Jacob Hoeppner (or Jakob Höppner) (1748–1826) was one of two delegates selected by the

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

community in Danzig,

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

, to travel to South Russia and evaluate land along the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

near

Chortitza 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 ...

as a possible settlement. The Mennonites were recruited by Empress Catherine II the Great to settle on territory recently won from the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. The entire

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 ...

had a population of three million at most. In order to settle this empty territory, colonists from western Europe were invited to come to Russia. Russian colonization agents advertised the availability of

crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

s to people throughout Europe. One of these was Georg von Trappe, who visited the Mennonites of Danzig in 1786. The Mennonite congregations elected to send Hoeppner and Johann Bartsch, who von Trappe arranged to send to Russia at government expense. They departed in the fall of 1786, sailing first to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, then travelling cross country, arriving at the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

in late November. From here they sailed down the river looking for a suitable site. They met

Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

and were presented to Catherine in May, as she was inspecting her new territories. They found a suitable settlement location, then returned home by way of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where they met with Crown Prince Paul, who confirmed the promises made by von Trappe. Their return to Danzig was delayed for several months because Hoeppner broke his leg.

Russia

The following year, the 228 of the poorest families from the Mennonite community of Danzig made the long harrowing trip from Prussia to the promised tract of land in Russia under the leadership of Hoeppner and Bartsch. The journey from Danzig to Riga was 300 miles by boat on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, then 900 miles by caravan to Chortitza. The difficulty of pioneering on the steppe was compounded the disappearance of personal property and government building materials en route to the settlement. While most families survived by building crude shelters, Hoeppner and Bartsch were able to erect substantial dwellings. The two men were accused of keeping government money intended for community use. Both were excommunicated from the church. Hoeppner was turned over to the Russian government on trumped up charges and spent almost a year in jail. Eventually, Hoeppner and his family became citizens of nearby Alexandrovsk, settled on the Isle of Chortitza on the Dnieper River and became an active 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 ...

s life in the new colony, joining another Mennonite congregation. Hoeppner made arrangements to be buried on his own estate instead of the Mennonite cemetery among the people who had caused so many problems for him. In 1889 a centennial monument celebrating the original settlement was placed at his gravesite by the great-grandchildren of the colonists who had Hoeppner thrown in jail. The monument has since been moved to Mennonite Heritage Village in

Steinbach, Manitoba Steinbach () is the List of cities in Manitoba, third-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada, and with a population of 17,806, the largest community in the Eastman Region, Manitoba, Eastman region. The city, located about southeast of ...

References

External links

Höppner, Jakob (1748-1826)
at

Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) is an online encyclopedia of topics relating to Mennonites and Anabaptism. The mission of the project is to provide free, reliable, English-language information on Anabaptist-related to ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoeppner, Jacob Russian Mennonites 1748 births 1826 deaths Vistula delta Mennonites Prussian Mennonites