View source for Köhn, Peter (b. ca. 1873)

Peter Köhn, a Mennonite minister, was born at Waldheim near [[Gnadenfeld (Molotschna Mennonite settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Gnadenfeld]] in the [[Molotschna Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Molotschna settlement]] in the [[Ukraine|Ukraine]], [[Russia|Russia]]. He was educated at St. Chrischona in [[Basel (Switzerland)|Basel]], [[Switzerland|Switzerland]]. About 1903, at the age of about 30, he was called as minister to the new [[Mennonite Brethren Church|Mennonite Brethren]] congregation at [[Alexandertal Mennonite Settlement (Samara Oblast, Russia)|Alexandertal]], in the province of [[Samara Oblast (Russia)|Samara]] (later called Kuibyshev), which had a meetinghouse in [[Mariental (Samara Oblast, Russia)|Mariental]], to help the congregation over some difficulties. Peter Köhn soon saw that it could not survive as a Mennonite Brethren congregation, and therefore tried to make an <em>[[Allianz Gemeinden|Allianz-Gemeinde]]</em> of it. In this change the principle of rebaptism was sacrificed, so that members of the [[Kirchliche Mennoniten|Mennonite Church]] could join it. Köhn was a highly esteemed preacher, and was invited to preach in many Mennonite churches. Since the small Mennonite Brethren congregation was unable to support him, he returned to Waldheim after four years of fruitful service. Nothing is known of his further life, except that in 1936 he wrote a letter to Bernhard Harder in [[Germany|Germany]], requesting an artificial leg to replace one he had lost in an accident.
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