Kronsthal (Chortitza Mennonite settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)
Kronsthal was a Mennonite village in the Chortitza settlement in the province of Ekaterinoslav, South Russia. When the original Chortitza settlement was founded in 1789-1802, the government purchased an adjacent area of 5,400 acres to be added to it. On this land the village Kronstal was settled in 1809, and at the west end of Kronstal a sister village, Neu-Osterwick, was settled in 1812. The first 12 farmers came from Kronsweide and Rosental. In addition to agriculture the villagers engaged in wagon building and cabinet making, for which there was a good demand. In the first decades crop failures and diseases of the cattle made progress difficult. But gradually the village achieved prosperity, especially in the two decades before World War I. During the Revolution, and especially from 21 September to 31 December 1919, Kronstal suffered just as severely as the other villages at the hands of the Makhno robber bands. Most of the stables were robbed of the last colt and the last cow. The Mennonite population at this time was 460. The typhus epidemic brought by the Makhno bands attacked 406 persons between November and the following April; 66 died; only 80 did not contract the disease. Two persons were murdered, four died of starvation (1922). By 1 January 1927 a total of 151 Mennonites had immigrated to Canada from here. In 1929-1941, 70 persons were exiled, and during the outbreak of the war between Germany and Russia (1941) 21 were evacuated eastward. Those remaining were evacuated to Germany (1943), whence some were returned to Russia by the Russian Army and others proceeded to America.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 577 f.
Stumpp, Karl. Bericht über das Gebiet Chortitza: im Generalbezirk Dnjepropetrowsk. Berlin: Publikationsstelle Ost, 1943.
| Author(s) | Cornelius Krahn |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Krahn, Cornelius. "Kronsthal (Chortitza Mennonite settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Kronsthal_(Chortitza_Mennonite_settlement,_Zaporizhia_Oblast,_Ukraine)&oldid=145654.
APA style
Krahn, Cornelius. (1957). Kronsthal (Chortitza Mennonite settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Kronsthal_(Chortitza_Mennonite_settlement,_Zaporizhia_Oblast,_Ukraine)&oldid=145654.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 248. All rights reserved.
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