View source for Lange, Wilhelm (ca. 1764-1840)

Wilhelm Lange, outstanding elder of the Mennonite Church at [[Brenkenhoffswalde and Franztal (Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland)|Brenkenhoffswalde]] and [[Gnadenfeld (Molotschna Mennonite settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Gnadenfeld]], was a Lutheran from the Wartebruch near Landsberg, and came to Brenkenhoffswalde in 1790 (1788). Soon he was received into the Mennonite Church, and was elected minister in 1802 and elder in 1810 (1812). He was a very popular and successful minister, through whose efforts many non-Mennonites joined the congregation, including such names as Lenzmann, Klatt, and Johann Lange. Through him the congregation was in close touch with the [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] of the community, who influenced the Mennonites strongly.

Lange was a leader of the emigration from the Neumark to Russia in 1834. He obtained special permission from [[Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796-1855)|Tsar Nicholas I ]]for 40 families to settle at the [[Molotschna Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Molotschna]], South [[Russia|Russia]], where they established the [[Gnadenfeld (Molotschna Mennonite settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Gnadenfeld settlement]] and congregation. Here he died in 1840 at the age of 76.

Wilhelm Lange's correspondence, dating back to the time of the immigration to Russia, presents a picture of the religious and cultural life of that day. (Found in [[Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas, USA) |Mennonite Library and Archives]], Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas)
= Bibliography =
Friesen, Peter M. <em>Die Alt-Evangelische Mennonitische Brüderschaft in Russland (1789-1910) im Rahmen der mennonitischen Gesamtgeschichte</em>. Halbstadt: Verlagsgesellschaft "Raduga", 1911: 80 f.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 617.

Unruh, Benjamin H. "Die Mennoniten in der Neumark." <em>Mennonitischer Gemeinde-Kalender</em> (1941).
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