Peter Witte (bailiff)

Peter Witte (born November 7, 1641 in Lemkenhafen ; † July 24, 1713 there ) was a merchant, skipper and governor of Fehmarn .

Life

Witte was born on November 7, 1641 in Lemkenhafen on Fehmarn as the son of Michael Witte and Gerdruth Tiedemann. He married on November 30, 1663 in Landkirchen auf Fehmarn Emerentia Koeß from Blieschendorf. She came from a rural family and was connected to shipping; Her " bride's treasure " of 4500 thalers, which corresponds to three medium-sized houses, testifies to a certain degree of prosperity . The marriage resulted in 12 children.

Peter Witte was the governor of the Fehmarn region from 1692 to 1707 during the political dispute over whether the Duchy of Schleswig-Gottorf belonged to the Danish crown.

With the donation of the St. John's Sermon, which led to a revival of merrymaking at the solstice celebrations, he contributed to the preservation of rural traditions and pagan folklore. His generous, church-administered endowment, which was used for the St. John's sermon on the Sunday after St. John's sermon, was used up in 1912. He was honored with the following song in the dance halls:

"Peter Witt had given us a daaler, nu wööt wi ok take a laugh ...!"

In the Petrikirche (country churches) a magnificent epitaph commemorates him.

Web links

• http://www.fehmarngenealogy.com/epitaph_witte.htm