View source for Meurthe-et-Moselle (Lorraine, France)

Meurthe et Moselle, a departement in northeastern France, in the former province of Lorraine, composed of parts of the two departements Meurthe and Moselle, after the rest had been ceded to Germany in 1871. Two Mennonite churches in this area, [[Repaix (Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France)|Repaix]] and Luneville-[[Dieuze (Lorraine, France)|Dieuze]], were thereby divided into two groups, but continued to have their meetings on both sides of the new border, the former until it was dissolved and the latter until [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]].

The Mennonites of Meurthe-et-Moselle are descendants of refugees from Switzerland who settled in [[Alsace (France)|Alsace]] and were driven out by [[Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715)|Louis XIV]]. In the east-central part of Lorraine, later the departement of Meurthe, they formed the "Welschland" congregation, and in the northeastern part, later called the departement of Moselle, the German-Lorraine (Deutsch-Lothringen) congregation. The former congregation extended farther and farther westward. Families from Salm and Le Hang in southeastern Lorraine were added, thus forming congregations throughout the southern part of Meurthe et Moselle. Living scattered among the French-speaking Catholic population had a disintegrating effect, so that some of these congregations could not maintain themselves. In 1939 <em>[[Christ Seul (Periodical)|Christ Seul]]</em>, the official church organ, was sent free of charge as a means of evangelization to all known Mennonite addresses in this area, a total of 155. Many of these families had no connections with an organized congregation. In 1939 three small congregations were still in existence: [[Baccarat (Lorraine, France)|Baccarat]], many of whose members lived in the adjoining departement of Vosges, Lune-ville-Repaix, and [[Toul (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France)|Toul]], which also extended into the departement of Meuse. In 1955 the membership, including children, of these three congregations was 220.
= Bibliography =
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 119.
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