Schmiedehaus, Walter (1901-1990)
Walter Schmiedehaus was a legal representative for, and chronicler of, and longtime friend to the Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico.
Schmiedehaus was born in Germany on 28 August 1901. In 1920 he moved to the state of Chihuahua in Mexico where he operated a pharmacy and was involved in the banking industry, working for Chihuahua bankers like David Russek and P.E. Melendez who offered their services to the new Mennonite immigrants. He married the American Irene McMaster on 23 June 1926 in Texas and the couple spent several years living in El Paso. In 1932 the Schmiedehaus family moved full-time to Mexico and from 1936 to 1966 Schmiedehaus served as the German consul to the state of Chihuahua.
In 1923 Schmiedehaus witnessed a trainload of Old Colony Mennonite immigrants arrive at the Cuauhtémoc rail station. He very quickly became their advocate and friend. Isaak Dyck recalls Schmiedehaus personally visiting every house in Rosenfeld in the Manitoba Colony only a few months after its founding. The Old Colony Mennonites granted him Power of Attorney to represent them in their 1924-25 dispute with the agraristas, local farmers who had occupied and claimed the same land the Mennonites had purchased from the Zuloaga estate. With his help in securing the goodwill of the Mexican government and the Zuloaga family, the Mennonites successfully resolved their conflict with the agraristas in 1925.
Schmiedehaus continued to act as a benefactor to and advocate for the Mennonites. His facility with Spanish and knowledge of Mexican law proved a great asset to the Mennonites on numerous occasions and he assisted them in many negotiations. In the mid 1950s he supplied hundreds of school books via his contact with the German embassy in Mexico. Isaak Dyck remembers Schmiedehaus as an amiable man, but businesslike and to the point.
Schmiedehaus also became a chronicler of the Old Colony experience in Mexico, positively portraying them in many articles and, most notably, in his 1948 book Eine Feste Burg ist unser Gott: Der Wanderweg eines Christlichen Siedlervolkes, revised and republished in 1982 under the title Die Altkolonier Mennoniten and translated into English in 2021. The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico republished Eine Fest Burg is unser Gott in 2021, evidence of its standing in their self-articulation and of Schmiedehaus’s enduring legacy among them.
Some scholars have critically noted Schmiedehaus’s ties to Nazi Germany. Schmiedehaus joined the Nazi party on 1 April 1936, presumably when he was made German consul. He appears, in addition, to have had at least some role in spreading Nazi propaganda; American Intelligence believed him to be one of the most active Nazis in the state of Chihuahua. The extent of his activities in pursuance of Nazi agendas and the extent of any impact these activities may have had upon the Mennonites of Mexico is unclear.
Walter Schmiedehaus died on 30 December 1990 in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, México. He spent his final years with his Mennonite friends, living in the home for the aged in the Manitoba Colony.
See Also
Bibliography
1930 U.S. Census, El Paso, Texas. Populations schedule. Enumeration District no. 71-59, Supervisor's District no. 20, Sheet no. 6-A. Dwelling no. 68, Family no. 144, Walter and Irene Schmiedehaus.
Goossen, Benjamin W. “Mennonites in Latin America: A Review of the Literature.” The Conrad Grebel Review 34, no. 3 (Fall 2016): 236-265.
Kouwenhoven, Arlette. The Fehrs: Four Centuries of Mennonite Migration, translated by Lesley Fast and Kerry Fast. Leiden: Winco, 2013. Pp. 185-187.
Loewen, Royden. Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 44-45.
Quiring, David M. Mennonite Old Colony Vision: Under Seige in Mexico and the Canadian Connection. Crossway Publications, 2003.
Sawatzky, Harry L. They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico. University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 61-62, 70, 125-126.
Schmiedehaus, Walter. “Der Verfasser.” In Die Altkolonier-Mennoniten in Mexiko, by Walter Schmiedehaus. CMBC Publications, 1982.
Schmiedehaus, Walter. Ein feste Burge ist unser Gott: Die Altkolonier-Mennoniten in Mexiko. Museo y Centro Cultural Menonita, A.C., 2021.
Schmiedehaus, Walter. “Mennonite Life in Mexico.” Mennonite Life 2, no. 2 (April 1947): 29-38.
Schmiedehaus, Walter. The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico, translated by Erwin Jost and edited by Glenn Penner. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 2021.
Schmiedehaus, W. Trent. Email Correspondence with Conrad Stoesz. 5 November 2021 — 1 March 2022.
Thiessen, John D. Mennonite and Nazi? Attitudes among Mennonite Colonists in Latin America. Pandora Press, 1999. Pp. 43-46.
Unlisted. “Contributors in this Issue: Walter Schmiedehaus.” Mennonite Life 2, no. 2 (April 1947): 2.
| Author(s) | Gerald Ens |
|---|---|
| Conrad Stoesz | |
| Date Published | 2025 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Ens, Gerald and Conrad Stoesz. "Schmiedehaus, Walter (1901-1990)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 2025. Web. 1 Feb 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schmiedehaus,_Walter_(1901-1990)&oldid=180408.
APA style
Ens, Gerald and Conrad Stoesz. (2025). Schmiedehaus, Walter (1901-1990). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 1 February 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schmiedehaus,_Walter_(1901-1990)&oldid=180408.
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