Rosella Reimer Duerksen, “Early German Anabaptist Hymn Books”, Mennonite Life 12:2 (April 1957), pp. 61–63 and continued; based on her Union Theological Seminary dissertation. Mennonite Life was published at North Newton, Kansas (Bethel College).
Key facts: Rudolf Wolkan found the Passau records (Passauer Akten): the prisoners were “approximately sixty Swiss Brethren who were fleeing westward from Moravia”, arrested near the Bavarian border in 1535, held in the castle dungeon 1535–1540, “where many of them died”; later identified as Philippites (followers of Philip Plener). The 1564 Etliche schöne christliche Geseng had 53 hymns; twelve bear the initials H. B. (Hans Betz) and eleven M. S. (Michael Schneider). The earliest complete surviving Ausbund is the 1583 edition.
Corroborated by Clasen, Anabaptism: A Social History (53 hymns, 1535–1540, Philippites in the Passau dungeon) and Mennonite Quarterly Review 65 (1991) (Betz died 1537; Schneider the group’s leader), both seen as search snippets only.
Record compiled 31 October 2026.
About this research
Supporting documentation is linked throughout. This project is an exercise in AI-assisted research and development, and I haven’t manually verified every link or conclusion. All transcriptions and translations of Swiss parish records were made with AI, and their accuracy should be treated accordingly.