Mennonite Village Names

In the last post, I talked about online resources to determine the germanicized or russified equivalent of a great many villages where Mennonites lived in the Russian Empire.

What I didn't say is that there is a great book that focusses on the same villages, but introduces the architecture that remains and incoporates a historical narrative as well.  The book I'm referring to is Building on the Past: Mennonite Architecture, Landscape and Settlements in Russia/Ukraine* by Rudy Friesen with Edith Elisabeth Friesen.

Rudy's book is organized by colony, with each colony section introduced with an equivalency chart.  The Chortitza Colony section starts:

Village	a.k.a./Later Named	Today
Chortitza	Menpark/Kapustyanka	No longer exists
Burwalde (1803)	Baburka	Baburka
Chortitza (1790)	Khortitsa	Verkhnyaya
Einlage (1790)	Kitschkas/Neu-Kitschkas	Kitschkas
Insel Chortitza	Kamp	Ostrov Khortitsa

etc.

Interestingly, today I was looking through some early copies of Mennonite Life and discovered a curious article by Gerhard Wiens "Village Nicknames Among the Mennonites in Russia" (October 1970, pp. 177-180).  I knew that many Mennonites had Low German/Plautdietsch nicknames, but never that our villages had nicknames!

Gerhard indicates that he knew firsthand of his own Molotschna village's nickname, but over time had forgotten the others he'd heard of. So he published an article in Low German "and gave it a title which would startle any old-timer from Russia into reading it:  'Rollkoakeschluckasch, Piezjeriedasch enn Prachabraodasch'" (Der Bote, October 31, 1961). 

With that, he received many handwritten submissions.  One included no stories or names, but chided him that it really wasn't befitting a scholar to pursue such a subject!  However, to our amusement and for our benefit, he persisted and shared what he learned with the readership of Mennonite Life (ML). 

Without giving it all away, I'll list a few of the Chortitza Colony equivalents:

Village	Low German Nickname	Translation into English
Chortitza	Hunsjsbraode	Roast Dog
Einlage	Welsgnoagasch	Catfish Gnawers/Chewers
Kronsweide	Poggeleidasch	Frog Leaders
Neu-Chortitza	Aufjebroakne Massasch	Broken-off Knives
Neuenburg	Deiwschlappasch	Dew Draggers

etc.

To the best of his ability, Gerhard attempted to determine when the nicknames (Auch-Name) were established:  during Podwodentiet ("carting time"), that is, during the Crimean War. He explains that there was more regular travel between the villages at that time, while the young men/boys were delivering food to the Russian army. Friendly rivalries started up, and foolish names were part of that.

If you are interested, do pursue a copy of the four-page article. Back issues of ML are readily available from Mennonite historical societies, and Mennonite school libraries, including the MHSA.  Some back issues are online.  In recent years, ML has ceased to print a paper version of the magazine; circulation is now exclusively and freely available online.

* Available for purchase from MHSA