Material culture
Houses and homesteads
House of Abraham and Marie Reimer circa 1890 Stogi Malborskie (germ. Heubuden). Source: Mennonite Library and Archives Bethel College.
The architecture of Mennonite houses and homesteads was not significantly influenced by their religion. It stemmed mostly from the local environmental conditions, as well as the building standards that had become commonplace in Żuławy and in the Lower Vistula Valley between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries through the intermixing of German, Dutch and Pomeranian influences. Wealthier Mennonites living in the countryside and with larger farm holdings, lived in multi-purpose homesteads typical of the Vistula Olender (Dutch) style, in which the residential, livestock (stable and cowshed) and storage (barn) areas were all under one roof. Such buildings, most often made of wood, were of significant size, reaching up to 60 metres in length. Some homesteads were L-shaped or T-shaped. A few featured additional architectural details, such as an arcade or enclosed extension. Space in the residential part was most often divided in a manner typical for the majority of Dutch houses built before the mid-nineteenth century. A passageway ran along the entire length of the building, from the front door to the back door, ensuring communication with other rooms and allowing access to a large brick chimney located in the central part of the house which held the ‘black kitchen’. Two heated rooms were usually located between the hall and the building’s nearest gable. The larger one, closer to the front entrance, was referred to as the ‘large’ or ‘good’ room, and served as a representative space. It distinguished itself through the wall decorations, rich furnishings, as well as decorative door and window joinery work. The second, smaller room, located towards the rear, was the space where the entire family did their daily chores and lived, especially the women. A corner chamber, with a separate entrance from the garden, was often separated from this smaller room. In some houses, rooms on the opposite side of the hall, directly adjacent to the farming part, also played a residential function, usually occupied by boys or servants employed on the farm. The homestead attic served as a warehouse, but it often turned into temporary accommodation for the household members and their belongings during floods.
Cross-section of the Janson family arcaded house in Tui. Source: B. Schmid, Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Marienburg, Danzig 1919.
Such homes, once common in areas inhabited by the Mennonites, began to disappear or undergo major transformations starting from the mid-nineteenth century. While their actual numbers continue to decrease, the number of locations where historic Dutch houses (including those of Mennonites) can be visited by the general public is on the rise. These include the Olender Ethnographic Park in Wielka Nieszawka in Cuyavia, the Vistula Settlements Open-air Museum in Wiączemin in Mazovia, a Dutch homestead in Chrystków near Świecie, as well as arcade houses maintained by private owners in Żelichów and Żuławki in the Żuławy area.
Homestead in Kazuń Nowe (germ. Deutsch Kazun), 90s of the twentieth century. Photograph by W. Marchlewski.
Furniture
Mennonite dokument box. Source: Żuławy Museum in Nowy Dwór Gdanski. Photograph by M. Krawczyński.
Furniture characteristic for the Mennonites includes: dowry chests, cradles, wedding chairs, wardrobes. The chests were used to store clothes and came in various shapes and forms. Wealthy landowners from the delta of the Vistula River had ones made of ash wood with dark wood inlays. Poorer farmers ordered chests decorated with specially shaped wooden strips and balusters in the corners. Such chests were painted with floral or geometric patterns. These decorations were no different than the patterns used by workshops in the surrounding small towns.
Mennonite dokument box. Source: Żuławy Museum in Nowy Dwór Gdanski. Photograph by M. Krawczyński.
The wedding chairs are characteristic of Mennonite material culture. They draw on the traditions of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Dutch furniture makers and feature turned or planed parts connected using a tongue and groove system with a seat weaved from straw. A richly decorated upper part of the backrest board, with reliefs in the form of flowers, horses or geometric patterns, is what makes them unique. The date the chairs were made on can usually be found at the centre of the board. They are said to have had the function of a wedding gift given to the bride. This is evidenced by the decorations carved into the backboard, which show Adam and Eve standing on both sides of the Tree of Life, on which two birds sit and a snake wraps around one of the branches, whispering into Eve’s ear as she reaches for an apple. The large flowers on both sides of the figures are carnations, an ancient symbol of love, similarly to the two large pigeons.
A chair from a Mennonite village in Żuławy, 1980s. Photograph by W. Marchlewski.
Mennonite cradle. Source: Żuławy Museum in Nowy Dwór Gdanski. Photograph by M. Krawczyński.
Cradles are an interesting product of Mennonite carpentry. They are identical in form and structure, consisting of a dove-tail joined box with rockers cut into the bottom of the headboard and footboard, and a semi-circular top of the former. Painting patterns used were similar to those on the chests, with marbling, floral or geometric decorations. Mennonite cradles resemble those produced by small-town workshops for Kashubian and Masovian villages.
The wardrobe from village Tujsk (germ. Tiegenort) in Żuławy, 18th Century. Source: Department of Ethnography of the National Museum in Gdańsk. Photograph by Ł. Kępski.
In terms of technology and decoration, wardrobes for clothes and linen evolved from dowry chests. This can be seen in the tongue and groove technique used for joining boards, as well as the decorations in the form of inlays in the wardrobes of rich farmers and paintings in those of poorer landowners. These feature floral and geometric forms, with marbling at the top. Similarly to the construction of chests, their creators adapted the forms of their products to resemble French Empire or Biedermeier furniture. Mennonite craftsmen drew inspiration from the forms mass-produced by carpentry workshops in small towns. Cupboards with glass fronts, decorated similarly to the wardrobes, can also be found in Mennonite homes.
Churches
Post-mennonite church in Elbląg (germ. Elbing) from 1590, postcard from nineteenth century. Source: Mennonite Library and Archives Bethel College.
Despite numerous privileges enjoyed by the Mennonites who had lived in the Poland since the sixteenth century, they were not officially allowed to have their own churches for nearly two centuries. At that time, services were held in secret, in rock houses, schools, or in barns, in the countryside, in the so-called ‘hidden churches’. The first of them was to be established in 1568 in Mątawy, however, this claim must be approached with great caution, as it is not confirmed in any sources. In 1590, a house of prayer was opened in Elbląg in an adapted tenement house at today’s Garbary Street. In the following years, further temples were established in the settlements located just outside Gdańsk, in Nowe Ogrody (1638) and Zaroślak (1648). There is little information concerning the first Mennonite temples located in Żuławy Wiślane.
In the eighteenth century, the bishops of Chełmno gradually began to grant privileges to the Mennonites living in Żuławy which allowed them to build their own churches and cemeteries. In 1728, Bishop Ignacy Kretkowski issued a permit for the construction of Mennonite houses of prayer in Barcice and Jezioro. In 1751, a wooden house of prayer was built in Orłowskie Pole, and, in 1768, churches were built in Lubieszewo (today the area of the village of Stawiec), Stogi Malborskie, Cyganek near Żelichowo and Niedźwiedzica-Żuławki. Wooden churches were also erected outside Żuławy, for example, in Sosnówka near Grudziądz.
Interior plans of Mennonite churches in Żuławy. Source: B. Schmid, Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Marienburg, Danzig 1919.
A privilege to build a house of prayer in Orłowskie Pole (germ. Orlofferfelde) from 1751. Source: State Archives in Gdańsk. Photograph by Ł. Kępski.
In terms of their appearance, the first Mennonite houses of prayer were the opposite of the aesthetics represented by Roman Catholic churches, both in their architectural form and interior design. The design of every house of prayer was chosen by individual communities, as there was no single binding canon. The house of prayer was made of wood, had a simple structure with large windows, and was divided into a section for the church’s elders and other members of the community. The elders sat at the table on a bench put against the wall, facing the congregation sitting opposite. Some houses of prayer were equipped with a lectern located next to the bench or with a pulpit. Women and men were relegated to separate places in the church. In some congregations, women sat on galleries on the upper floor.
Mennonite church in Stogi Malborskie (germ. Heubuden), ca. 1930. Source: Mennonite Library and Archives Bethel College.
The end of the eighteenth century was the moment when some Mennonite communities began to deviate from the simplicity of the structural and interior design of their churches. For example, ‘inscriptional’ epitaphs, known from Protestant churches, were introduced in the houses of prayer located in Porędów and Niedźwiedzica-Żuławki, and an organ was installed in the church in Nowe Ogrody. On the other hand, the Mennonite church in Gdańsk, built in 1819, showcased many elements of the classical style. Even greater changes in the appearance of the Mennonite churches were introduced in the second half of the nineteenth century. While the churches in Mała Nieszawka (1890) near Toruń, or Kazuń Nowy (1892) in Masovia were still made of wood, the ones built in Rozgart (1890), Elbląg (1900), Jezioro (1865), and Cyganek near Żelichowo (1893) were constructed with bricks in neo-Gothic style. They did not differ much from rural sacred buildings erected by both Catholics and Protestants. They were a symptom of the increasing assimilation of the Mennonites.
Mennonite church in Gdańsk (germ. Danzig), ca. 1930. Source: Mennonite Library and Archives Bethel College.
Mennonite church in Cyganek/Żelichowo (germ. Tiegenhagen), early twentieth century. Source: Archiv of the Klub Nowodworski.
Interior of Mennonite church in Stogi Malborskie (germ. Heubuden), ca. 1930. Source: Mennonite Library and Archives Bethel College.
None of the Mennonite wooden houses of prayer has survived to this day in Żuławy Wiślane. The last wooden church which belonged to the commune in Niedźwiedzica-Żuławki burned down in the 1990s. However, brick churches in Rozgart, Jezioro, and Elbląg have been preserved. The tenement house where Mennonites held their services in Elbląg since the end of the sixteenth century is also still standing. The Mennonite churches in other regions of Poland did not fare any better. The churches that have survived to this day include also houses of prayer in Mątawy, Mała Nieszawka and Kazuń Nowy.
Post-mennonite church in Kazuń Nowy (germ. Deutsch Kazun), 1980s. Photograph by W. Marchlewski.
Post-mennonite church in Nowe Wymyśle (germ. Deutsch Wymysle), 1980s. Photograph by W. Marchlewski.
