Old Colony Mennonites (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Altkolonier-Mennoniten'') are a part of the

Russian Mennonite The Russian Mennonites ( it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire are a group of Mennonites who are the descendants of Dutch and North German Anabaptists who settled in the Vistula delta in West Prussia for about ...

movement that descends from colonists who migrated from the

Chortitza Colony Chortitza Colony was a ''volost'', a subdivision of Yekaterinoslav uezd within Yekaterinoslav Governorate in the Russian Empire, now in Ukraine. During the reign of Catherine the Great, the area was annexed by Russia after the liquidation of t ...

in modern Ukraine near Zaporizhia (itself originally of

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

origins) to settlements in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Theologically, Old Colony Mennonites are largely

conservative Mennonites Conservative Mennonites include numerous Conservative Anabaptist groups that identify with the theologically conservative element among Mennonite Anabaptist Christian fellowships, but who are not Old Order groups or mainline denominations. Co ...

. Since Chortitza was the first Mennonite settlement in Russia (now modern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), it was known as the "Old Colony". In the course of the 19th century, the population of the Chortitza Colony multiplied, and daughter colonies were founded. Part of the settlement moved to Canada in the 1870s, and the Canadian community, whose church was officially known as the "Reinländer Mennoniten-Gemeinde", was still informally known by the old name. When members of the Old Colony Mennonites then moved from Canada to other places, the name was kept and they were called that way. "The Old Colony Mennonites represent one of the purest survivals of the Brethren or

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

wing of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

"; and are typically more conservative than most other Russian and Ukrainian Mennonites in North America. In 1990, Old Colony Mennonite communities could be found in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. By 2013, the vast majority of Old Colony Mennonites lived in

, where about 60% of the 100,000 Mennonites were affiliated with the ''Altkolonier Mennonitengemeinde'' and

, where about 75% of the 70,000 were affiliated with the ''Altkolonier Mennonitengemeinde''. A smaller group lived in

, where about 50% of 10,000 were affiliated with the ''Altkolonier Mennonitengemeinde''.Gingerich, Melvin and John B. Loewen. "Belize." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2013. Web. 23 Sep 201

/ref> Smaller groups of Old Colony Mennonites also lived in Paraguay, Argentina, Canada, and the US.

References

Literature

* Huttner, Jakob: ''Zwischen Eigen-art und Wirk-lichkeit : Die Altkolonie-Mennoniten im bolivianischen Chaco''. Berlin 2012. * Schartner, Sieghard and Schartner, Sylvia: ''Bolivien : Zufluchtsort der konservativen Mennoniten''. Asunción 2009. * Cañás Bottos, Lorenzo: ''Old Colony Mennonites in Argentina and Bolivia : Nation Making, Religious Conflict and Imagination of the Future''. Leiden et al. 2008. * Hedberg, Anna Sofia: ''Outside the world : Cohesion and Deviation among Old Colony Mennonites in Bolivia''. Uppsala 2007. * Will, Martina E.: ''The Old Colony Mennonite Colonization of Chihuahua and the Obregón Administration's Vision for the * Nation'', San Diego 1993. * Redekop, Calvin Wall: ''Old Colony Mennonites: Dilemmas of Ethnic Minority Life'', Baltimore 1969. {{Mennonites in the world Christian ethnoreligious groups

See also

References

Literature