The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia, 1880-1884, Fred Richard Belk, 1976

east was an absolute necessity for the true believer.® Claas Epp and the East Among the many who were powerfully touched by Jung-Stilling’s Heimweh and other works was Claas Epp, Jr., a young farmer of Hahnsau, in the Trakt colony. The Epp family had been a famous one in Prussia, and they had originally come from the village of Firstenwerder, twelve miles east of Danzig.** The family had mi- grated in 1853 as part of the last major influx of German Mennonites to Russia. Indeed, Claas Epp, Sr., had been the organizer and leader of that expedition which established the Trakt settlement, as well as the founder of Hahnsau, the first and oldest Mennonite village in the Volga region. Senior Epp went about making Hahnsau a model agricultural village for peasants in the surrounding Volga Valley to emulate.” In exchange for their exemplary skill and industry, the Mennonite farmers of Hahnsau were promised free exemption from military service for 20 years, after which time they were expected to pay taxes in lieu of exemption. Each family received 160 acres of land.* The village itself was named after Edward von Hahn, a Russian statesman in charge of German migration, and was located in Malyshevka district (volost) on Terlic Brook. The original village had 25 families and a total population of 163. Every inhabitant farmed for a livelihood. Though one reason for the migration to the Trakt colony was the exorbitantly high land prices in the Ukraine, most of the inhabitants of Hahnsau, including Epp, had brought consid- erable capital with them from Prussia. Important to Hahnsau’s later development were the traits of diligence and good business sense of its inhabitants and its superior opportunities for education.” Nearby lay the district village of Képpental, founded in 1855, and named after a Russian state counselor who had promoted the settlement. Originally the village consisted of 25 families, each farming 175 acres. The Russian administrative headquarters for the district of the Trakt was located here.** Typical of most of the Mennonite villages of the Volga, Koppental was pleasantly situated in the valley of Malish Brook, along which the separate farms were located. High poplar trees lined both sides of the stream so that one could not see from one side to the other. In spring, the Malish would overflow so that the streets and basements were underwater, but for Village . Hahnsau . KOppental . Lindenau . Fresenheim . Hohendorf . Lysanderh oh . Orloff . Valuyevka . Ostenfeld . Medemtal Year of Settlement 1854 1855 1856-59 1856-59 1862 1864 1871 1875 1872 1872 TRAKT MENNONITE SETTLEMENT, 1897 No. of Families Settlers moved to Central Asia in 1880-81 36 26 21 18 22 17 8 19 30 Population 1897 wsDy}YyD fo auadsauy ay] LS 58 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites youngsters it was joyous for playing in