Kowel Parish History
The Parish of Kowel (1937)
According to the Russian census of 1897, only 196 Germans lived in Kowel, and 3,170 lived in the county of Kowel. The first Polish census of 1921 counted 48 in the city and 2,230 in the county, a decline of almost a third. Although it had only a chapel, not a church, Kowel became a Filial* in 1918 and a Parish in 1937, under Pastor Erdmann Ziegler. Its Evangelical population was about 3,000. Kneifel mentions only two villages in this parish, Niewir (Newir, Niewiara), which was close to Klein Gluschka and not far from Kowel, and Zofjowka, which had belonged to Rowno Parish (!). The distance of this Zofjowka from Kowel makes this a bit hard to understand. A Sofiowka and a Zofiowka (Wysoka) were much closer to Kowel but were in Wladimir-Wolynsk Parish. Whichever Zofiowka he was referring to, this congregation had a choir led by Hugo Hielscher and a brass choir led by Posaunenwart Strohschein.
In 1938/39, the Evangelical congregation in Alexandrowka was made a Filial of Kowel, administered by Kowel's Pastor Ziegler. This was mostly a Polish-speaking community. According to Kneifel, its inhabitants had been spared deportation in 1915 because they were known as Holländer, and the Russian military authorities therefore believed that they were not to be numbered with the "dangerous" Germans!
*Kneifel does not say of which parish it became a Filial. It could either have been Wladimir-Wolhynsk, Rowno or Roshischtshe.
Pastors in Kowel Parish
| before 1889 | served by the Reformed Church Pastor Joseph MANDZELOWSKI from Niepokojczyce, Kreis Kobryn |
| after 1889 | Edmund Hermann SCHULTZ from Neudorf-Neubruch am Bug |
| 1936 - 1940 | Theodor ZIRKWITZ Siegmund August LOPPE Rudolf Erdmann ZIEGLER |
Evangelical Congregations in Kowel Parish
| Aleksandrowka / Karolinka-Jana | Mala Glusza / Klein Gluscha | Radomle / Stanislawowka |
| Aleksandrowo | Maniewicze | Rafalowka |
| Dombrowa | Niewir | Rokitno Wol. |
| Dubniki (R) | Osowik | Sarny |
| Kowel (W) | Pieszczanki | Zademle |
| Lada | Pinsk | Zofjowka (Row) |
Source:
KNEIFEL, Eduard: "Die evangelisch-augsburgischen Gemeinden in Polen 1555 - 1939", Selbstverlag des Verfassers, Vierkirchen 1971