Einsiedel (Lviv Oblast, Ukraine)

Einsiedel, a village 18 miles (30 km) south of Lemberg (now Lviv) in Galicia, formerly a Mennonite settlement and the seat of a Mennonite congregation, was organized in 1786 after Joseph II of Austria had invited German settlers to Galicia. The settlement was named after Count von Einsiedel. The original settlement consisted of 20 farms of about 33, 41, or 50 acres of land each. The village was located on a hill on both sides of a wide street in a very regular pattern. Eighteen of the farms were given over to Mennonites, of whom three settler families were Amish, the other two to families (Schmalenberger and Schweitzer) related to them. They soon built a school (1816), which also served as a church and was for a century the chief meeting place of the Galician Mennonites. In 1786 Jakob Müller, Jr., was elder of this congregation, and Jacob Müller, Sr., was preacher. In 1799 Johann Müller succeeded to the eldership.

At the turn of the century half of the Mennonite settlers went on to Russia to the region of Dubno, Volhynia. In order to secure permission to emigrate the families had to turn their farms over to other families just as they had received them, and repay all the expenses of the government in their behalf, namely four guilders per person for traveling expenses and approximately 50 guilders for maintenance which they had received in Galicia before their farms were given them. In 1790, 1859, and 1860 the congregation received financial support from Holland (Hoop Scheffer). The following families remained in Einsiedel: Hubin (also von Howen or Huwen), Müller, Brubacher, Kintzi, Linscheid, Rupp, Merk, and Klein. Gradually other families from the two neighboring villages moved in, namely, Bachmann, Bergtholdt, and Ewy.

In 1860 Johannes van der Smissen signed his name as minister of the congregation of "Einsiedel and Horozanna" in a letter he wrote to Amsterdam. There were 13 Mennonite families living in Einsiedel at that time, most of them leasing or purchasing larger estates through the efforts of Peter Müller . Some immigrated to America in the 1880s. In 1892 there was only one Mennonite family left in Einsiedel. The name Einsiedel was transplanted to America and was used by the Hanston (Kansas) Mennonite Church (General Conference Mennonite) until 1952.

Bibliography

Peter Bachmann. Mennoniten in Kleinpolen, 1784-1934: Gedenkbuch zur Erinnerung an die Einwanderung der Mennoniten nach Kleinpolen (Galizien) vor 150 Jahren. Lemberg: Verlag der Lemberger Mennonitengemeinde in Lemberg, 1934: 133-156.

Church records of Einsiedel.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 547 f.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam, 2 vols. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: v. II, Nos. 2685-2688.

Kaindl, Raimund Friedrich. Geschichte der Deutschen in den Karpathenländern: III. Gotha, 1911.

Author(s)	H Pauls
Date Published	1956

Cite This Article

MLA style

Pauls, H. "Einsiedel (Lviv Oblast, Ukraine)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Einsiedel_(Lviv_Oblast,_Ukraine)&oldid=144984.

APA style

Pauls, H. (1956). Einsiedel (Lviv Oblast, Ukraine). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Einsiedel_(Lviv_Oblast,_Ukraine)&oldid=144984.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 173-174. All rights reserved.

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