Lange, Wilhelm (ca. 1764-1840)
Wilhelm Lange, outstanding elder of the Mennonite Church at Brenkenhoffswalde and Gnadenfeld, was a Lutheran from the Wartebruch near Landsberg, and came to Brenkenhoffswalde in 1790 (1788). Soon he was received into the Mennonite Church, and was elected minister in 1802 and elder in 1810 (1812). He was a very popular and successful minister, through whose efforts many non-Mennonites joined the congregation, including such names as Lenzmann, Klatt, and Johann Lange. Through him the congregation was in close touch with the Moravians of the community, who influenced the Mennonites strongly.
Lange was a leader of the emigration from the Neumark to Russia in 1834. He obtained special permission from Tsar Nicholas I for 40 families to settle at the Molotschna, South Russia, where they established the Gnadenfeld settlement and congregation. Here he died in 1840 at the age of 76.
Wilhelm Lange's correspondence, dating back to the time of the immigration to Russia, presents a picture of the religious and cultural life of that day. (Found in Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas)
Bibliography
Friesen, Peter M. Die Alt-Evangelische Mennonitische Brüderschaft in Russland (1789-1910) im Rahmen der mennonitischen Gesamtgeschichte. Halbstadt: Verlagsgesellschaft "Raduga", 1911: 80 f.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 617.
Unruh, Benjamin H. "Die Mennoniten in der Neumark." Mennonitischer Gemeinde-Kalender (1941).
Author(s) | Cornelius Krahn |
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Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Krahn, Cornelius. "Lange, Wilhelm (ca. 1764-1840)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 11 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lange,_Wilhelm_(ca._1764-1840)&oldid=145683.
APA style
Krahn, Cornelius. (1957). Lange, Wilhelm (ca. 1764-1840). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 11 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lange,_Wilhelm_(ca._1764-1840)&oldid=145683.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 288. All rights reserved.
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