flowers are seen as too prideful.  I'll humbly disagree.  "I would give my bread to the hungry and clothing to the naked. If I saw one of my people who had died and been thrown behind the wall of Nineveh, I used to bury him." (Tobit 1, 16-22).  I don't want to get into theology too much but burying the dead, ensuring the deceased are laid to rest respectfully, is one of the corporal acts of mercy.  And this has been practice for most Jews and Christians since the beginning of time.  I hope that, with the work I've done or caused to be done, in the Przechowko cemetery, that I've accomplished something good.  That was certainly my intent.  Enjoy Przechowko cemetery because there's no other place like it on earth, nor will there ever be.

14. 1791 Mennonite Cottage, Chrystkowo (Christfelde); 53°19'15.8"N 18°19'01.2"E

15. Schönsee Cemetery, Sosnówka (Schönsee); 53°24'45.4"N 18°37'12.5"E

16. The Nickelstein, Szynych (Schöneich); 53°25'20.3"N 18°39'50.6"E

17. Hollender Ethnographic Museum, Wielka Nieszawka (Obernessau), outside of Toruń; https://etnomuzeum.pl/o-muzeum/dla-zwiedzajacych/lets-visit-the-ethnographic-museum/

18. Vistula Settlement Open-Air Museum, Wiączemin Polski; https://muzeumplock.eu/pd-21-maja-wstep-do-skansenu-jest-platny/

19. Deutsch Wymyśle Church, Nowe Wymyśle (Deutsch Wymyśle); 52°25'36.3"N 19°50'20.2"E

20. Warsaw Market; 52°14'59.7"N 21°00'42.9"E  Michalin founded 1791

Low German Mennonite Heritage Path: Vistula River Delta

Rod Ratzlaff's Low German Mennonite Heritage Path: Vistula River Delta

1. Gdańsk

2. Danziger Kopf, Żuławki (Fürstenwerder); 54°17'07.0"N 18°58'20.2"E

3. Palschau (Palczewo) windmill; 54°10′06.2″N 18°52′21.9″E

4. Orłowo (Orloff) Arcaded Werder house; 54°12'05.4"N 19°03'40.4"E

5. Zulawy Historical Musuem, Nowy Dwór Gdański (Tiegenhof); https://zph.org.pl/

6. Mały Holender restaurant, Żelichowo (Petershagen); https://www.malyholender.pl/

7. Rosenort Cemetery, Różewo (Rosenort); 54°11'33.0"N 19°10'38.4"E

8. Elbląg 

9. Heubuden Cemetery, Stogi (Heubuden); 54°04'15.1"N 18°58'49.6"E

10. Tragheimerweide Cemetery, Barcice (Tragheimerweide); 53°52'01.3"N 18°56'37.8"E

The Vistula River delta area, basically a triangle from Gdansk to Eblag to Malbork (or the conjunction of the Nogat and Vistula Rivers), is basically the area our ancestors would have called the Gross Werder.  This was the area of highest Mennonite concentration back in the day and you'll still find many remnants of Mennonite culture today.  Back then, the Flemish sect dominated the delta area with congregations located at Danzig, Baerwalde, Tiegenhagen, Ladekop, Rosenort, Elbing, and Heubuden.  The only Frisian congregations were at Orlofferfelde, Danzig, and Elbing (both Danzig and Elbing had both Flemish and Frisian congregations).  These people spoke Low German on a daily basis and began settling in the area by the mid 16th century.  By the late 18th century, they inhabited a great many villages across the Gross Werder - far too many to list here - although none of these villages was inhabited exclusively by Mennonites.  The following sites include a good variety of churches, cemeteries, and houses, representing both the Flemish and Frisian Mennonite sects.

Link to the map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1YvAQp2FgHGWeymzL58kv3GNBJMQaaJw&usp=sharing

1. Gdańsk.  Any good Mennonite tour of Poland really needs to include significant time in Gdansk.  Low German Mennonites, this is your home city; more so than Amsterdam or Halbstadt or any other place you can think of.  This is the first place Mennonites came to in Poland and it would continue to be the port of entry for additional Mennonites arriving from the Dutch lowlands.  Maybe you won't find much now that's overtly Mennonite but this is where your ancestors walked and arrived and did their initial business.  Spend some time walking along the canal waterfront.  Go out to the Wiebe Bastion and look at examples of Van der Blocke art (were Wiebe and Van den Blocke really Mennonites?).  Too back Zum Lachs is now closed but certainly sit down at a restaurant and sample a shot of Goldwasser.  Walk through the Long Market and gaze at the Artus Court building where Georg Hansen was interrogated in 1678.  Walk out to the former general locations of the Flemish and Frisian meeting houses (although you won't find any Mennonite traces today but the Flemish site was just outside the Petershagen Gate while the Frisian was just outside the Neugarten Gate).  Climb to the top of the tower of St. Mary's Church where you can get a bird's eye view of all these places.  And most of all, visit the unified Mennonite church building, just west of the walls of the old city, which is undergoing restoration even as I'm writing this.

Just as much as any of these activities, simply sit in a cafe or on a bench along the waterfront and soak in the atmosphere.  Sit quietly and pay attention.  This is exactly the place where your ancestors walked centuries ago.

Wiebe Bastion: https://www.gdansk.pl/wiadomosci/Bastion-Wiebego-i-Baszta-Nowa-czyli-spacer-po-terenie-dawnych-fortyfikacji-Gdanska,a,117016

Van den Blocke: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_van_den_Blocke

Goldwasser: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwasser

Artus Court: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artus_Court

Gdansk Mennonite Church: https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Danzig_Mennonite_Church_(Gdansk,_Poland)

2. Danziger Kopf, Żuławki (Fürstenwerder).  By the later end of the Mennonite era in Poland (maybe the 18th century), Mennonites were building these great, wonderful houses with large arcade additions on the front of the original Dutch-style longhouses (housebarns).  As you travel around the northern Vistula area, you'll stumble upon many of these, restored and unrestored, and these are a wonderful remnant of our ancestors' culture.  Moving forward here I'll call them Arcade Werder House (or similar).  An amazing example of a restored Arcade Werder house is the Danziger Kopf, owned and restored by my friend Mariusz Wisniewski.  Stop and see it if you can, it's well worth it.

3. Palschau (Palczewo) Windmill.  I haven't actually visited the Palschau windmill myself, and I honestly don't know if it's still standing.  But this is (or was) one of the last examples of a Dutch windmill in the Vistula area.  Our ancestor built windmills in the Dutch style in order to pump water and to mill grain.  Dutch style windmills (according to a Dutch friend) rotate only at the cap at the top.  A Polish style windmill may rotate the entire structure from a pivot point near the base.  Thus, perhaps the Dutch mill is more stable and less apt to collapse to one side or the other.  In centuries past, mills like this one were common all along the river delta and valley and are a really striking remnant of Dutch and Low German Mennonite culture.  

4. Orłowo (Orloff) Arcaded Werder House.  This is another example of an Arcaded Werder House.  You'll probably see many such houses as you drive around but just make real sure you stop and look at a couple of them.  They're all just a little different so you need to appreciate them.  This particular one is located in the village of Orloff and was occupied by a Loewen of some sort.  Orloff became the namesake for villages in the Molotschna and Barnaul colonies, as well as Canada (I think).

5. Zulawy Historical Musuem, Nowy Dwór Gdański (Tiegenhof); https://zph.org.pl/.  This is a great museum located in Tiegenhof, which was an important center for our Mennonite ancestors.  Talk to my friend Lukasz Kepski about getting a personal tour if possible.  While the museum isn't purposely geared toward Mennonites, by default it has a lot of Mennonite stuff in it since there were so many of them in the area.

6. Mały Holender restaurant, Żelichowo (Petershagen); https://www.malyholender.pl/.  It's an amazing experience to visit this restaurant, located in a restored Werder house brought onto this site from someplace east of Elbing (I think).  You can eat a great meal, and then wander around the building a little, as well as outside too.  The last time I was there, they were constructing a mill outside and you can even wander around a little more and find remnants of the old Petershagen cemetery.  The proprietor has revived the popular Mennonite liquor, Machandel, brought by the Mennonite Stobbe family from Holland in the 18th century (yes, Mennonites produced a great deal of quality alcohol in Poland back in the day).  The Maly Holender is absolutely the best place to sample Machandel, and here you can do it properly, with a dried plum skewered onto a toothpick.  Elsewhere in Nowy Dwor Gdanski you can still find the Stobbe family granary.

7. Rosenort Cemetery, Różewo (Rosenort).  You'll find remnants of many Mennonite cemeteries throughout the Werder.  This one is notable because a stone has been erected to memorialize Cornelius Warkentin who was elder here and instrumental in moving Mennonites to Imperial Russia beginning in the late 18th century.  I remember on my first trip to Poland, standing in this cemetery and hearing a hymn sung in German to dedicate this memorial stone.  Hearing the hymn sung in German, in that setting, literally had me crying like a baby and I'm glad I had sunglasses on because it was even a little bit embarrassing.  When you stand in these cemeteries, soak it all in and understand how profound the moment is.

8. Elbląg.  That's Elbing to us Mennonites.  Elbing was a rival to Danzig in importance for our ancestors since the guilds and administration back in the 17th and 18th centuries were more friendly to Mennonites here.  And it's here in Elbing where you'll find what is perhaps the single most stunning example of Mennonite culture still standing.  Back in the day, a Mennonite church couldn't have a steeple or look like a church in any way.  Lutheran guild officials or Catholic administrators or landowners accepted the Mennonites because they were an economic boon.  However, these same officials absolutely did not want Mennonites to proselytize because they didn't want additions to the non-combatant population.  Thus, limitations were placed on their churches and some of the structures became known as "hidden churches".  Walking along on the street, you'd never even know the building behind the door is a church.  You can still find some of these in The Netherlands, but the only one you'll find in Poland is here in Elbing.  And, interestingly enough, this building was one of the few to survive WWII bombings (seriously, you can find pictures from the '40s and this church is still standing while everything else is just destroyed).  The Elbing hidden church is an absolute gem and a must-see for any Mennonite visiting Poland.  A later, 19th century Mennonite church is also located just west of the old town.

Elbing Church: https://aroundus.com/p/12355496-12-garbary-street-in-elblag

9. Heubuden Cemetery, Stogi (Heubuden).  The congregation at Stogi was one of the largest in the Gross Werder and the cemetery is one of the best preserved.  There are more grave markers here than any other Mennonite cemetery in the delta, most of which represent internments from the 19th century.  

10. Tragheimerweide Cemetery, Barcice (Tragheimerweide).  This entry would fit better on the next list; Tragheimerweide is usually considered a Valley congregation, but it rounds out a tidy 10 sites for this half of the list.  Tragheimerweide was the latest of the original Mennonite congregations to be established.  Congregants from nearby Montau left the area in 1713 for the Memel River lowlands (then in the Kingdom of Prussia) but returned to the Vistula (Royal Prussia, semi-autonomous province of the Polish Crown) in 1724, establishing this congregation south of Sztum (Stuhm).  This cemetery actually served the residents from Zwanzigerweide while another nearby cemetery served those residents from Schweingrube.  In my opinion, this is the more worthwhile of the two to visit.  Similar to the Heubuden cemetery above, this cemetery largely includes19th century memorial stones. 

Mennonite Sites in Poland

We can say, generally, that the Low German Mennonite movement can trace its origins to the Dutch Lowlands during the first quarter of the 16th century.  Already by mid-century, some Mennonites were moving into the areas in and around Gdańsk (Danzig) and Elbląg (Elbing).  And shortly after mid-century point, some Mennonites were already moving into the Vistula River valley lowlands   By the early 17th century, they had spread all along the approximately lower 100 miles of the Vistula River valley from the Baltic Sea coast, all the way south to Toruń.  And in the very last decades of the 18th century, they began moving into lands held by the Empire of Russia.  

Very often, these people are called Russian Mennonites.  I don't particularly like this term.  It's not exactly a misnomer in my mind, but I don't feel it's the best term we can use.  Alternately, these people are called Dutch Mennonites, Vistula Mennonites, Prussian Mennonites, or Low German Mennonites.  These people lived in "Poland" for much longer than they lived in "Russia".  Many of them can trace ancestors living in Poland for more than 200 years while the time in Russia may have only amounted to c75 years.  In my opinion, Low German Mennonite is the best term to use.

Of course, the term "Poland" is just a little problematic too.  Polish geography and history are really complicated and trying to quickly describe this area is really difficult.  Poland proper actually includes lands farther south - 100 miles south of the Baltic coast.  Greater Poland is the area surrounding Poznań and Lesser Poland is the area surrounding Kraków.  These Vistula River areas where most of the Mennonites lived have actually been called Pomerania or Pomerelia or Kashubia or Kuyavia or Chełmno Land or Warmia (and just a little farther south, Masovia too).  Prussia, traditionally, was the delta area, particularly to the east of the river.  But these areas came to be dominated by the Poles since at least the 13th century.  (No, I'm not even going to get into Teutonic Knight domination between the early 14th century until 1466)  Certainly by the time the Mennonites came to live there, the Vistula delta and valley were controlled by the Poles and I feel the best way to describe this region, during the Mennonite Era, is Polish Prussia.  Today, the area is controlled by Poland.  And now that we have all these messy definitions out of the way, I'll simply use the terms "Poland" and "Low German Mennonite".

Obviously, Poland is a very important place for Low German Mennonites.  Poland is where their culture grew and flourished and today, in order to understand your Low German Mennonite ancestors, it's crucial that you learn about the areas where they lived in Poland.  The very best way to do that is to travel to Poland.

I've been asked many times to compile a list of Mennonites sites in Poland.  I've resisted doing that until now in the fear that I'll leave an important site out.  However, I will put together the following list because I cannot find a similar list anywhere else that I would be happy with.  For instance, you can find biking trails or "Mennonite Trails" online (see: https://polskanarowerze.pl/szlak-mennonitow/).  You can also find things like this (https://izi.travel/en/d2d7-mennonites-poland-common-heritage/en) or this (https://greenvelo.pl/en/detal/1403-greenvelo-mennonites-trail), but none of these really suit my needs or give me enough background information.  The IZI tour is put together by three friends of mine - certainly in my opinion, three of the best Mennonite historians in Poland today.  It's an absolutely fantastic tour but it's just a little bit outdated now.  It lacks a couple sites - one stunningly important one - that is very important to me and those three historians will immediately know what I'm talking about.  And if you're new to traveling in Europe, or don't feel comfortable driving a car in a foreign country, the annual tour given by the Mennonite Polish Studies Association is a wonderful and enlightening experience (https://mla.bethelks.edu/information/mpsa.php) and would absolutely be worth your money.

The following list will include sites from the Baltic coast all the way to Warsaw.  This is not something a person would probably tour with a bicycle.  But certainly a visitor from North America could easily tour these sites with a car.  But word of advice: before you travel to Poland to visit your ancestral sites, make sure you know where your ancestors lived.  If you consider yourself a "Russian Mennonite", your ancestors did indeed live in these Vistula areas.  Don't just visit sites I list here.  Do the research and get yourself to the proper places.

Here's my list.  This is not a ranking of "best" or "most important" or anything like that, it's just simply a list.  We'll call it the Rod Ratzlaff Low German Mennonite Heritage Path and divide it into two sections; Delta and Valley/Masovia (although Tragheimerweide will be included with the Delta to make it into a tidy two section list).  First is just a general list and then with the next two blog entries I'll repeat the list along with a lot more details.

Delta:

1. Gdańsk

2. Danziger Kopf, Żuławki (Fürstenwerder); 54°17'07.0"N 18°58'20.2"E

3. Palschau (Palczewo) windmill; 54°10′06.2″N 18°52′21.9″E

4. Orłowo (Orloff) Arcaded Werder house; 54°12'05.4"N 19°03'40.4"E

5. Zulawy Historical Musuem, Nowy Dwór Gdański (Tiegenhof); https://zph.org.pl/

6. Mały Holender restaurant, Żelichowo (Petershagen); https://www.malyholender.pl/

7. Rosenort Cemetery, Różewo (Rosenort); 54°11'33.0"N 19°10'38.4"E

8. Elbląg 

9. Heubuden Cemetery, Stogi (Heubuden); 54°04'15.1"N 18°58'49.6"E

10. Tragheimerweide Cemetery, Barcice (Tragheimerweide); 53°52'01.3"N 18°56'37.8"E

Valley/Masovia

11. Montau Church, Mątawy (Montau); 53°34'32.0"N 18°44'58.2"E

12. Montau-Klein/Gross Sanskau-Gross/Klein Lubin-Dragass villages (Mątawy-Wielkie Zajączkowo-Wielki Lubień-Dragacz); Vistula River Dike: 53°29'51.8"N 18°44'15.5"E; Vistula River access point: 53°29'34.2"N 18°44'26.7"E

13. Przechówko Cemetery, Przechówko; 53°23'26.2"N 18°23'17.7"E

14. 1791 Mennonite Cottage, Chrystkowo (Christfelde); 53°19'15.8"N 18°19'01.2"E

15. Schönsee Cemetery, Sosnówka (Schönsee); 53°24'45.4"N 18°37'12.5"E

16. The Nickelstein, Szynych (Schöneich); 53°25'20.3"N 18°39'50.6"E

17. Hollender Ethnographic Museum, Wielka Nieszawka (Obernessau), outside of Toruń; https://etnomuzeum.pl/o-muzeum/dla-zwiedzajacych/lets-visit-the-ethnographic-museum/

18. Vistula Settlement Open-Air Museum, Wiączemin Polski; https://muzeumplock.eu/pd-21-maja-wstep-do-skansenu-jest-platny/

19. Deutsch Wymyśle Church, Nowe Wymyśle (Deutsch Wymyśle); 52°25'36.3"N 19°50'20.2"E

20. Warsaw Market; 52°14'59.7"N 21°00'42.9"E

Red Turkey Wheat and the Low German Mennonites’ 1874 Migration to America

Low German Mennonites began to move from the Dutch lowlands to the Vistula River delta beginning already in the mid-16th century. By the turn of the 17th century these Mennonites had spread all the way from Gdansk and Elblag south to Torun. Beginning in the late 18th century they began moving into lands of the Russian Empire and then in 1873 they began moving to North America.

Their migrations – from the Dutch lowlands to the Vistula valley to the Ukrainian steppes and to the midwestern American prairies – were made necessary by their religious beliefs but at the same time, facilitated by their agricultural skills. They were driven out of the Dutch lowlands based upon religious views that held them apart from general society but were invited into Polish-Prussia because they were industrious farmers. They ultimately left Polish-Prussia because again, their religion limited their opportunities but they were welcomed into the Russian Empire because, they were industrious farmers. They left Russia, once more, because their religion did not permit them to Russify. But again, they were welcomed onto the midwestern American prairies because they were strong agriculturalists. Repeatedly, when their religious views seemed to create obstacles, their agricultural skills created new opportunities.

This last migration – to Midwestern America – was based on wheat – Turkey Red Wheat – and upon the emergence of wheat as a growing factor on the world’s economic stage.

Low German Mennonites originated in the Dutch lowlands already by the early 16th century. And it wasn’t long before they were being imported into the Vistula River lowlands.  Landowners in the Vistula River Delta were already bringing these Mennonites onto their lands by the second quarter of that century. These Mennonites brought valuable skills in draining swampland and building dikes and canals and pumps which would help transform the Vistula lowlands and floodplains into productive farmland.

 

At this time, the Mennonites also proved to be efficient farmers. They focused on dairy cattle – producing milk, cheese, butter, and other dairy products. They also raised a fair amount of grain – primarily rye but also a small quantity of wheat. This was a time when Royal Prussia produced the majority of grain in the Kingdom of Poland and the Mennonites were a major contributor to this production. In time, there were pockets of Mennonites along the Vistula River all the way from Gdansk to Warsaw and according to the 1773 Prussian census, they controlled 25% of the agricultural land in the delta region.

Due to restrictions placed upon them because of their religious views, many of these Mennonites by the late 18th century sought new homes further to the east. Empress Catherine the Great in Russia began to invite these industrious Low Germans into the Empire in the 1760s primarily for their agricultural skills, in order to transform the steppes of New Russia (that is, southeastern Ukraine) into productive farmland.

The Mennonites moved into the Empire, settling in small numbers in Volhynia, but in great numbers in several large colonies just north of the Black Sea coast – Chortitza and Molotschna were the two earliest and largest colonies. They lived here on fertile land wholly granted to them by the Russian government.

Initially, the Mennonites brought their dairy cattle with them, along with their rye seed. They soon discovered, however, that the dry steppes of southeastern Ukraine were much more suited to sheep than to dairy cattle, and to wheat rather than to rye. By the mid-19th century their focus was on producing Merino wool. But they also began to look at various varieties of wheat native to the Black Sea region. This burgeoning wheat industry was also augmented by the fact that these Mennonites had begun producing all varieties of farm implements which helped make crops like wheat more productive.

One particular variety of wheat the Mennonites began growing by mid-century had come from Crimea. This variety, hard Red Turkey Wheat, was a winter wheat, sown in autumn and harvested in early summer. In the hot and dry Black Sea coast conditions it was said to grow as thick as hair on a dog’s back. Given their proximity to the ports of Mariupol and especially Berdiansk, Mennonites were able to ship their grain out of the Empire and on to the markets of the world. By 1855 it was said that Mennonites were shipping out some half a million bushels of wheat annually. This Mennonite wheat brought 5 to 10 cents per bushel more than other wheat varieties on the London markets. By the early 1870s, Mennonite wheat production had increased to an estimated 10 million bushels – almost 5 percent of the global total production. World leaders began to recognize the economic power represented by these industrious Mennonites based upon their production of hard Red Turkey Wheat.

At the same time, however, the Russian administrators were beginning to find it necessary to Russify this Low German population. Although they were productive farmers, they spoke

Low German language, they administered their own villages, they were exempt from military service – all based on their religious beliefs. They were a people apart from general society and they did not mingle with the native Ukrainian population. Russian administrators, by the mid-19 century, began programs to mold the Low German culture into the Russian form and therefore, the Mennonites once again began to seek a new home.

Meanwhile, another variety of Mennonites had already moved to North America. Swiss Mennonites had already moved to North America and by the mid-19th century were establishing new homes on the western frontier of the United States where great expanses of land were available for new farmers. South German and Swiss Mennonites began coming to North America in great numbers in the 18th century and by the mid-19th century they had established a westernmost outpost at Summerfield, Illinois. It was at this time that events began to unfold which connected these Swiss Mennonites in North America with the Low German Mennonites in Russia.

In 1872, four Low German Mennonite men from wealthy Molotschna Colony families began touring the USA. Eventually they stopped at Summerfield, Illinois, at the home of a particularly influential Swiss Mennonite leader named Christian Krehbiel. At the end of their tour, three of these friends returned to the Molotschna but the fourth, a wealthy young man named Bernhard Warkentin, stayed in Summerfield with Krehbiel.

Warkentin’s father was a miller back in his home village of Altonau, Molotschna, and the young Warkentin was particularly interested in the crops and the available cropland in North America. Warkentin was impressed by conditions in North America and what’s more, local American railroad companies began to court the wealthy young Mennonite. These railroad companies had been granted vast tracts of land in midwestern states and territories and they were, by the 1870s, seeking to sell this land to productive farmers. By the 1870s, the rail companies, as well as the American and Canadian governments, had heard of the agricultural skills of the Mennonites and they recognized the economic opportunity young Warkentin represented. Warkentin’s letters back to his home in Altonau told of this available land. His letters were duplicated and circulated throughout the colony and Molotschna Mennonite leaders began to consider a move to North America.

By the early 1870s some Molotschna leaders began to be quite concerned by the Russian government’s attempts at Russification. Specifically, they were concerned with the universal military conscription law which was set to take effect on 1 January 1874. This law would require young Mennonite men to participate in the military, a development which many Mennonite leaders found to be absolutely unacceptable. During the summer of 1873 Low German Mennonites sent 12 delegates to North America to look for acceptable places for new homes. Among the 12 leaders were Jacob Buller from the Molotschna, Leonard Suderman from Berdiansk, Tobias Unruh from Volhynia, and Wilhelm Ewert from Torun. Buller and Ewert stopped in Summerfield, Illinois, at the home of Christian Krehbiel, and traveled with Krehbiel and Warkentin to Kansas.

The Mennonite delegates toured areas from Texas to the Dakotas and even north to Winnipeg. Many different locations were considered but the influential Krehbiel was partial to Kansas.  Further, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad land agent brokering the land deal was a native German and gained the Mennonites’ trust by speaking their tongue. By late 1873, the wheels were in motion for a massive Low German migration to the midwestern United States and specifically to Kansas.

Beginning in late summer 1873, Low German Mennonites from Crimea, Molotschna, Berdiansk, Volhynia, Masovia, and Prussia, all began to emigrate. Their destinations were Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and particularly Kansas.

About 4,500 Mennonites arrived in USA by January 1875 with more than 65% coming to Kansas. A great many of these brought with them hard Turkey Red Wheat in the form of seed wheat.

In the meantime, young Bernard Warkentin in late 1873 had already moved from Christian Krehbiel’s home in Summerfield to Halstead, Kansas, where he built a small mill. He and Krehbiel, along with other North American Mennonite leaders, helped to facilitate the large migration from Europe. The new settlers in Kansas, to a large degree, settled on land sold to them by the AT & SF railroad. They settled in central Kansas, in Harvey, Marion, and McPherson Counties.

Thus, Bernard Warkentin was already settled in central Kansas, with a mill already in place when the large group of Mennonites arrived a year later. These Mennonites soon discovered that Red Turkey Wheat, native to the steppes of Crimea, would thrive in the environmental conditions found in Kansas.

Warkentin, who developed into a skilled entrepreneur, recognized the potential for economic gain. The immigrants themselves could not bring much seed wheat along with them during migration in 1874. However, in 1885, Warkentin imported a very large amount of seed Red Turkey Wheat for farmers to sow and thereafter, Kansas Mennonites planted increasing annual amounts of wheat.  It should be noted that before this point, Kansas farmers primarily grew corn. By 1885, Kansas farmers grew corn and wheat in roughly equal proportions.

In the year 1900, Warkentin imported roughly 15,000 bushels of seed Red Turkey Wheat and this turned the tide. By 1915 the typical Kansas Mennonite was raising 8 to 10 times more wheat than corn. Thus, hard winter wheat would soon dominate Kansas agriculture.

Here we see worldwide winter wheat production on the orange line and Kansas winter wheat production on the blue line. This chart represents the time period 1918 – 2019. We see here very clearly how worldwide wheat production reflects Kansas wheat production and this could largely be attributed to Low German Mennonites.

By 1920, Kansas farmers produced almost 150 million bushels of hard winter wheat. And throughout the first decades of the 20th century, the production steadily increased, producing an average of 40% of the world’s hard winter wheat to the mid-century mark. Until the 1940s, this was all due to the Red Turkey variety. After the mid-1940s, new hybrids began to take over but the astonishing growth of Kansas wheat production was due to the Red Turkey variety coupled with the Mennonites’ efforts.

__________________________________________

The most significant break through in the USA was the introduction of  “Red Turkey” in the 1870’s possibly from Turkey via the Crimea; it was well adapted to climate fluctuation in Kansas.

https://cornucopiaalchemy.wordpress.com/2023/06/07/cultivating-europe-history-of-wheat/

Rye and oats were the traditional grains. Before the Emancipation of the serfs in 1861 wheat was mainly grown on the demesnes of the landlords of the grain-surplus areas, and mainly for export abroad. But during the 20th century wheat progressively replaced rye as the principal grain crop.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_the_Russian_Empire#:~:text=Rye%20and%20oats%20were%20the,as%20the%20principal%20grain%20crop.

Cornelius Jansen stated that the Mennonites of the Molotschna produced nearly half a million bushels of wheat in 1855.

https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wheat

In 1874, Senator Windom of Minnesota urged Congress to promote the immigration of Mennonites to the prairie states to enable America to meet the competition of wheat shipments from Russia and Canada on the world market.

https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wheat

The state [Kansas] is known to be the best source of hard red wheat variety in the world market. (08-2023)

https://www.procurementresource.com/blog/wheat-producing-regions-in-the-usa

Kansas in 2023 produced ONE THIRD of the world's hard red winter wheat

https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/DataFiles/54282/Wheat%20Data-All%20Years.xlsx?v=5568

Maria Ratzlaff Penner Immigration Story

Maria Ratzlaff Penner (1898-1984; Mrs. Peter P Penner) was my dad's great aunt. She was also my step-great grandmother.  In 1981 she gave a talk at Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church, Inman, KS, in which she told about her recollections from her immigration trip to USA when she was a little girl. 

By 1981, Maria was in something of a unique position as by that date she was one of few Mennonites in the area who actually remembered coming to United States. And she is a very interesting link in that she remembered living in a housebarn in Volhynia. She remembered the storks building nests on top of the houses. She remembered the herdsman bringing the cattle back to the village in the evenings. She remembered all these things about village life in Ukraine and the audio of her remembrances, for that reason, is very important to Low German Mennonite culture. 

Maria's remembrances are told from the perspective of a 9-year-old girl at the turn of the 20th century. Obviously there are some things she says that are incorrect historically; she made the recording when she was 83 years old, a full 74 years after the childhood experience. As a child, she would have had limited knowledge about the events around her so we have to keep this in mind as we listen to her. Further, we need to remember that here in 2025, many perspectives in the world have changed and we need to take her in context. As you listen, don't let your 21st century sensibilities judge Maria. 

The Maria Ratzlaff Penner Immigration Story

Przechówko Cemetery Restoration

 The Lapidary Association. Forgotten Cemeteries of Pomerania and Kujawy, together with the Świecie Commune, invites you to a ceremony marking the completion of cleanup work at the Mennonite-Evangelical cemetery in Przechówko near Świecie. This is an opportunity to commemorate the people buried there and learn about the results of the work carried out since 2023 as part of the "Memory of Przechówko" project.

The ceremony will begin on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at 11:00 AM at the cemetery in Przechówko. The program includes:

• ecumenical prayer

• presentations by representatives of offices, institutions, and organizations supporting the cleanup work at the cemetery

• unveiling of a boulder with a commemorative plaque

• a tour of the cemetery with a presentation of the most important finds and results of the work – including unique tombstones with inscriptions from the 18th century. The event will be international in nature – Mennonites from around the world will participate, representing organizations such as the Doopsgezinde Historische Kring (Netherlands), the Mennonite Polish Studies Association (USA), and the Mennonitischer Arbeitskreis Polen (Germany). Descendants of those buried in the cemetery in the 17th and 18th centuries will also be present!

As a reminder, the Przechówko cemetery functioned as an active burial ground from the turn of the 16th/17th century until 1945. Mennonites belonging to the local religious community and Protestants associated with the parish in Świecie found their final resting place here. Numerous tombstones, the oldest of which date back to the first half of the 18th century, serve as reminders of their legacy. The cemetery plays a significant role in commemorating the thousands of Mennonites scattered throughout the world, all with roots in Przechówko and the surrounding area. It is also a unique place where you can see various forms of commemoration of the deceased – from graves made of fieldstones, through hewn boulders covered with carved inscriptions, to tombstones made at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Bydgoszcz stonemasonry workshops.

The "Memory Przechówko" project was implemented from 2023 to 2025 by the Świecie Commune and the Association of Lapidaries. Forgotten Cemeteries of Pomerania and Kujawy, with support from the Doopsgezinde Stiichting Nederland-Polen (Netherlands), the Mennonite Polish Studies Association (USA), the Mennonitischer Arbeitskreis Polen (Germany), and private donors from the USA.

Przechówko Cemetery Publicity

Various news sources in Poland are publishing information about the Przechówko cemetery restoration project.  These are a few examples:

https://extraswiecie.pl/wiadomosci/cmentarz-we-wsi-w-ktorej-nikt-juz-nie-mieszka/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFecqJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbhR_QAf_k95U_VS1SsxCdrKRimsV_x1vyjA2CjWrg6L9IhUYLqw6H89WQ_aem_ZpZcdXWkiSYfcTiZnIoqFQ

https://swiecie.eu/mennonici-z-usa-odwiedzili-mennonicko-ewangelicki-cmentarz-w-przechowku/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5MMdPUVZIE

https://bydgoszcz.eska.pl/dbaja-o-cmentarz-mennonicki-sprzed-potopu-szwedzkiego-w-kujawsko-pomorskiej-wsi-ktora-istnieje-tylko-z-nazwy-aa-BpXg-XLGp-bqQb.html#iiixso900gjf5h4igxa2nahf75sus1evh

https://www.facebook.com/ZPKnDW

https://parki.kujawsko-pomorskie.pl/zpkndw?fbclid=IwY2xjawK5FLNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5dWo1aXZ6WnJBMmJXTjkxAR5LryzgeAOB5udWcxlYN4nM69gvuFfk6oHM3RewaJvhHQabCrrZa14IHT7nUg_aem_dzOMwf-07xo40Yy-rKcVDw