Dutch-German Congregation
The Dutch-German Congregation (Congregazione Olandese-Alemanna) was a Protestant congregation in Livorno ( Italy ) that existed from 1622 until the second half of the 20th century . A new foundation of the same name from 1997 refers to the tradition of this community.
The history
The genesis
Towards the end of the 16th century, Grand Duke Francesco I de 'Medici commissioned the architect Bernardo Buontalenti to design a new fortified city of Livorno . Construction began in 1577 and, with interruptions, lasted a decade. After his accession to the throne in 1587, Grand Duke Ferdinando I de 'Medici accelerated the huge construction site by issuing orders with the aim of populating the new urban settlement. These decrees, known as “Leggi Livornine”, allowed merchants “of any nation” to settle and practice their faith. However, the Protestants remained practically excluded from this privilege, since at that time the Catholic cult was the only one recognized.
Many merchants, attracted by the growth of the city ensured by the “Leggi Livornine”, settled in Livorno and contributed to the economic and cultural prosperity of the city. The first Dutch and Germans came at the end of the 16th century; they were mainly grain dealers; Due to bad harvests, Livorno became the center of supply for northern central Italy.
Six Flemings and three Germans founded the Dutch-German Congregation in 1622 under the name “Dutch-German Nation”, a support association that ensured, for example, all compatriots the right to funeral and medical help, as well as help for everyone involved in legal matters were. She owned an altar dedicated to St. Andrew in the church Della Madonna , in whose crypt the deceased Catholic compatriots were buried, as well as those who died in transit, such as the sculptor François Duquesnoy .
The increasing importance of the Protestant portion
At the end of the 17th century, when the proportion of Reformed people predominated, it became imperative to regulate the burial of non-Catholic deceased. After the property of a certain Lambert Constant had been used for a few years, the congregation took over the area from 1683 as its own legitimate burial place outside the Pisaner Tor (Porta a Pisa) . Because of its exotic plants, it was compared to a botanical garden, which led to its name Garden of the Dutch (Giardino degli Olandesi) .
In the 18th century, the impulses from the ranks of the congregation to improve the urban economy grew, and they also contributed to all communal festivities. The social standing of the community was reflected in important buildings that were the headquarters of consulates or shipping companies, such as Haus Huigens and Haus Ulrich, both located in the second extension of the Venezia Nuova district.
Regardless, Protestants did not have a suitable place to worship due to opposition from the Catholic clergy until they were given a small chapel in a house on Via del Consiglio in the second half of the 18th century. For about forty years, between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, Johann Paul Schulthesius was pastor of the congregation.
In the 19th century, the congregation revised its own constitution, which was now given a strictly confessional content and was geared towards the practice of Lutheran and Calvinist cults, neglecting the national component. One of the first acts of the reformed congregation was to build a new cemetery next to the Greek Orthodox cemetery in Via Mastacchi. However, the question of a place for worship remained unsolved. In fact, the small chapel in Via del Consiglio - also located in an unkempt urban environment - was no longer suitable to accommodate a large number of members.
Only when the unification of Italy in 1815 allowed the freedom to practice religion as a right for all citizens, the Congregation could begin building a simple neo-Gothic church on Fosso Reale.
The decline
Soon after, the economic crisis, triggered by the abolition of the free port, caused the Congregation's rapid decline, which decimated it until the beginning of the 20th century. In view of the economic constraints, from 1922 onwards the congregation also accepted non-Livorno residents as registered members. In 1932 she sold the property of the Dutch Garden (Giardino degli Olandesi) at a price of 15,000 lire . In the years after the Second World War, it largely limited its activity to the management of the cemetery in Via Mastacchi. At the same time it was decided to sell the building with the apartment for the pastor and the school of the congregation; the part of the building behind the church was torn down and replaced by an unsuitable apartment block.
With the death of the last members in the second half of the 20th century, the congregation was dissolved; so the overview of all her property, which was inexorably dilapidated, was lost.
The congregation was re-established on February 26, 1997 by some interested descendants of previous members. A lack of funds and a lack of support from institutions have so far prevented the plans to restore the church and cemetery from being realized.
Personalities of the Dutch-German Congregation
- Johann Paul Schulthesius (1748–1816), pastor, composer and piano virtuoso.
- Pietro Senn (1767–1838), entrepreneur, was actively involved in the construction of the Livorno- Florence railway (Ferrovia Leopolda) .
- Gerhard Stub (1785–1858), entrepreneur, his son Harald left his house to the Sparkasse Livorno in order to use it as an orphanage for male and female youths.
- Agostino Kotzian (1792–1878), entrepreneur, President of the Chamber of Commerce, made a decisive contribution to the construction of the Livorno-Florence railway (Ferrovia Leopolda) .
- Enrico Mayer (1802–1877), pedagogue, founder of the school of mutual education (Scuola di mutuo insegnamento)
literature
- Giangiacomo Panessa: La Livorno delle Nazioni. I luoghi di preghiera. Collana Percorsi nella Storia. Debate, Livorno 2006.
- Giangiacomo Panessa, Mauro Del Nista (a cura di): La Congregazione Olandese-Alemanna. Intercultura e protestantesimo nella Livorno delle Nazioni. Debate, Livorno 2002.
- Hélène Koehl-Krebs: Petite histoire d'une communauté protestante interculturelle: Livourne au XIXe siècle. In Positions luthériennes, 53/1, 2005, p. 81-97.
- Giangiacomo Panessa, Maria Teresa Lazzarini: La Livorno delle Nazioni. I luoghi della memoria. Collana Percorsi nella Storia. Debate, Livorno 2006.
- Giuseppe Piombanti: Guida storica ed artistica della città e dei dintorni di Livorno. Livorno 1903.