Neuneich Amish Mennonite congregation (Sundgau, Alsace, France)
Neuneich was an Amish Mennonite congregation in the Sundgau in southern Alsace on the Swiss border. It was named after a farm by this name near Ligsdorf in the Glaserberg area (now reverted to forest) a few miles from Lucalle (Lützel), about 12 miles (20 km) from Basel. The congregation was in existence in 1779 when its elder, Peter Kaufmann, represented it at the Amish conference at Essingen, Palatinate. It is probable that the later congregations of Lucelle and Basel-Binningen, later called Holée, formed at the end of the 18th century, are descendants of this congregation, and that Birkenhof is the direct descendant. Pierre Sommer believes that the Neuneich area, which lies in the remote northern part of the Jura Mountain chain, where the summits reach 2,000-2,500 ft., was a place of refuge for Anabaptists in the mid-16th century, but there is no documentary evidence for this. Where the families of this area came from is also not known, possibly in part from the Jura area further south and east, possibly from the Markirch, Alsace, area from which the Mennonites were expelled in 1710. It is also possible that they came from the Montbeliard area after 1740, when the Mennonites were again tolerated in French territory about the time when the Florimont (Normanvillars) settlement was made. Two Peter Kaufmanns living in the latter area in 1791 (Gratz, 91) may have been relatives of the Peter Kaufmann, elder of Neuneich in 1779, who died at Hirtzbach in 1797. Since the Amish of these areas moved frequently as necessary to find farms to rent, and since they had no meetinghouses in the 18th century, it is difficult to determine congregational identities or boundaries. Neuneich was, however, for a time a main meeting place of the Amish families in this general area.
Bibliography
Gratz, Delbert. "Normanvillars," in Bernese Anabaptists. Scottdale, PA, 1953: 89-95.
Sommer, Pierre. "Assemblée de Birkenhof (Neuneich)." Christ Seul (February 1933): 4 f.
Sommer, Pierre. "Assemblée de Bale (Holée)." Christ Seul (April 1933): 4-6.
| Author(s) | Harold S Bender |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bender, Harold S. "Neuneich Amish Mennonite congregation (Sundgau, Alsace, France)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 23 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Neuneich_Amish_Mennonite_congregation_(Sundgau,_Alsace,_France)&oldid=76213.
APA style
Bender, Harold S. (1957). Neuneich Amish Mennonite congregation (Sundgau, Alsace, France). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Neuneich_Amish_Mennonite_congregation_(Sundgau,_Alsace,_France)&oldid=76213.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 856. All rights reserved.
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