David Nitschmann (Legal Counsel)

David Nitschmann (to distinguish people with the same name in the Moravian tradition often with the nickname Syndikus or David Nitschmann III ; born September 19, 1703 in Zauchtenthal ; † March 29, 1779 in Zeist , Netherlands) was a German-Moravian missionary and the first archivist of the Moravian Brethren .

Live and act

Nitschmann, who belonged to the Bohemian Brothers persecuted in Moravia , emigrated to Saxony in 1724 together with his namesakes, the later bishop and the "confessor" who died in prison in 1729 , where he and some fellow fates on the estate of Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf in Herrnhut Was accepted and in 1724 was one of the founders of the Brethren. His father Georg Nitschmann († 1741) also joined the congregation and was one of the four senior elders from 1727. David Nitschmann learned the trade of weaver, but from 1728 was employed by Zinzendorf as a valet and private secretary. He played a decisive role in transferring the tradition of the Unity of the Bohemian Brethren to the Moravians. Mission trips took him to Denmark, England, St. Petersburg (1735) and Switzerland. A missionary visit to Ceylon ( Sri Lanka ) from the end of 1738 to 1741 was unsuccessful. After Zinzendorf's death in 1760, Nitschmann joined the leadership of the Brethren. Living in Zeist from 1762 on, he gathered archive materials there and looked after Zinzendorf's estate, interrupted by a visitation trip to Pennsylvania in 1765/66 . From 1775 he was the full-time director of the central university archive of the Brethren, which he had set up in Zeist.

literature

Hermann Arthur Lier: Nitschmann . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1886, pp. 712-714 (in the family article).
Matthias Wolfes : Nitschmann, David. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 31, Bautz, Nordhausen 2010, ISBN 978-3-88309-544-8 , Sp. 970-975.
Hellmut Reichel : David Nitschmann. Syndic and first archivist of the Brethren. A living witness and faithful keeper . In: Rudolf Mohr (Ed.): “Everything is yours, but you are Christ”. Festschrift for Dietrich Meyer (= series of publications by the Association for Rhenish Church History, Volume 147). Cologne 2000, pp. 857-896.

Individual evidence

↑ To this trip in detail Otto Teigeler: The Moravians in Russia. The aim, scope and output of their activities. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2006, pp. 93–158.

personal data
SURNAME	Nitschmann, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German-Moravian missionary and the first archivist of the Moravian Brethren
DATE OF BIRTH	September 19, 1703
PLACE OF BIRTH	Zauchtenthal
DATE OF DEATH	March 29, 1779
Place of death	Zeist , Netherlands

[1] To this trip in detail Otto Teigeler: The Moravians in Russia. The aim, scope and output of their activities. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2006, pp. 93–158.