Danzig (Poland) - Revision history

RichardThiessen: /* Church records */

2026-04-14T16:11:10Z

Church records

RichardThiessen: /* Membership statistics */

2026-04-14T16:10:43Z

Membership statistics

RichardThiessen: Updated information about the Danzig Mennonite Church building.

2025-06-15T15:07:18Z

Updated information about the Danzig Mennonite Church building.

RichardThiessen at 07:25, 31 January 2020

2020-01-31T07:25:13Z

SamSteiner: corrected typo

2018-08-22T17:09:46Z

corrected typo

SamSteiner at 14:58, 21 August 2018

2018-08-21T14:58:36Z

SamSteiner at 14:55, 21 August 2018

2018-08-21T14:55:46Z

Show changes

SamSteiner at 13:26, 21 August 2018

2018-08-21T13:26:23Z

RichardThiessen: Added categories.

2014-09-10T07:52:54Z

Added categories.

RichardThiessen: Clarified table.

2014-06-08T21:36:21Z

Clarified table.

@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
 The Danzig church in the 19th and early 20th centuries maintained an extensive archive. Most of this material was destroyed at the end of World War II, but several items were rescued by Mennonite relief workers from North America and taken there in the late 1940s. The earliest item to survive is a Flemish record book containing baptisms 1667-1800, marriages 1665-1808, births 1789-1809, deaths 1667-1807, list of preachers and elders 1598-1807 (showing Dirk Philips as the first elder). There is also a two-volume family record book of the Flemish congregation begun in 1789. These books were housed at the [[Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Mennonite Library and Archives]] (Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas) from 1947 until 2009, and were then transferred to the [[Mennonitische Forschungsstelle (Göttingen, Niedersachsen, Germany)|Mennonitische Forschungsstelle]] in [[Weierhof (Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany)|Weierhof]]. A variety of other fragmentary and disparate scattered records are still housed at [[Bethel College (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Bethel College]]. No known records of the Frisian congregation have survived.
-Bibliography:
+=Bibliography=
 Epp, Waldemar. “Zur Kulturgeschichte Danzigs: Aus der Zeit der Reformation und des Dreißigjährigen Krieges,” ''Mennonitische Geschichtsblätter'' 40 (1983): 46-58.

@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 =Membership statistics=
-The number of Mennonites in Danzig is difficult to determine for much of its history. A list from about 1660 counted about 47 heads of families, but probably does not include all families living in the immediate area of the city. A 1681 list had about 114 families. Hermann G. Mannhardt in his history thought that membership was the highest during the years 1690-1750 (although in his own era in the 20th century it was probably higher). During the 1709 plague, 160 adults and 230 children died in the Flemish group. In 1749 the Flemish elder [[Steen, Hans von (1705-1781)|Hans von Steen]] listed 240 households (excluding rural dwellers). At the 1808 merger of the Frisians and Flemish, the Frisians numbered 166 and the Flemish ca. 700. Surviving statistics from the 19th century are: 1831, 635 members; 1852, 410; 1882, 448 plus 210 children; 1900, 735. Membership numbers increased rapidly in the 20th century, passing 1000 in 1905, and 1200 in 1911 and 1921. Mannhardt recorded that the 250 men who served in the military in World War I made up almost half the baptized membership. In 1940 (the last surviving statistic), there were 1020 members and 173 children.
+The number of Mennonites in Danzig is difficult to determine for much of its history. A list from about 1660 counted about 47 heads of families, but probably does not include all families living in the immediate area of the city. A 1681 list had about 114 families. Hermann G. Mannhardt in his history thought that membership was the highest during the years 1690-1750 (although in his own era in the 20th century it was probably higher). During the 1709 plague, 160 adults and 230 children died in the Flemish group. In 1749 the Flemish elder [[Steen, Hans von (1705-1781)|Hans von Steen]] listed 240 households (excluding rural dwellers). At the 1808 merger of the Frisians and Flemish, the Frisians numbered 166 and the Flemish ca. 700. Surviving statistics from the 19th century are: 1831, 635 members; 1852, 410; 1882, 448 plus 210 children; 1900, 735. Membership numbers increased rapidly in the 20th century, passing 1,000 in 1905, and 1,200 in 1911 and 1921. Mannhardt recorded that the 250 men who served in the military in World War I made up almost half the baptized membership. In 1940 (the last surviving statistic), there were 1,020 members and 173 children.
 =Church records=

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 With much Mennonite residence and business activity concentrated in areas immediately outside the city walls, they received repeated setbacks and economic damage with frequent military conflicts during the 16th-18th centuries, which often led to destruction of buildings outside the city walls during sieges of the city. Conflicts included the First Northern War or Seven Years War of the North (1563-1570), the Second Northern War (1655-1660, known as the  “Deluge” in Polish memory), the Great Northern War (1700-1721), the War of Polish Succession (1733-1736), and the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century.
-The Flemish church building and alms house were destroyed in the Russian siege of 1734. The Frisian building was remodeled in 1788 and an organ was added. The Flemish also remodeled in 1805-1806 and added an organ against significant opposition. A hand written organ chorale book survives from this time (now at the [[Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Mennonite Library and Archives]], [[Bethel College (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Bethel College]], [[North Newton (Kansas, USA)|North Newton]], [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]]). The Frisian building was destroyed during the French siege of 1806 and both groups then merged on 22 May 1808, and used the Flemish building until it too was destroyed in 1813. At the time of the merger the Frisians numbered 166 members and the Flemish around 700. The united congregation dedicated a new building at a new location on 12 September 1819. This building still stands in 2020.
+The Flemish church building and alms house were destroyed in the Russian siege of 1734. The Frisian building was remodeled in 1788 and an organ was added. The Flemish also remodeled in 1805-1806 and added an organ against significant opposition. A hand written organ chorale book survives from this time (now at the [[Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Mennonite Library and Archives]], [[Bethel College (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Bethel College]], [[North Newton (Kansas, USA)|North Newton]], [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]]). The Frisian building was destroyed during the French siege of 1806 and both groups then merged on 22 May 1808, and used the Flemish building until it too was destroyed in 1813. At the time of the merger the Frisians numbered 166 members and the Flemish around 700. The united congregation dedicated a new building at a new location on 12 September 1819.
 Despite the relatively low level of persecution of Mennonites in the Danzig region, for most of their centuries of residence there they were second-class inhabitants and were subject to petty harassment. It seems likely that many of the attacks on them were not intended to be seriously carried out but were more along the order of rhetorical displays or political ploys in conflicts that did not have directly to do with the Mennonites. In many cases, these attacks were deflected by bribery; Mennonites paid “donations” or “loans” and were then left alone until the next time that a more powerful party thought they could extract more money.
@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 The Danzig Mennonite church building survived World War II, in contrast to much of the rest of the city. In 1947 the Polish Communist government granted permission to a Pentecostal congregation to use the building and nearby parsonage. Restoration of the buildings lasted until 1958 because of government delays. In the immediate post-war years, the North American [[Mennonite Central Committee (International)|Mennonite Central Committee]] had a relief program in the area, and the “seagoing cowboy” program brought livestock by ship into the area to aid the revival of agriculture. Both of these programs brought North American Mennonites to Danzig and the Vistula Delta, who visited various Mennonite sites such as the Danzig building.
-In 1972 the Pentecostal congregation obtained actual legal ownership of the building. In 1989 they took formal ownership of the parsonage and in 2003 the care home. The large, active congregation continued in 2018 to use the 200-year-old former Mennonite building as one of their meeting places in Gdańsk.
+In 1972 the Pentecostal congregation obtained actual legal ownership of the building. In 1989 they took formal ownership of the parsonage and in 2003 the care home. The large, active congregation continued up to 2025 to use the 200-year-old former Mennonite building as one of their meeting places in Gdańsk. In 2025 plans were under way to restore the building to its original design and for it to become the home of a local musical organization.
 =Membership statistics=
@@ Line 98: / Line 98: @@
 The Danzig church in the 19th and early 20th centuries maintained an extensive archive. Most of this material was destroyed at the end of World War II, but several items were rescued by Mennonite relief workers from North America and taken there in the late 1940s. The earliest item to survive is a Flemish record book containing baptisms 1667-1800, marriages 1665-1808, births 1789-1809, deaths 1667-1807, list of preachers and elders 1598-1807 (showing Dirk Philips as the first elder). There is also a two-volume family record book of the Flemish congregation begun in 1789. These books were housed at the [[Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Mennonite Library and Archives]] (Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas) from 1947 until 2009, and were then transferred to the [[Mennonitische Forschungsstelle (Göttingen, Niedersachsen, Germany)|Mennonitische Forschungsstelle]] in [[Weierhof (Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany)|Weierhof]]. A variety of other fragmentary and disparate scattered records are still housed at [[Bethel College (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Bethel College]]. No known records of the Frisian congregation have survived.
 Bibliography:
 Epp, Waldemar. “Zur Kulturgeschichte Danzigs: Aus der Zeit der Reformation und des Dreißigjährigen Krieges,” ''Mennonitische Geschichtsblätter'' 40 (1983): 46-58.
@@ Line 284: / Line 282: @@
 ==Bibliography of Original Article==
 Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 390.
-{{GAMEO_footer|hp=|date=August 2018|a1_last=Thiesen|a1_first=John D|a2_last=|a2_first=}}
+{{GAMEO_footer|hp=|date=June 2025|a1_last=Thiesen|a1_first=John D|a2_last=|a2_first=}}
 [[Category:Places]]
 [[Category:Cities, Towns, and Villages]]
 [[Category:Cities, Towns, and Villages in Poland]]

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 With much Mennonite residence and business activity concentrated in areas immediately outside the city walls, they received repeated setbacks and economic damage with frequent military conflicts during the 16th-18th centuries, which often led to destruction of buildings outside the city walls during sieges of the city. Conflicts included the First Northern War or Seven Years War of the North (1563-1570), the Second Northern War (1655-1660, known as the  “Deluge” in Polish memory), the Great Northern War (1700-1721), the War of Polish Succession (1733-1736), and the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century.
-The Flemish church building and alms house were destroyed in the Russian siege of 1734. The Frisian building was remodeled in 1788 and an organ was added. The Flemish also remodeled in 1805-1806 and added an organ against significant opposition. A hand written organ chorale book survives from this time (now at the [[Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Mennonite Library and Archives]], [[Bethel College (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Bethel College]], [[North Newton (Kansas, USA)|North Newton]], [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]]). The Frisian building was destroyed during the French siege of 1806 and both groups then merged on 22 May 1808, and used the Flemish building until it too was destroyed in 1813. At the time of the merger the Frisians numbered 166 members and the Flemish around 700. The united congregation dedicated a new building at a new location on 12 September 1819. This building still stands in 2018.
+The Flemish church building and alms house were destroyed in the Russian siege of 1734. The Frisian building was remodeled in 1788 and an organ was added. The Flemish also remodeled in 1805-1806 and added an organ against significant opposition. A hand written organ chorale book survives from this time (now at the [[Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Mennonite Library and Archives]], [[Bethel College (North Newton, Kansas, USA)|Bethel College]], [[North Newton (Kansas, USA)|North Newton]], [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]]). The Frisian building was destroyed during the French siege of 1806 and both groups then merged on 22 May 1808, and used the Flemish building until it too was destroyed in 1813. At the time of the merger the Frisians numbered 166 members and the Flemish around 700. The united congregation dedicated a new building at a new location on 12 September 1819. This building still stands in 2020.
 Despite the relatively low level of persecution of Mennonites in the Danzig region, for most of their centuries of residence there they were second-class inhabitants and were subject to petty harassment. It seems likely that many of the attacks on them were not intended to be seriously carried out but were more along the order of rhetorical displays or political ploys in conflicts that did not have directly to do with the Mennonites. In many cases, these attacks were deflected by bribery; Mennonites paid “donations” or “loans” and were then left alone until the next time that a more powerful party thought they could extract more money.

@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 =Membership statistics=
-The number of Mennonites in Danzig is difficult to determine for much of its history. A list from about 1660 counted about 47 heads of families, but probably does not include all families living in the immediate area of the city. A 1681 list had about 114 families. Hermann G. Mannhardt is his history thought that membership was the highest during the years 1690-1750 (although in his own era in the 20th century it was probably higher). During the 1709 plague, 160 adults and 230 children died in the Flemish group. In 1749 the Flemish elder [[Steen, Hans von (1705-1781)|Hans von Steen]] listed 240 households (excluding rural dwellers). At the 1808 merger of the Frisians and Flemish, the Frisians numbered 166 and the Flemish ca. 700. Surviving statistics from the 19th century are: 1831, 635 members; 1852, 410; 1882, 448 plus 210 children; 1900, 735. Membership numbers increased rapidly in the 20th century, passing 1000 in 1905, and 1200 in 1911 and 1921. Mannhardt recorded that the 250 men who served in the military in World War I made up almost half the baptized membership. In 1940 (the last surviving statistic), there were 1020 members and 173 children.
+The number of Mennonites in Danzig is difficult to determine for much of its history. A list from about 1660 counted about 47 heads of families, but probably does not include all families living in the immediate area of the city. A 1681 list had about 114 families. Hermann G. Mannhardt in his history thought that membership was the highest during the years 1690-1750 (although in his own era in the 20th century it was probably higher). During the 1709 plague, 160 adults and 230 children died in the Flemish group. In 1749 the Flemish elder [[Steen, Hans von (1705-1781)|Hans von Steen]] listed 240 households (excluding rural dwellers). At the 1808 merger of the Frisians and Flemish, the Frisians numbered 166 and the Flemish ca. 700. Surviving statistics from the 19th century are: 1831, 635 members; 1852, 410; 1882, 448 plus 210 children; 1900, 735. Membership numbers increased rapidly in the 20th century, passing 1000 in 1905, and 1200 in 1911 and 1921. Mannhardt recorded that the 250 men who served in the military in World War I made up almost half the baptized membership. In 1940 (the last surviving statistic), there were 1020 members and 173 children.
 =Church records=

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 =Congregational life in the 17th and 18th centuries=
+[[File:gdansk_mennonici_02_137.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''Danzig Mennonite Church and Parsonage, ca. 1890.<br />
 With much Mennonite residence and business activity concentrated in areas immediately outside the city walls, they received repeated setbacks and economic damage with frequent military conflicts during the 16th-18th centuries, which often led to destruction of buildings outside the city walls during sieges of the city. Conflicts included the First Northern War or Seven Years War of the North (1563-1570), the Second Northern War (1655-1660, known as the  “Deluge” in Polish memory), the Great Northern War (1700-1721), the War of Polish Succession (1733-1736), and the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century.

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← Older revision		Revision as of 07:52, 10 September 2014
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	Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em> Mennonitisches Lexikon</em>, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 390.		Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em> Mennonitisches Lexikon</em>, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 390.
	{{GAMEO_footer\|hp=Vol 2, p. 7\|date=1957\|a1_last=Hege\|a1_first=Christian\|a2_last=Bender\|a2_first=Harold S.}}		{{GAMEO_footer\|hp=Vol 2, p. 7\|date=1957\|a1_last=Hege\|a1_first=Christian\|a2_last=Bender\|a2_first=Harold S.}}
		+	[[Category:Places]]
		+	[[Category:Cities, Towns, and Villages]]
		+	[[Category:Cities, Towns, and Villages in Poland]]

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 !1880
 !1890
-! 1900
+!1900
 !1910
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 |403
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+|Danzig-Lowlands / Danzig Heights
 |544
 |428
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 |73
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+|Dirschau / Stargard
 |52
 |69
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 |161
 |-
+|Neustadt / Putzig
+|
+|