Family Names of the Prussian Mennonites

Compiled by

In 1940 Gustav E.Reimer (1916-1979) of Heubuden (1), West Prussia, son of Diakon Gustav Reimer, published his paper "Die Familiennamen der Westpreussischen Mennoniten" in Nr.3 of 'Schriftenreihe des Mennonitischen Geschichtsvereins' which was reprinted in 1963. During the same time Reimer published his alphabetic version of the Prussian Mennonite Census (Spezial-Consignation) of 1776 which was republished by Horst Penner in 1978. Both papers are landmarks to students of Mennonite families in Prussia since none of the 13,000+ Mennonites remained in those areas of ethnic cleansing after WWII which was taken over by Poland in 1945.

I have attempted to go over Reimer's listing and add family names and congregations where Reimer had no reliable information: Przechowka Mennonites (incl. those from Konopath, Jeziorky and Flemish Schoensee) had long left Prussia (1819-1820) and taken their church books along to Russia and America (Alexanderwohl). The Neumark Mennonites had left Brenkenhoffswalde, Franztal and Neu-Dessau in the province of Brandenburg (Frankfurt/Oder district) in 1835 and had left few traces and no church records (2). The Deutsch Wymyschle/Wionczemin congregation in Poland apparently was unknown to Reimer, and their family names were not included in his compilation. The listing below gives names found in Prussia prior to 1800 and in Deutsch-Deutsch-Wymysle/Wionczeminysle and Deutsch-Kazun for later years (1800s). The latter two congregations were part of the province of South Prussia during the brief period of 1795-1806. The congregations in East Friesland (Emden) and Rheinland (Crefeld) also belonged to Prussia prior to 1800, but are not included in this name compilation.

Sources for the Prussian congregations were summarized by me in 1981 (3). The Flemish and Frisian-High German Mennonite congregations are marked as such in the listing and described in articles in the Mennonite Encyclopedia. The largest Flemish congregation was the Gross-Werder Gemeinde which was divided into the four congregations of Tiegenhagen, Ladekopp, Rosenort and Baerwalde/Fuerstenwerder during the years prior to 1808. Most church books of Prussian Mennonites have survived WWII with the notable exceptions of the Frisian-High German congregations of Danzig-Neugarten, Schoensee and Ober-Nessau and of the Old-Flemish congregation in the Neumark. For the Plauschwarren Frisian congregation in Prussian Lithuania (Gumbinnen district of East Prussia) only a microfilm copy made in the 1930s has survived in Leipzig, Germany.

I have also attempted to give the pronounciation of some Mennonite congregational names for those who have some doubts and may want to try their tongue.

Students of Prussian families should look at Reimer's Familiennamen since he not only gives the congregations where families lived, but he also attempts to interpret meaning and origin of Mennonite family names.

End notes:

(1) Gustav Reimer (1916-1979) obituary published in Mennonitische Geschichtsbl. (1981): 77-84.

(2) The only untapped sources for the Neumark Mennonites in Brenkenhoffswalde, Franztal and Neu-Dessau are court records of Amtsgericht Driesen which are deposited today in the Polish Archives at Gorzow Wielkopolski.

(3) A.Goertz: "Genealogical Sources of the Prussian Mennonites" in The Mennonite Quarterly Review (1981): 372-380 and in Mennonitische Geschichtsbl. (1981): 52-65.

Abbreviations of Gemeinden/Congregations: