Hans Bürki: A Story of Persecution and Perserverance

Nijmegen (Nimewegen), Holland in 1641

Hans Bürki: Langnau, Switzerland 1710

“For the remembrance of my descendants and of all my fellow believers, I, Hans Bürki, of Langnau, want to relate what happened to me. I had gone to the mountain called Bluttenried (Community of Langnau), in company with my wife and two sons. There a poor man came to us to whom we gave something to eat; this man subsequently went to Harvag to the authorities and told them that he saw me. Thereupon the Bailiff of Trachselwald sent the traitor with a few others to take me prisoner. They came quite early in the morning to my hut, in which I stood unawares of any evil, and when I noticed the man before the door I had him supplied with something to eat.

Then I was made a captive and they took me away from my wife and twelve children and led me to Castle Trachselwald and placed me into a prison or dungeon, for four days, during which time I was taken sick. Then the bailiff with two provosts brought me on a cart into the city of Berne. There they placed me sick as I was, in the prison, called Ahur. After two days the gentlemen called and questioned me, whereupon I confessed my faith. Then they locked me up alone in a separate hole in the Ahur, and there I lay sick about five weeks, and altogether 17 weeks, in solitary confinement. Thereupon they led me into another prison, named the Island. There I lay during the whole long and cold winter with an unhealthy body and suffered very much from the intense cold. For a long time I was watched so closely that none of my family or anyone else could come to me, so that my friends did not know whether I was living or dead. Thereupon, at the beginning of the month of May 1709, I was brought with all the other prisoners to the hospital, and there, too, I was kept in such close surveillance that only very few persons could speak to us. We were compelled to work on wool from early morning until late at night, viz: from four o’clock in the morning until eight o’clock at night, and we got nothing to eat and drink but bread and water. This lasted about thirty-five weeks. Thereafter ten more weeks we were treated less severely.

Then the authorities had us conveyed to the ship, viz: on March 18, 1710, with the design of having us taken to America. The authorities told us that if any time and by any means we were to return to their country, they would inflict the death penalty on us. That the merciful Father has by his strong hand and through the medium of our brethren and friends in Holland, delivered us from our oppressors, as we arrived at Nimewegen, and came to the town where they had to release us. For this we thank the Almighty God and Father of all mercy, who will not forsake all those who place their confidence in him but will cause them to prosper. The whole time of my imprisonment has been about 21 months, for in the month of July, 1708 I was taken captive, and on the 18th of March, 1710, I was led away from Berne. Will come to a close here.”

-by Hans Bürki in 1710 as reported in the Annals of Pioneer Swiss and Palatine Mennonites of Lancaster

Langnau (located in Canton Bern, Switzerland) in 1826.

about Hans Bürki

Hans Bürki was born in Langnau, Switzerland in 1651 and married Barbara Langenegger about 1671. He was a respected member of the community working as a miller and a steward of alms for the poor. Hans’ deeply held Christian values eventually led him to membership in the Mennonite Anabaptist movement and by 1693 he became a minister.  The Anabaptist’s practice of waiting to be baptized until old enough to make the choice for themselves, rather than being baptized in infancy was considered heretical. Both Roman Catholics and Protestants persecuted the Anabaptists with torture and execution in an attempt to curb the movement’s growth. In 1699, after the Amish separated from the Swiss Mennonites, Hans signed a letter opposing the Amish’s strict adherence to fundamental doctrines which lead to the shunning of members.

As an outspoken Mennonite, Hans was marked in government records as a “taufer” (one who baptizes.) Hans and Barbara evaded government interference until 1708 by moving the family to the secluded mountain area of Bluttenreid. As Hans relays in his own words (above) he was betrayed, seized and confined for 21 months. In March of 1810, Hans and 56 other Mennonites were placed aboard a ship sailing toward America, but the group was instead set free in Holland and harbored by local Mennonites. During his banishment, Hans visited Amsterdam and Manheim, Germany, before finally returning to his family in Switzerland.

On July 9, 1711, “Hans, his hired hand Uli Gerber, and 10 others armed with pitchforks, sticks and clubs, made a stubborn resistance to either being thrown out of Switzerland or being arrested. Hans was sentenced to life imprisonment since he had previously promised not to return to Canton Bern.” Dutch Ambassador Runckel from Bern arranged for the men’s release from prison by placing them on ships bound for Holland. Hans refused to go to Holland and according to a letter by Ambassador Runckel “all of whom had been imprisoned and whom he had gotten out of prison with great difficulty…had the rudeness to inquire of him in a public place in the presence of…prominent men, whether he [Runckle] intended to take them away as prisoners or free men.” After boarding the ship under threat of being taken away in chains, Hans made the journey toward Amsterdam on the ship Emmenthaler. Many of the fugitives escaped at various points on the journey down the Rhine River. Hans disembarked at Manheim to take refuge with friends from his previous banishment.

Sometime before 1724 Hans and Barbara joined the Bernese Anabaptists at Corgemont in the Jura Mountains, which was under Prussian control at the time. Although there is no record of Hans death, it is believed that he and Barbara spent the rest of their years living near Corgemont.

In 1719, at the age of 19, Hans and Barbara’s grandson, Hans “John” Ulrich Bergey became the progenitor of the Bergey family in America, fleeing Swiss oppression for William Penn’s promise of religious freedom in Pennsylvania. John Bergey’s Homestead still stands on the banks of the Perkiomen Creek in Salford Township, Pennsylvania.

sources and links

Harness, Helen Ummel. Herber-Hallman Roots and Branches. 2003. Print

Trachselwald Castle: An Anabaptist Prison

Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, Hans Bürky