Tour of the Village
Tour the Village
2. The Semlin
3. Johann Bartsch Memorial
4. The Great Oak Tree of Chortitza
5. Monument to Mennonite Women
6. Hochfeld House
7. Orchard
8. Chortitz Housebarn
9. Summer Kitchen
10. Outdoor Oven
11. Waldheim House
12. The Peters Barn
13. Jacob Hoeppner Memorial
14. Old Colony Worship House
15. The Mennonite Private School
16. Farm Barn and Animal Pens
17. Granery
18. Sawmill Shelters
19. Windmill
20. Barkfield Public School
21. Steamer Shelter
22. Livery Barn Restaurant
23. Blacksmith Shop
24. Printery
25. Reimer Store
26. General Store
27. Lichtenau Church & Cairn
28. Short Order Booth
29. Antique Tractor Display
30. Transportation Building
31. Berlin Wall
32. The Great Trek Memorial
33. Garden & Pond
34. Pavilion
35. CO Cairn
36. Reimer Tombstone
37. Vegetable Garden
Exhibits & Galleries
At the Village Center we house a Main Gallery. This gallery features the history of the Mennonites from the 1500s to the present day. We are periodically updating the gallery and introducing new artifacts into the story, so there is always something new to see and experience.
The Gerhard Ens Gallery Exhibits at the Museum are the result of careful study and documentation, but they are only able to show a small fraction of what goes on here at the museum. We are periodically changing this gallery to explore different topics and issues relevant to the Mennonite story. View Current Exhibits.
The Auditorium Gallery includes temporary display walls. The temporary component changes just like the Gerhard Ens Gallery, and sometimes is used to display art like the Art Hall.
The Art Hall is a small but well-exposed venue for local artists to display their works to the public and, if that is their intent, prospective buyers.
Education
Mennonite Heritage Village Education School Program
- Step out of the classroom and into the Past
- Engages students using multi-sensory activities
- Gives students the opportunity to handle artifacts for exploration and discovery
- Presented by trained interpreters in period costume
- Ideal setting to immerse students in history of Mennonite culture
- Restored historical buildings and artifacts telling the Mennonite story from 1800’s to present day
- Winter program – Grades K-6, February – April
- Interpretive spring and summer program, May – September
- Hands-on program, May – June
- Day care program, July – August
- Structures/Windmill program, October
- Guided tours, May – September
Spring & Summer Program
Program options (for Grades K – 6):
- Interpretive
- Hands-on
- Guided tour
Program runs from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
Picnic tables are available to use for lunch break if bringing bag lunches.
The Livery Barn Restaurant is open for lunch. Lunches need to be pre-ordered at least two weeks in advance. Information is available at time of booking.
Interpretive Program:
- Program offered during May, June and September (Tuesday – Friday)
- Focus is to tour the outdoor village
- Group leaders will be given a map and outline of tour
- Students will go from building to building where they will be welcomed by interpreters in period costume
- Students have opportunity to experience how life was lived in late 19th century Mennonite villages.
Experiences:
- Visit the semlin (underground house)
- Watch an interpreter spin wool at the house-barn
- Sample schnetje (biscuits) and fresh rhubarb jam at the summer kitchen
- Use slate and pencil at the Mennonite private school
- Visit the Old Colony Church
- Stop at the windmill and observe the miller at work
- Watch the blacksmith make horse shoes and/or nails
- Watch the printer at the printery
- Go on a horse drawn wagon ride (weather permitting)
For More Information:
Call 204-326-9661
Schedule and instructions will be emailed prior to visit.
Download the booking form here.
Winter Program (for Grades K – 6)
Two separate indoor programs available:
- Grades K – 3 (“The Mennonites: Then and Now” meets criteria for General Learning Outcomes C, I, D, L, T, and G)
- Grades 4 – 6 (meets criteria for General Learning Outcomes I, D, L, T, G, and E)
Program is similar to outdoor Hands-on program in summer:
- Program runs from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
- Children dress in vests and aprons depicting simple wardrobe of early Mennonites
- Explore life of Mennonite immigrants from a child’s perspective
- Activities emphasize the role of a pioneer Mennonite child within family and community
- Five areas are highlighted in each program: Migration, Home, Work, School, Play
Activities will vary for different grades and may include the following:
- Listening to a story (illustrated with large pictures) of a pioneer family while snowed inside their semlin (sod house). Weather permitting, story may be told inside the semlin.
- Packing a trunk with replica items for Mennonite immigrant family moving from Russia to Manitoba in 1864.
- Writing on a slate with slate pencils in a Mennonite private school setting.
- Learning to write with quill pen and ink in Mennonite private school setting.
- Watching spinning wool and/or learning to quilt a comforter.
- Carding and spinning wool, darning socks, braiding rugs.
- Making a handkerchief toy (“kodda pup”).
- Playing traditional Mennonite circle games.
- Learning to use and handle wood working tools.
- Learning to do laundry on wash board and mangle.
- Learning to bake biscuits (schnetje).
- Optional – wagon or sleigh ride (weather permitting).
For More Information:
Call 204-326-9661
Schedule and instructions will be emailed prior to visit.
Download the booking form here.
Schedule and instructions will be emailed prior to visit.
Hands-on Program (for Grades K – 6)
Two separate indoor programs available:
- Grades K – 3 (“The Mennonites: Then and Now” meets criteria for General Learning Outcomes C, I, D, L, T, and G)
- Grades 4 – 6 (meets criteria for General Learning Outcomes I, D, L, T, G, and E)
>Program is similar to indoor winter program:
- Program runs from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
- Children dress in vests and aprons depicting simple wardrobe of early Mennonites.
- Explore life of Mennonite immigrants from a child’s perspective.
- Activities emphasize the role of a pioneer Mennonite child within family and community.
- Five areas are highlighted in each program: Migration, Home, Work, School, Play
Activities will vary for different grades and may include the following:
- Listening to a story (illustrated with large pictures) of a pioneer family while snowed inside their semlin (sod house). Story will be told inside the semlin;
- Packing a trunk with replica items for Mennonite immigrant family moving from Russia to Manitoba in 1874;
- Writing on a slate with slate pencils in a Mennonite private school setting.
- Learning to write with a quill pen and ink in a Mennonite private school setting.
- Watching spinning wool and/or learning to quilt a comforter.
- Carding and spinning wool, darning socks, braiding rugs.
- Making a handkerchief toy (“kodda pup”).
- Playing traditional Mennonite circle games.
- Learning to use and handle wood working tools.
- Learning to do laundry on a wash board and a mangle
- Learning to bake biscuits (schnetje).
- Optional – wagon or sleigh ride (weather permitting).
Social Studies Curriculum
Dear Middle Grades Teacher:
The Mennonite Heritage Village offers a Winter Program to students/teachers in the middle grades that enhances the Manitoba Social Studies Curriculum. The Mennonite way of life in the late nineteenth century will be emphasized through hands-on activity & instruction. This program meets general Learning Outcomes I, D, L, T, G, E.
Five separate areas of life will be focused on in this program: Migration, Home, Work, School and Food. Prior to arrival please have the class divided into five groups (re – five stations). An adult supervisor should accompany each group. As students proceed through each station, they will be exposed to various hands-on activities and instruction. The program will enable students to do all of the following activities:
- Write with a quill pen and ink in a Mennonite private school setting
- Bake schnetki (biscuits) and taste them
- Experience a make-believe journey from Russia to North America
- Harness a simulated horse
- Card and spin wool/darn socks/rug braiding
- Optional: sleigh/wagon ride with horses (weather permitting)
Students and teachers/parents are expected to arrive at 10:00 am and depart at 2:00 pm.
Except for the sleigh ride this is an indoor program and request children to bring both indoor and outdoor footwear.
This four hour Winter Program has been designed to allow each student and teacher to participate in every activity. The Winter Program will be offered from February to April.
For additional information or to make a reservation, please contact:
Mennonite Heritage Village
Phone 204-326-9661 Fax 204-326-5046
Soup, bread & coffee available for adults
Download the booking form here.
** Preference will be given to early booking **
Structures Program
- This program is offered during October and November (Monday – Friday)
- Program length is 1 hour
- Curriculum connection Grade 3
- Focus is to help children understand the strength, stability, and configuration of construction materials used in structures
- Students will build a triangle in the workshop
- Students will go to three different locations within the village
- Windmill
- Public school for a model station
- Workshop for a hands-on station
For More Information:
Call 204-326-9661
Schedule and instructions will be emailed prior to visit.
Download the booking form here.
Schedule and instructions will be emailed prior to visit.
