Reinland Colony (Bolivia)
Reinland Colony, Bolivia, is located 24 km (15 miles) east of Santa Cruz, or 8 km (5 miles) south of the town of Cotoca. It was founded in 1963 by approximately 15 families from the Menno colony in Paraguay and from the Canadiense colony in Bolivia. From 1966 to 1968 some 80 families from Manitoba, Canada, settled alongside the Paraguayan Mennonites and the two groups became one structure under the leadership of the Reinländer Mennonite church.
In 1975 a group from the Reinland colony, composed mainly of those who had come from Canada, started the Rosenort colony on the east side of the Rio Grande river, and in 1983 yet another group, mainly from Paraguay, started the Nueva Holanda colony, also across the Rio Grande.
In 1987 only a few families remained in the once well-established colony after their church leader, the bishop Corny Nickel, also moved to Rosenort. These families then became part of the Canadiense colony. Among the reasons for moving across the river were an increasing number of attacks and thefts by bandits, the disunity between the two groups within the colony, and the proximity to the city.
See also Bergthal Mennonites; Bolivia.
| Author(s) | Isbrand Hiebert |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1989 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Hiebert, Isbrand. "Reinland Colony (Bolivia)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1989. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Reinland_Colony_(Bolivia)&oldid=77178.
APA style
Hiebert, Isbrand. (1989). Reinland Colony (Bolivia). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Reinland_Colony_(Bolivia)&oldid=77178.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 758-759. All rights reserved.
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