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79-612: Chortitza was founded in 1789 by Mennonite settlers of Dutch ancestry from the Vistula delta and consisted of many villages. It was the first of many Mennonite settlements in the Russian Empire . Because the Mennonites living in these villages emigrated or were evacuated or deported at the end of World War II , or emigrated after the collapse of the Soviet Union , few Mennonites are living in

158-420: A business or farm sufficient for support. Because only the poorest Mennonites had been allowed to leave Prussia, there were no ministers among the settlers. Initially families built temporary shelters such as sod dugouts and tents while a few tried to live in their wagons. Höppner and Bartsch were able to build substantial homes. Land was divided among the families and each lived on their own land. In response to

237-745: A good and well-measured proxy for the economic growth of the Commonwealth. The owner of a folwark usually signed a contract with the merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain to Gdańsk. Many rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping, including the Vistula, which had a relatively well-developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries . Most river shipping travelled north, with southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts often being sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. In order to arrest recurrent flooding on

316-568: A project was undertaken to increase the traffic-carrying capacity of the river upstream of Warsaw by building a number of locks in and around Kraków , this project was not extended further, so that navigability of the Vistula remains limited. The potential of the river would increase considerably if a restoration of the east–west connection via the Narew – Bug – Mukhovets – Pripyat – Dnieper waterways were considered. The shifting economic importance of parts of Europe may make this option more likely. Vistula

395-577: A restrictions against proselytizing among Russian Orthodox Church members and revocation of privileges for anyone leaving or marrying outside of the colony. Land could be inherited, so long as it remained part of the settlement. A farm could not be subdivided among heirs in order to keep intact and not to degrade the model farming practices that were the intention of the government. Upon their return, Höppner and Bartsch found that four families had already departed for Riga and hundreds more were eager to immigrate. The West Prussian authorities, though restricting

474-481: A separate institution in 1914, expanded what had been a two-year extension of the secondary school to a three-year program. Third year students did their practice teaching at the nearby model elementary school (Musterschule). By the early twentieth century, a growing number of students extended their education to gimnaziia , schools of trade and commerce, and universities in Switzerland, Germany, as well as Russia. As

553-529: A total population of 12,000 were exiled to hard labor in the far north or Siberia. As World War II began in 1941, the Soviet government intended to deport all the residents of Chortitza to Siberia, but the German Wehrmacht advanced so quickly, the plan could not be executed. Under German occupation, the population made a degree of recovery. But by 1943 German people were evacuated to Reichsgau Wartheland , and

632-537: Is a town in Vitebsk Region , northern Belarus . It is located on the Dnieper River and serves as the administrative centre of Dubrowna District . As of 2024, it has a population of 6,929. The toponym originates from a Proto-Slavic term for an oak forest, which may explain the inclusion of oak leaves and acorns in the town's coat of arms . In the 19th century Dubrowna was a centre for weaving. The town had

711-562: Is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at 1,047 kilometres (651 miles) in length. Its drainage basin , extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers 193,960 km (74,890 sq mi), of which 168,868 km (65,200 sq mi) is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in the south of Poland, 1,220 meters (4,000 ft) above sea level in

790-695: Is the northern part of the proposed E40 waterway , continuing eastward into the Bug River , linking the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea . Large parts of the Vistula Basin were occupied by the Iron Age Lusatian and Przeworsk cultures in the first millennium BC. Genetic analysis indicates that there has been an unbroken genetic continuity of the inhabitants over the last 3,500 years. The Vistula Basin along with

869-531: The Gdańsk Bay of the Baltic Sea with a delta of six main branches ( Leniwka , Przekop , Śmiała Wisła , Martwa Wisła , Nogat and Szkarpawa ). The river has many associations with Polish culture , history and national identity. It is Poland's most important waterway and natural symbol , flowing notably through Kraków and the capital Warsaw , and the phrase "Country upon Vistula" ( Polish : kraj nad Wisłą ) can be synonymous with Poland. Historically,

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948-584: The North Sea somewhere at the latitude of contemporary Scotland. The climate of the Vistula valley, its plants, animals, and its very character changed considerably during the process of glacial retreat. Vistula is navigable from the Baltic Sea to Bydgoszcz (where the Bydgoszcz Canal joins the river). It can accommodate modest river vessels of CEMT class II. Farther upstream the river depth lessens. Although

1027-835: The Oder river in Germany. After the war in late 1946, the former Austrian SS member Amon Göth was sentenced to death and hung on 13 September at the Montelupich Prison in Kraków, not far from the site of the Płaszów camp , the camp of which he was commandant throughout The Holocaust . His remains were cremated and the ashes thrown in the Vistula River. Dubrovna Dubrowna or Dubrovno ( Belarusian : Дуброўна , romanized :  Dubroŭna ; Russian : Дубровно ; Polish : Dąbrowna )

1106-666: The Silesian Beskids (western part of Carpathian Mountains ), where it begins with the White Little Vistula ( Biała Wisełka ) and the Black Little Vistula ( Czarna Wisełka ). It flows through Poland's largest cities, including Kraków , Sandomierz , Warsaw , Płock , Włocławek , Toruń , Bydgoszcz , Świecie , Grudziądz , Tczew and Gdańsk . It empties into the Vistula Lagoon ( Zalew Wiślany ) or directly into

1185-487: The 16th century most of the grain exported was leaving Poland through Gdańsk, which because of its location at the end of the Vistula and its tributary waterway and of its Baltic seaport trade role became the wealthiest, most highly developed, and by far the largest centre of crafts and manufacturing, and the most autonomous of the Polish cities. Other towns were negatively affected by Gdańsk's near-monopoly in foreign trade. During

1264-692: The Alpine zone to which the Alps and the Carpathians belong. The Vistula begins in the Carpathian mountains. The run and character of the river were shaped by ice sheets flowing down from the Scandinavian peninsula. The last ice sheet entered the area of Poland about 20,000 years ago. During periods of warmer weather, the ancient Vistula, "Pra-Wisła", searched for the shortest way to the sea—thousands of years ago it flowed into

1343-527: The Baltic area as a centre of merchants and trade and as a port city. At this time the surrounding lands were inhabited by Pomeranians , but Gdańsk soon became a starting point for German settlement of the largely fallow Vistulan country. Before its peak in 1618, trade increased by a factor of 20 from 1491. This factor is evident when looking at the tonnage of grain traded on the river in the key years of: 1491: 14,000; 1537: 23,000; 1563: 150,000; 1618: 310,000. In

1422-705: The Chortitza settlement prospered. In the course of the 19th century the population of Chortitza multiplied, and daughter colonies were founded. Part of the settlement moved to Canada in 1870. Since Chortitza was the first Mennonite settlement, it is known as the Old Colony . Those who moved from Chortitza to North America are often referred to as Old Colony Mennonites and are more conservative than most other Russian Mennonites in North America. The settlement received income from communal land and enterprises. A public ferry across

1501-480: The Dnieper earned between two and three thousand rubles annually, the municipal merino flock totaled about a thousand animals in 1820 and a distillery provided additional community income. These funds were used for large undertakings, such as forming daughter colonies for the growing population. The settlement's first economic setback was overcome through the effort of skilled craftsmen. Industry in Chortitza developed in

1580-545: The German ). According to the most popular variant, popularized by the 15th-century historian Jan Długosz , Wanda, daughter of King Krak , became queen of the Poles upon her father's death. She refused to marry a German prince Rytigier (Rüdiger), who took offence and invaded Poland, but was repelled. Wanda however committed suicide , drowning in the Vistula River, to ensure he would not invade her country again. For hundreds of years

1659-564: The River Vistula and its valley spans over 2 million years. The river is connected to the geological period called the Quaternary , in which distinct cooling of the climate took place. In the last million years, an ice sheet entered the area of Poland eight times, bringing along with it changes of reaches of the river. In warmer periods, when the ice sheet retreated, the Vistula deepened and widened its valley. The river took its present shape within

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1738-613: The Vistula Lagoon, now for flood control closed to the east with a lock) and a west-flowing branch (the Danzig (Gdańsk) Vistula, Przegalinie branch, reached the sea in Danzig). Until the 14th century, the Elbing Vistula was the bigger. List of right and left tributaries with a nearby city, from source to mouth: According to flood studies carried out by Zbigniew Pruszak, who is the co-author of

1817-591: The Vistula and the Neman . It provided a link with the Black Sea to the south through the Oginski Canal , Dnieper River , Berezina Canal, and Dvina River . The Baltic Sea– Vistula– Dnieper– Black Sea route with its rivers was one of the most ancient trade routes, the Amber Road , on which amber and other items were traded from Northern Europe to Greece, Asia, Egypt , and elsewhere. The Vistula estuary

1896-453: The Vistula below this point is sometimes called the Leniwka . Various causes (rain, snow melt, ice jams ) have caused many severe floods of the Vistula over the centuries. Land in the area was sometimes depopulated by severe flooding, and later had to be resettled. See (Figure 7, on page 812 at History of floods on the River Vistula ) for a reconstruction map of the delta area as it was around

1975-702: The Wehrmacht retreated from the Soviet Union. As the Red Army entered German territory they seized refugees attempting to flee the Soviet Union. Some escaped by going deeper into Germany, but as Soviet citizens, the Allies delivered them back to the Soviets. With a few exceptions, the former residents of Chortitza were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan . There they were simply released on the bare steppe. Many did not survive. They shared

2054-473: The area today. After establishment of the Soviet Union , the colony was converted into Khortytsia Raion, a predecessor of Zaporizhzhia Raion . In 1929–30 as part of the Soviet policy of korenizatsia , it was converted into a national district promoting development of the German language culture. Vistula delta Mennonites , mostly of Dutch descent, had lived in the Vistula delta in the Kingdom of Poland from

2133-528: The backbone of the Russian economy, in 1763 Catherine II of Russia issued a Manifesto inviting Europeans to farm Russia's unoccupied agricultural lands. Though land opportunities were scattered throughout Russia, the largest tracts available were along the banks and watershed of the Volga River south of Saratov . Colonization by non-Russians in that area also served as a buffer zone against invading Mongol hordes to

2212-440: The banks of the Dnieper, near present-day Kherson . Their original destination was now a battlefield because of renewed Russo-Turkish hostilities , necessitating an alternate location. They received land at a new site on Khortytsia, a small tributary of the Dnieper, near Alexandrovsk (present-day Zaporizhzhia ). The pioneering years were extremely difficult. The more prosperous Mennonites brought their possessions by wagon, while

2291-495: The border of his lands. In 1308 the Teutonic Knights captured the Gdańsk castle and murdered the population. Since then the event is known as the Gdańsk slaughter . The Order had inherited Gniew from Sambor II , thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula. Many granaries and storehouses, built in the 14th century, line the banks of the Vistula. In the 15th century the city of Gdańsk gained great importance in

2370-573: The communists tried to take power. Things were chaotic in Ukraine during this period of constant revolution. Nestor Makhno 's army would target the Mennonite colonies. Initially the villages attempted to protect themselves with the help of the self-defense force. After Makhno entered into one of his alliances with the Red Army , it was no longer possible to resist his forces. During the period mid October 1919 to

2449-479: The confluences with the Narew river and the Bug river; and bottom, from the confluence with Narew to the sea. The Vistula river basin covers 194,424 square kilometres (75,068 square miles) (in Poland 168,700 square kilometres (65,135 square miles)); its average altitude is 270 metres (886 feet) above sea level . In addition, the majority of its river basin (55%) is 100 to 200 m above sea level; over 3 ⁄ 4 of

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2528-474: The course of their offensive and were waiting on the other side of the Vistula River in full force, would help in the battle for Warsaw. However, the Soviets let down the Poles, stopping their advance at the Vistula and branding the insurgents as criminals in radio broadcasts. In early 1945, in the Vistula–Oder Offensive , the Red Army crossed the Vistula and drove the German Wehrmacht back past

2607-579: The decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War Battle of Warsaw (sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula ), was fought as Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and nearby Modlin Fortress by the river's mouth. The Polish September campaign included battles over control of the mouth of the Vistula, and of the city of Gdańsk, close to

2686-741: The east. Colonization attempts were intensified in 1774 after the Russo-Turkish War when Potemkin was appointed governor general of South Russia which included territory recently won from the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire . Colonization agents advertised the availability of crown lands to people throughout Europe. One of these was Georg von Trappe, who visited the Mennonites of Danzig in 1786. The Mennonite congregations elected two delegates, Jakob Höppner and Johann Bartsch, who von Trappe arranged to send to Russia at government expense. They departed in

2765-555: The eighth century, some of which coalesced later into larger ones. Among the tribes listed in the Bavarian Geographer 's ninth-century document was the Vistulans ( Wiślanie ) in southern Poland. Kraków and Wiślica were their main centres. Many Polish legends are connected with the Vistula river and the beginnings of Polish statehood . One of the most enduring is that about Princess Wanda co nie chciała Niemca ( who rejected

2844-482: The end of the 1980s many Mennonites in the Soviet Union began to immigrate to Germany. Today many of the former residents of Chortitza and their descendants are found in Germany and Canada. 47°51′36″N 35°00′34″E  /  47.86000°N 35.00944°E  / 47.86000; 35.00944 Vistula The Vistula ( / ˈ v ɪ s tj ʊ l ə / ; Polish : Wisła [ˈviswa] ; German : Weichsel [ˈvaɪksl] )

2923-566: The expansion of Mennonite settlements locally, did not want the wealth of the Mennonites to leave the country. Only the poorest families were granted passports. Mennonite settlers, 228 families in all, set out for Russia in the winter of 1787, arriving in Dubrovna (today in Belarus ) in fall of 1788, where they over-wintered. Early in 1789 they traveled down the Dnieper River to the settlement site, on

3002-541: The fall of 1786, sailing first to Riga , then traveling cross country, arriving at the Dnieper in late November. From here they sailed down the river looking for a suitable site. They met Potemkin at Kremenchuk 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 , where they met with Crown Prince Paul , who confirmed

3081-488: The fate of other Germans from Russia . After the restriction of free travel was eased in 1956, a few returned to their old home of Chortitza. Today mostly Ukrainians and Russians live there. A few Mennonites, who have either a Ukrainian parent or spouse, resettled there. Mennonite churches and ministries can now be found in Zaporizhia oblast. In Kazakhstan, Mennonites have gathered in industrial cities such as Karaganda . At

3160-588: The lands of the Rhine , Danube , Elbe , and Oder came to be called Magna Germania by Roman authors of the first century AD. This does not imply that the inhabitants were " Germanic peoples " in the modern sense of the term; Tacitus , when describing the Venethi , Peucini and Fenni , wrote that he was not sure if he should call them Germans, since they had settlements and they fought on foot, or rather Sarmatians since they have some similar customs to them. Ptolemy , in

3239-506: The last 14,000 years, after the complete recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet from the area. At present, along with the Vistula valley, erosion of the banks and collecting of new deposits are still occurring. As the principal river of Poland, the Vistula is also in the centre of Europe. Three principal geographical and geological land masses of the continent meet in its river basin: the Eastern European Plain , Western Europe, and

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3318-453: The last week in December of that year, Makhno's army occupied all the colony's villages and much of the district up to Ekaterinoslav (current Dnipro ). The Makhnovists invaded the colonists' homes, murdered, raped, and spread venereal diseases and typhus. The latter epidemic ultimately infected roughly 95% of the local population, of which more than 10% died. After communists gained control over

3397-461: The lawlessness of the region, they found that it was more practical to group themselves together in villages of fifteen to thirty families. As their difficulties mounted, the settlers accused Höppner and Bartsch of keeping government money intended for colony use. Both men were excommunicated from the Flemish church and the authorities were convinced to arrest Höppner. Bartsch confessed his wrongdoing and

3476-590: The lives of Chortitza's residents. Mennonites served as medics during the war, caring for injured soldiers. For a short time after the war, the German army occupied Ukraine, including Chortitza. After the Armistice at the end of 1918 the German soldiers withdrew. A self-defense force was organized within the villages, perhaps with help and weapons from the German army. Some of the Mennonites took part in this force, even though they traditionally opposed military service on religious grounds. Civil war raged from 1917 to 1921 as

3555-566: The lower Vistula, the Prussian government in 1889–95 constructed an artificial channel about 12 kilometres (7 miles) east of Gdańsk (German name: Danzig )—known as the Vistula Cut (German: Weichseldurchstich ; Polish: Przekop Wisły )—that acted as a huge sluice, diverting much of the Vistula flow directly into the Baltic . As a result, the historic Vistula channel through Gdańsk lost much of its flow and

3634-586: The middle of 16th century. Because of their fast growing population, finding more arable land was a concern. When the region became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 through the First Partition of Poland , the Prussian Government enacted a law making it difficult for Mennonites to acquire land. This compelled a significant part of the Mennonite population to seek better opportunities in nearby cities, Danzig in particular. Believing agriculture to be

3713-434: The middle of the 19th century, mainly milling and production of agricultural machinery and clocks. The growing landless population found work in these factories. Three large factories, Lepp & Wallmann, Abram J. Koop, Hildebrand & Pries and two smaller factories, Thiessen und Rempel produced agricultural machinery in Chortitza and Rosental. The machinery was used not just by Mennonites, but all over Russia. In later years,

3792-467: The mouth, where the river Nogat splits off. The Nogat also starts separately as a river named (on this map ) Alte Nogat (Old Nogat) south of Kwidzyn , but further north it picks up water from a crosslink with the Vistula, and becomes a distributary of the Vistula, flowing away northeast into the Vistula Lagoon (Polish: Zalew Wiślany) with a small delta. The Nogat formed part of the border between East Prussia and interwar Poland. The other channel of

3871-595: The name Istula . Ammianus Marcellinus referred to the Bisula (Book   22) in the 380s. In the sixth century Jordanes ( Getica   5 & 17) used Viscla . The Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith refers to the Wistla . The 12th-century Polish chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek Latinised the river's name as Vandalus , a form presumably influenced by Lithuanian vanduõ 'water'. Jan Długosz (1415–1480) in his Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae contextually points to

3950-673: The next wave of Mennonite settlers came to Russia In 1803, they over-wintered in Chortitza Colony before moving on to form the Molotschna settlement. The money spent by the new group during their stay in turn helped the Khortytsia settlement. Mennonite colonies were self-governing with little intervention from the Russian authorities. The village, the basic unit of government, was headed by an elected magistrate who oversaw village affairs. Each village controlled its own school, roads and cared for

4029-407: The other Mennonite settlements, functioned as a democratic state, enjoying freedoms beyond those of ordinary Russian peasants. At a time when compulsory education was unknown in Europe, the Mennonite colonies formed an elementary school in each village. Students learned practical skills such as reading and writing German and arithmetic. Religion was included as was singing in many schools. The teacher

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4108-423: The others sent them by barge. When the barges arrived they found that the containers had been ransacked and valuables removed or ruined by rain. Similarly, building material sent down-river was stolen before it arrived. Many of the settlers were city laborers and tradesmen with no knowledge of farming, and the farmers among them found the dry steppes unsuitable to their former farming methods. Internal friction among

4187-419: The poor. Male landowners decided local matters at village assemblies. All of the Chortitza villages formed a district headed by a superintendent and regional bureau that could administer corporal punishment and handle other matters affecting the villages in common. Insurance and fire protection were handled at the regional level, as well as dealing with delinquents and other social problems. Chortitza, along with

4266-542: The population of the colony grew and land became scarce, new areas for resettlement were sought. In 1864 land was rented from Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia to form Fürstenland, which by 1911 consisted of five villages with 1800 residents. Borozenko was formed in 1865 and by 1915 totaled five villages with a population of 600. Further colonies were established at Bergthal (1836), Yazykovo (1869), Nepluyevka (1870), Schlachtin and Baratov (1871), Ignatyevo (1888), and Borissovo (1892) Eventually an economy developed and

4345-549: The promises made by von Trappe. The special privileges included guarantees of religious freedom, exemption from military service , 70 ha (175 acres) of free land for each family, exemption from swearing oaths in legal proceedings, ability to establish their own schools and teach in their own language, the right to restrict the establishment of taverns and the ability to make their own beverages. These rights and privileges were beyond those enjoyed by common Russian peasants. There were restrictions that applied to all colonists, such as

4424-420: The region, they began to appropriate grain from the landowners. Eventually the population began to starve and epidemics spread. During this time Mennonites began organizing to immigrate to Canada. In 1923 many of the former large landowners, ministers and internal refugees migrated to Canada, mainly to Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with credit provided by the Canadian Pacific Railway . In 1926 the village of Einlage

4503-400: The reign of Stephen Báthory Poland ruled two main Baltic Sea ports: Gdańsk controlling the Vistula river trade and Riga controlling the Western Dvina trade. Both cities were among the largest in the country. Around 70% the exports from Gdańsk were of grain. Grain was also the largest export commodity of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . The volume of traded grain can be considered

4582-491: The river Vistla (4.81, 4.97, 4.100). The root of the name Vistula is often thought to come from Proto-Indo-European * weys- : 'to ooze, flow slowly' (cf. Sanskrit अवेषन् avēṣan "they flowed", Old Norse veisa "slime"), and similar elements appear in many European river-names (e.g. Svislach (Berezina) , Svislach (Neman) , Weser , Viešinta ). In writing about the river and its peoples, Ptolemy uses Greek spelling: Ouistoula . Other ancient sources spell

4661-431: The river basin (right-hand to left-hand side) is 73–27%. The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch , which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe. The river forms a wide delta called Żuławy Wiślane , or the "Vistula Fens" in English. The delta currently starts around Biała Góra near Sztum , about 50 km (31 mi) from

4740-478: The river basin ranges from 100 to 300 metres (328 to 984 feet) in altitude. The highest point of the river basin is at 2,655 metres (8,711 feet) (Gerlach Peak in the Tatra mountains ). One of the features of the river basin of the Vistula is its asymmetry—in great measure resulting from the tilting direction of the Central European Lowland toward the northwest, the direction of the flow of glacial waters, and considerable predisposition of its older base. The asymmetry of

4819-418: The river delta. During the Invasion of Poland (1939) , after the initial battles in Pomerelia , the remains of the Polish Army of Pomerania withdrew to the southern bank of the Vistula. After defending Toruń for several days, the army withdrew further south under pressure of the overall strained strategic situation, and took part in the main battle of Bzura . The Auschwitz complex of concentration camps

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4898-405: The river was also important for the Baltic and German ( Prussian ) peoples. The Vistula has given its name to the last glacial period that occurred in northern Europe, approximately between 100,000 and 10,000 BC, the Weichselian glaciation . The name Vistula first appears in the written record of Pomponius Mela (3.33) in AD   40. Pliny in AD   77 in his Natural History names

4977-419: The river was one of the main trading arteries of Poland, and the castles that line its banks were highly prized possessions. Salt , timber , grain , and building stone were among goods shipped via that route between the 10th and 13th centuries. In the 14th century the lower Vistula was controlled by the Teutonic Knights Order, invited in 1226 by Konrad I of Masovia to help him fight the pagan Prussians on

5056-534: The river, stating "of the eastern nations, of the Polish east, from the brightness of the water the White Water...so named" ( Alba aqua ), perhaps referring to the White Little Vistula ( Biała Wisełka ). In the course of history the river has borne similar names in different languages: German: Weichsel ; Low German : Wießel ; Dutch : Wijsel [ˈʋɛisəl] ; Yiddish : ווייסל Yiddish pronunciation: [ˈvajsl̩] ; and Russian : Висла , romanized :  Visla . Vistula rises in

5135-419: The scientific paper Implications of SLR and further studies carried out by scientists attending Poland's Final International ASTRA Conference, and predictions stated by climate scientists at the climate change pre-summit in Copenhagen , it is highly likely most of the Vistula Delta region (which is below sea level ) will be flooded due to the sea level rise caused by climate change by 2100. The history of

5214-401: The second century AD, would describe the Vistula as the border between Germania and Sarmatia . Vistula River used to be connected to the Dnieper River , and thence to the Black Sea via the Augustów Canal , a technological marvel with numerous sluices contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first waterway in Central Europe to provide a direct link between the two major rivers,

5293-437: The settlers, rooted in a long-standing division separating Frisian and Flemish branches of the church who lived in different ways, was compounded by the lack of ministerial leadership. Church leaders are traditionally selected from among the lay brothers of the congregation and were expected to serve for life as unpaid pastors. Because pastors were expected to support themselves, they were usually chosen from among those who had

5372-456: The southern Silesian Voivodeship close to the tripoint involving the Czech Republic and Slovakia from two sources: Czarna ("Black") Wisełka at altitude 1,107 m (3,632 ft) and Biała ("White") Wisełka at altitude 1,080 m (3,540 ft). Both are on the western slope of Barania Góra in the Silesian Beskids in Poland. Vistula can be divided into three parts: upper, from its sources to Sandomierz ; central, from Sandomierz to

5451-431: The territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of drainage basin of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was 180,300 km (69,600 sq mi), the Niemen (51,600 km  [19,900 sq mi]), the Oder (46,700 km  [18,000 sq mi]) and the Daugava (10,400 km  [4,000 sq mi]). In 1920

5530-432: The three largest factories were combined into a single business and, after the Russian Revolution of 1917 , produced tractors and automobiles under the Saporoschetz brand. The business was confiscated from the former Mennonite owners shortly after the 1917 revolution and today is part of AvtoZAZ - Daewoo . A long period of prosperity was broken by World War I (1914–1918), which led into the Russian Civil War , interrupting

5609-460: The year 1300: note much more water in the area, and the west end of the Vistula Lagoon (Frisches Haff) was bigger and nearly continuous with the Drausen See . As with some aggrading rivers, the lower Vistula has been subject to channel changing. Near the sea, the Vistula was diverted sideways by coastal sand as a result of longshore drift and split into an east-flowing branch (the Elbing (Elbląg) Vistula, Elbinger Weichsel, Szkarpawa, flows into

5688-496: Was abandoned to make way for the flooding from the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station dam. Many other Chortitza Mennonites suffered under the dekulakization programs of the 1920s and the collectivization of 1930. Confiscated land was given to peasants, usually Communist Party members. In May 1931, with these newest citizens of Chortitza village voted out the remaining Mennonite landowners. From 1929 to 1940, 1500 men of

5767-535: Was at the confluence of the Vistula and the Soła rivers. Ashes of murdered Auschwitz victims were dumped into the river. During World War II prisoners of war from the Nazi Stalag XX-B camp were assigned to cut ice blocks from the River Vistula. The ice would then be transported by truck to the local beer houses. The 1944 Warsaw Uprising was planned with the expectation that the Soviet forces, who had arrived in

5846-653: Was known thereafter as the Dead Vistula (German: Tote Weichsel ; Polish: Martwa Wisła ). German states acquired complete control of the region in 1795–1812 (see: Partitions of Poland ), as well as during the World Wars, in 1914–1918 and 1939–1945. From 1867 to 1917, after the collapse of the January Uprising (1863–1865), the Russian tsarist administration called the Kingdom of Poland the Vistula Land . Almost 75% of

5925-968: Was reinstated into his congregation. Höppner was soon released from prison, moved to Alexandrovsk and joined the Frisian group. In 1889 a monument commemorating the colony's centennial was placed on Höppner's grave. It has since been moved to Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba . Initially eight villages were organized with Khortytsia as the governmental center. They included Khortytsia ( Chortitza  [ uk ] ), Einlage ( Kichkas  [ uk ] ), Insel Khortytsia (Ostriv Khortytsia ), Kronsweide ( Volodymyrivske  [ uk ] ), Neuenburg ( Malyshivka  [ uk ] ), Neuendorf ( Shyroke  [ uk ] ), Rosental ( Kantserivka ), and Schönhorst ( Ruchaivka  [ uk ] ). Another 180 families arrived in 1797–1798 to found Kronsgarten (Polovitsa) and Schönwiese (Shenvitse). The latter

6004-453: Was settled by Slavs in the seventh and eighth century. Based on archeological and linguistic findings, it has been postulated that these settlers moved northward along the Vistula River. This however contradicts another hypothesis supported by some researchers saying the Veleti moved westward from the Vistula delta. A number of West Slavic Polish tribes formed small dominions beginning in

6083-768: Was started in Chortitza in 1842. Over three thousand pupils attended the Central School with up to 8% of the colonists receiving a secondary education. A decree by the Ministry of Education in 1881 prohibited coeducation in secondary schools necessitating the foundation of a separate high school for girls (the Mädchenschule) in 1895. The four-year secondary programs taught religion, history, arithmetic, science, Russian and German language and literature, geography, penmanship, and art. Girls received instruction in needlecraft as well. The co-educational teacher training seminary, founded as

6162-410: Was the sole village established on the east bank of the Dnieper. Nieder Chortitza ( Nyzhnia Khortytsia  [ uk ] ) and Burwalde ( Baburka ) were founded in 1803, Kronstal ( Dolynske ) in 1809, Osterwick ( Pavlivka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast  [ uk ] ) in 1812, Schöneberg ( Smoliane  [ uk ] ) in 1816, and Blumengart (Kapustiane) and Rosengart ( Novoslobidka ) in 1824. When

6241-415: Was typically a craftsperson or herder, untrained in teaching, who fit class time around his occupation. The curriculum evolved as professional teachers gradually took their place. By the late Nineteenth Century the six grades included classes in religion, German, Russian, arithmetic, geography, history, and natural science, with difficulty appropriate to the grade. The Central Secondary School (Zentralschule)

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