(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Some 3,500 Mennonites gathered in Zurich at the end of May to celebrate the 500th anniversary of this Protestant religious movement, which originated on the banks of the River Limmat before spreading throughout the world. This content was published on June 28, 2025 - 11:00 5 minutes

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• French Departme

• Deutsch de Die Täuferbewegung auf den Spuren ihrer Schweizer Wurzeln Read more: Die Täuferbewegung auf den Spuren ihrer Schweizer Wurzel
• Français fr Le mouvement mennonite sur les traces de ses racines suisses Original Read more: Le mouvement mennonite sur les traces de ses racines suisse
• Italiano it Il movimento mennonita sulle tracce delle sue radici svizzere Read more: Il movimento mennonita sulle tracce delle sue radici svizzer
• Русский ru Возвращение к истокам: движение анабаптистов отмечает 500-летие Read more: Возвращение к истокам: движение анабаптистов отмечает 500-лети

Even for a cosmopolitan city like Zurich, the streets offered a rather unusual sight on May 29, with people coming from all over the world for an event that was neither sporting nor cultural, but religious.

In 2025, Catholics are not the only ones celebrating a jubilee. The Mennonites are too. To mark the 500th anniversary of the founding of this branch of Protestantism, Zurich hosted a meeting entitled“500: The Courage to LoveExternal link”, at the invitation of the Mennonite World Conference. Other events are planned throughout the year, both in Switzerland and abroad.

The jubilee's official poster. Conférence mennonite suisse

Various encyclopaedias, including Wikipedia, state that the Mennonite movement was founded in 1540 by the Dutch reformer Menno Simons. So why celebrate its half-millennium in Zurich in 2025?

The explanation is simple. Mennonites belong to the Anabaptist family, like the famous Amish in the United States. The origins of Anabaptism can be found in Zurich. Some specialists even trace its creation back to a specific event: the first adult baptism by a group of former disciples of the reformer Zwingli in the house of Felix Manz, in Zollikon, on January 21, 1525.

More More The Anabaptist Felix Manz meets a terrible end

This content was published on Sep 3, 2017 The people of Zurich crowded along both sides of the Limmat river to follow the drowning of Anabaptist Felix Manz in 1527.

Read more: The Anabaptist Felix Manz meets a terrible en

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