Schwetzer Niederung (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland)
Schwetzer Niederung (Lowlands near Schwetz), a district (starostei) on the Vistula in West Prussia, until 1772 belonging to Poland. Dutch colonists reclaimed this swampy area in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the Schwetzer Niederung were found the villages of Deutsch-Westfalen, Brattwin, Schönau, Kleinsee (Jeziorka), Neunhuben, Przechovka, Christfelde, and Kossovo. Przechovka was the first Mennonite settlement (ca. 1540). About 1650 there was a considerable number of Mennonites in all these villages, and some villages were completely Mennonite. Until the early 18th century the Mennonites enjoyed many privileges such as the freedom to organize their own schools, and exemption from military taxes and quartering soldiers. By their able land-draining and their skillful farming the Schwetzer Niederung became very prosperous, but repeated floods, exploitation by the rulers and officials, and restrictive economic regulations caused the Mennonites to move away from 1765 to 1850 (to Brenkenhoffswalde and Deutsch-Wymysle); by 1850 all the Mennonites had left this area.
Bibliography
Szper, Felicia. Nederlandsche Nederzettingen in West-Pruisen gedurende den Poolschen tijd. Enkhuizen, 1918: 140-46.
Wiebe, Herbert. Das Siedlungswerh niederländischer Mennoniten im Weichseltal zwischen Fordon und Weissenberg bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts. Marburg, 1952: 29-31.
Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
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Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Schwetzer Niederung (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schwetzer_Niederung_(Kuyavian-Pomeranian_Voivodeship,_Poland)&oldid=127188.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Schwetzer Niederung (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schwetzer_Niederung_(Kuyavian-Pomeranian_Voivodeship,_Poland)&oldid=127188.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 489. All rights reserved.
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