Bitscherland (Alsace, France)
Bitscherland, an Amish Mennonite congregation in the bailiwick of Bitsche, Alsace, probably formed by members of the congregations of Zweibrücken, Froensburg, and Strum. Its date of formation is unknown, but must be anterior to 1780, since in 1782 its elders were known to have written to Elder Jacob Kupferschmitt of the Salm congregation to request advice as to whether to rebaptize a family which had come from Holland. In this same period a list of the Anabaptists in the district was drawn up in order to prove to the prefect of Metz that only a few young men could be sent to work on the fortifications, which work was required of them instead of military service. The list named 22 families with 145 members. In 1808 the congregation was represented at the Saareck conference concerning military service, and was listed, together with the Strath congregation, as having given a total of 20 doubloons for the delegation to the government.
The following are known to have served as elders: Joseph Schertz, Christian Schantz (serving in 1808), Jacques Thomas (left for inner France around 1850), Nicolas Roggy (left for America at about the same time), Christian Schantz (d. 1886), Joseph Wolmer (d. 1892), Joseph Brunner (d. 1899), Christian Schantz (d. 1902), Jean Jordy (d. 1919). After Schantz' death in 1902 the remaining elements of the congregation, by then gravely weakened by emigration, attached themselves to the Saargemünd or Ixheim congregations across the border in the Palatinate.
Bibliography
Sommer, Pierre. "Assemblée du Pays de Bitsche." Christ Seul (August 1931): 7-10.
| Author(s) | John Howard Yoder |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Yoder, John Howard. "Bitscherland (Alsace, France)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 3 Dec 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bitscherland_(Alsace,_France)&oldid=75684.
APA style
Yoder, John Howard. (1953). Bitscherland (Alsace, France). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 December 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bitscherland_(Alsace,_France)&oldid=75684.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 349. All rights reserved.
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