Stories from Weierhof
Mennonites have been living at the Weierhof for almost 350 years. The village is located in the southwest of Germany. After the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), the Krehbiel family, originally from Switzerland, settles here and builds the first farms. The settlement grows and becomes a center of Mennonite life in the Palatinate.
Grave Encounters: Face to Face
In the Weierhof cemetery, we walk past old graves with names of people we no longer know. There is a story behind every name. On these pages, we come face to face with memories these individuals may have carried of their own lives, allowing us to remember them anew.
The stories tell of emigration to America, of world wars, of escape and expulsion, of a new home, of culture and poetry and of community life at the Weierhof. Accompanied by the individuals highlighted here, we journey through the history of the 19th and 20th centuries.
What were their ideas about life, what challenges did they face, what significance did their faith have for their lives?
The life stories are based on select, accessible sources in text and images that we interpret through the lens of our own times. In doing so, we consciously or unconsciously create our own narrative. We bear in mind that these people are no longer with us to offer corrections to or enter into conversation with us about what we present here.
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