View source for Köppental (Am Trakt Settlement, Samara Oblast, Russia)

Köppental, a village of the [[Am Trakt Mennonite Settlement (Samara Oblast, Russia)|Trakt Mennonite settlement]] in the province of [[Samara Oblast (Russia)|Samara]], [[Russia|Russia]], was founded in 1855 by Mennonites from [[Prussia|Prussia]] who settled on both banks of the Malyshevka River. It was named after the Russian state councilor von Köppen, who promoted the settlement. The village originally consisted of 25 families each farming 175 acres. In 1897 it had 56 farms and a population of 174 and in 1914 there were 168 inhabitants. In 1880-81 some of the settlers followed [[Epp, Claas (1838-1913)|Claas Epp]] to [[Soviet Central Asia|Central Asia]].

The administration of the Trakt settlement (Malyshinskaya Volost, later Köppental Rayon) was located in Koppental. Koppental also built a church in 1864 (dedicated Sunday 24 July 1864 (12 July 1864 Old Style), and had a secondary school (<em>Zentralschule</em>) which was erected before [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]] and was the center of many of the organizations and activities of the Trakt settlement. At the beginning of [[World War (1939-1945) - Soviet Union|World War II]] its population with that of the entire Trakt settlement was evacuated to [[Asiatic Russia|Asiatic Russia]].
= Bibliography =
<em>Am Trakt: eine mennonitische Kolonie im mittleren Wolgagebiet</em>. North Kildonan: Echo-Verlag, 1948.

<em>Am Trakt : a Mennonite settlement in the central Volga region</em>. Winnipeg, MB: CMBC Publications, 1995.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 548.

<span class="Apple-style-span"><em class="gameo_bibliography">Martin Klaassen diaries in Michael Klaassen fonds, <span class="link-external">[http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm Mennonite Heritage Centre archives]</span> (Winnipeg, MB)</em></span>
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