Johann Bartsch (Mennonite)

Johann Bartsch (born September 6, 1757 in Danzig , West Prussia ; † December 16, 1821 in Rosenthal in the Chortitza colony , Russian Empire ) was one of the delegates who, together with Jakob Höppner , looked for new settlement areas in Russia on behalf of the West Prussian Mennonites . They carried out their task under difficult circumstances.

Life

The situation of the Mennonites in West Prussia had deteriorated considerably. In the course of the first partition of Poland in 1772, their settlement areas fell to Prussia . In several edicts they were forbidden to acquire land and further restrictions were imposed. As early as July 22, 1763, Tsarina Katharina the Great, of German descent, issued a manifesto promising new settlers freedom of land and religion. In 1786 the envoy Georg von Trappe invited the Mennonites on behalf of the Tsarina to settle in southern Russia. Then Johann Bartsch and Jakob Höppner were sent to look for new settlement areas for the Mennonites willing to emigrate. Before she left, there were difficulties with the Danzig Council, which wanted to prevent the emigration. Nevertheless, Bartsch and Höppner traveled to Russia as envoy of the Russian government, where they also met Prince Potemkin and the Tsarina personally. They decided on a fertile settlement area near Berislaw.

At her instigation, 228 poor families emigrated in horse carts, and later also on barges, on an arduous journey to southern Russia (today's Ukraine) in 1789. But instead of getting their original settlement area, Prince Potemkin, after whom the term Potemkin villages was named, ordered the Mennonites to settle on the island of Khortytsia on the Dnieper River . This area was owned by the prince and personal motives for it can be assumed. In any case, this area was no comparison to the promised land, whereupon the resentment of her fellow travelers against Bartsch and Höppner discharged.

In the first year the new settlers lived in burrows due to the bad circumstances, while in the second year they were able to build houses. Bartsch and Höppner were very busy with the administrative management of the colony, which also included settling disputes, so that they made hardly any progress with the building of houses. Johann Bartsch settled in the village of Rosenthal, which today belongs to the city of Saporoshje . Bartsch and Höppner received little thanks for their efforts. Again and again they had to put up with criticism. Even later, after the death of Catherine the Great, Bartsch renegotiated with the new Tsar Paul about the rights of the Mennonites in Russia. When Johann Bartsch died, a memorial , a marble obelisk , was erected in Rosenthal in his honor . This memorial is now in the Mennonite Open Air Museum Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Canada .

Web links

• Eastern settlement of the Mennonites
• Biography of Johann Bartsch (English)