History of Steinbach: A Mennonite Estate in the Molotschna Colony

History
The Steinbach Estate was founded in about 1812 by Klaas Wiens (1768-1821), the first Oberschulze (chief official) of the Molotschna Colony. Klaas began the endeavour as a sheep ranch on land leased from the Tsarist crown. One of the farmhands, a Peter Daniel Schmidt (1789-1856), formerly from what is now in southwestern Germany, married Klaas’ daughter Anna Wiens on August 18, 1814. Tsar Alexander I visited the estate in 1825 and was so impressed that he granted the Steinbach estate owners 500 dessiatines in perpetuity. Peter Daniel Schmidt (also called Peter Schmidt I) continued the development of the estate, passing away on May 12, 1856.

Peter Daniel Schmidt’s children intermarried among the wealthiest Mennonites in Russia, giving rise to influential connections. The Schmidt’s also intermarried among themselves (such as first cousins marrying each other), keeping the wealth within the family. Through the generations, the Schmidt and Dick owners built lavish residences and employed many farmhands, funded by immense land holdings. At the Communist government’s directive in 1924, the estate was mostly abandoned. Today, the estate serves as a home for for disabled children. Google Maps shows the location as named Kalynivka.
source: Molotschna Historical Atlas, pp. 187-188.

My great-great-great-grandparents, David Regehr (c. 1834 – 1909) and Katharina nee Warkentin (c. 1835 – 1924) were shepherds for the estate and owned a small property on the estate’s north rim, which was later owned by their daughter Sarah Wiens nee Regehr (1862 – 1933), my great-great-grandmother.

Color photos below are from my 2007 trip to Ukraine.

Former Jakob Dick house. The house’s original elaborate adornments were removed by the Communist government for philosophical reasons. The pushed out room at left was originally a solarium with a beautifully domed roof. In 2007, a building crew was actively performing a major renovation. GPS co-ordinates: 47.025120, 35.997097. Google Maps satellite view.
Former Jakob Dick barn with children in the foreground. In 2007, was functioning as a living quarters for disabled children. GPS co-ordinates: 47.025355, 35.996569. Google Maps satellite view.


The eastern dormitory next to the Peter Schmidt house. GPS co-ordinates of the dormatory: 47.022779, 36.000488. Google Maps satellite view.



The likely former Nikolai H. Schmidt house along the northern edge of the estate. GPS co-ordinates: 47.027924, 35.996365. Visible in Google Maps satellite view.



Old, rustic Mennonite well next to the Jacob Dick barn.


Next to my mom is the elderly woman (left) living here in the former Johann Regehr house. She told us that as a young woman, she worked on the estate for Mennonites. She told us a few stories of life after the Communist government took over. The stories centered around the wealth of the former residents. One story was about a rumour that the rich Mennonites buried their wealth at the bottom of the pond. Local men dredged for it but, alas, found none.
Hints of the Mennonite heritage are still scattered about. A threshing stone at the former Johann Regehr house.
Former Nicolai P. Schmidt house. Most of the ornateness has been removed. Compare with the old photo of the highly adorned same building on the right. GPS co-ordinates: 47.025724, 35.998359. Google Maps satellite view.
More recently installed Mennonite monument of former resident Heinrich Schmidt (GRANDMA #207742), son of Steinbach estate owner Peter Daniel Schmidt (1789 – 1856). Paid for by Heinrich’s descendants. It reads: Heinrich Schmidt geb den 2 Februar 1824 gest den 29 Juli 1884.
You can see the sprawling Peter Schmidt housing complex at the south end of the estate through the forest grove. Google Maps satellite view.



Nikolai H. Schmidt family funeral of his wife, Maria nee Regehr, 1901. Photo is likely taken at the same house as shown on the left. Maria was survived by her husband and seven children, with her parents, David Regehr and Katharina nee Warkentin at back right. Photo courtesy of Martha Pauls nee Schmidt of Headingley, Manitoba.
Quaint bridge into the Steinbach estate over the Tschokrak River. GPS co-ordinates: 47.027092, 35.996915. Google Maps satellite view.
Map I created of the north side of the Steinbach estate, based on Google Maps satellite view, my visit to the estate in 2007, and rough sketches from Molotschna Historical Atlas. My big family history realization was finding the house of my great-great-grandmother, Sarah Wiens nee Regehr (1862-1933). My great-aunt, now in Canada, recalled as a child visiting the house, which she said was buried deep into the hillside. Sure enough, one house and only one house on the estate was deeply buried into rising bank of the river. This house was just a stones throw away from the known house of Sarah’s brother, Johann.

The same Nicolai P. Schmidt house as it stood many years ago, in the 1920s or earlier. The main building is actually a later addition to the house. The structure on right, mostly obscured by a tree, was the original, more modest house. Photo courtesy of descendant Martha Pauls nee Schmidt of Headingley, Manitoba.
The estate has a large planted grove of trees well over a hundred years old. I have a few old photos of Regehr ancestors posing in this very grove. How exciting when I recognized where the photos came from! GPS co-ordinates: 47.023678, 35.999539. Google Maps satellite view.
Johann Wiens, mother Sarah Wiens nee Regehr (1862-1933), Sarah Wiens at the Steinbach estate, circa 1920. Taken in the estate’s forest grove, with the camera facing northward. (Same grove as above photo.) The steep, rising far bank of the Tschokrack River is seen in the distance behind Johann. Sarah Wiens nee Regehr is my great-great-grandmother.
What I believe is the former Johann Regehr house, north of the Tschokrak River. Only half of the house still stands, but it’s still big enough to inhabit. GPS co-ordinates: 47.027757, 35.995591. Google Maps satellite view.


Cross-sectional view of a Mennonite house on the western outskirts of the estate along the Yushanlee River.

The top of this clay roofing tile reads (I’m told) in Russian, “Wilms Factory”. According to the Molotschna Historical Atlas, page 171, J. A. Wilms opened a brick and tile factory in Petershagen sometime before 1914.





Aging transformer distributing power to the estate. A reminder that while Ukraine is modernizing its infrastructure, its government has limited funds.
Northwest corner of the estate. Pond in the foreground, with the rising back of the Yushanlee in the background. A few old Mennonite structures exist, the Mennonite Historical Atlas probably mislabels the building at left as being the “Wiens House”. I spoke a few times with the author, the late Helmut Huebert, he wasn’t aware of my Wiens great-great-grandmother owning property on the north side of the estate, but not at the location shown in this photo.
Barn on the outskirts of the Jacob Dick portion of the estate. The path next to this barn leads to the Peter Schmidt hub of the estate. Google Maps satellite view. My great-grandparents (Abram Bergmann and Katharina nee Wiens) got married at the Steinbach estate in 1907 in a newly built barn. Could it have been this one?
Google Maps Satellite Photo from 2026 with labels added by me. Amazing how much of the estate still stands a hundred years later, with much of it in active use.
Nikolai H. Schmidt and three of his sons in the Steinbach estate forest grove, circa 1920. Left to right: Heinrich Schmidt (1892-1981), David Schmidt (1890-1936), Nikolai H. Schmidt (1861-1930), Gerhard Schmidt (1903-1973). This photo looks to be from the same photo shoot as the Sarah Wiens family photo above.