Baptist in East Frisia

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Large church in Emden, where Melchior Hofmann baptized

There is evidence of Anabaptists in East Friesland since 1528. The first Anabaptist congregation , which later also became the nucleus of Dutch Anabaptism, was constituted in Emden in 1530 . The names of the Anabaptist founders Melchior Hofmann and Menno Simons are closely connected with the beginnings of the East Frisian Anabaptist movement . The historical legacy of the Anabaptists came to the Mennonites . Today you are represented in East Frisia with communities in Emden, Leer and Norden .

Political-religious situation at the beginning of the East Frisian Anabaptist movement

The county of East Friesland around 1500

When Anabaptist teachings first gained a foothold in East Friesland, Count Edzard I (1461–1528) from the Cirksena family ruled Emden . Under his rule, the county of East Friesland reached its greatest expansion and recorded a significant upswing in both cultural and economic terms. Edzard I set the course for the introduction of the Reformation . However, since his sovereign rights were limited by the special freedoms of the Frisian estates, it was not possible for him to enforce a certain Reformation creed. This led to a sectarian split in East Frisia that continues to this day. While Lutheranism dominated in the east of East Frisia , the west became Calvinist . In the cities of East Frisia, there was a long struggle for dominance of one or the other creed.

Ulrich von Dornum (1465/66? -1536) also played a major role in the introduction of the Reformation in East Frisia . The Lord of Oldersum , Jarßum and Widdelswehr was the initiator of the so-called Oldersum Religious Discussion , which took place in June 1526. He prepared a transcript of this disputation and had it printed in Wittenberg . This script played a major role in the fact that the East Frisian countries opened their doors to the Reformation. There were no more Catholic parishes after the introduction of the Reformation in East Frisia and there were hardly any Catholic Christians, the so-called Old Believers .

Edzard I was succeeded by Count Enno II (1505–1540). He was of the Lutheran denomination, while the Reformed dominated his seat of government in Emden . During his time the Emden Anabaptist congregation was founded.

Beginnings

Spread of the Anabaptist movement between 1525 and 1550
Melchior Hofmann
Stations on Hofmann's travels
Andreas Bodenstein , called Karlstadt

The contemporary historian Eggerik Beninga reports in his East Frisian Chronicle that around 1528 the neither dopers ( Anabaptists ) appeared in public for the first time . This remark is probably aimed at disputes in connection with the doctrine of baptism, which determined the theological landscape of East Frisia in the 1520s to a significant extent. In a letter dated February 14, 1529, Ulrich von Dornum informed Count Enno II about a Larrelter preacher who was devoted to the Anabaptist teaching . For his part, Enno II complained in a letter to Landgrave Philip of Hesse , written around 1530, about the different baptismal views that were propagated in his territory. A more detailed analysis of the baptismal doctrines mentioned in this letter suggests that their representatives must have been both so-called sacramentarians of various stamps and chiliastic theologians. It was also assumed that among the evangelical religious refugees who had come to East Frisia in the 1520s, there must also have been “Anabaptist elements from the party of Denck's followers of Jesus ”. The extent to which Anabaptist messengers were on the move in East Friesland before 1530 cannot be clearly proven based on the sources. The presence of the Hessian Anabaptist leader Melchior Rinck in Emden, which is reported in older accounts, is no longer considered likely in recent research. However, testified is that the beginning of ostfriesischen and Dutch Baptist movement with the occurrence of the out Schwäbisch Hall derived Kürschners Melchior Hofmann is closely connected. But Andreas von Bodenstein von Karlstadt was also one of the pioneers of Anabaptism in East Frisia.

Hofmann and Karlstadt in East Frisia

Melchior Hofmann

When Hofmann, the “most successful lay preacher of the Reformation period”, first set foot on East Frisian soil in 1529, he had already come a long way - both externally and internally. Stops on his journey included the Baltic States ( Wolmar , Dorpat and Reval ), Sweden ( Stockholm ), the then Danish duchies of Schleswig and Holstein ( Flensburg and Kiel ) and Lübeck . At first he was considered a Lutheran messenger , endowed with a testimony to his orthodoxy written personally by Martin Luther . An iconoclasm in Livonia - although not provoked by him - , his Zwinglian conception of the Lord's Supper and his special apocalyptic worldview soon brought him into disrepute among the Lutheran branch of the Reformation. The so-called Flensburg disputation , at which Hofmann and Johannes Bugenhagen faced each other in 1529, turned into a scandal. In view of the overwhelming power of Lutheran theologians expected of him, Hofmann had asked Andreas Karlstadt, Luther's doctoral advisor, to be his assistance. Martin Luther intervened and ensured that Karlstadt, who was resident in East Friesland at the time, was not allowed to enter the Danish kingdom. Hofmann lost the disputation and was convicted as a heretic at the end . The Danish King Friedrich I , who, as a staunch sacramentarian, was inwardly inclined to Hofmann, prevented the embarrassing questioning intended for the “false teacher” by expelling him from the country.

Melchior Hofmann turned to East Frisia in April 1529, where he arrived in May. There (or even earlier during the trip?) He made contact with Andreas Karlstadt, who had found protection from the persecutions of the Lutheran reformers in the Junker Ulrich von Dornum . Hofmann must have got to know and appreciate Ulrich von Dornum on this occasion, because he later dedicated two of his writings to him. For a short time Karlstadt and Hofmann were traveling together in East Frisia.

Andreas Bodenstein from Karlstadt

The itinerary Carlstadt for the months between May 1529 and February 1530 is known. From Oldersum , where he and Hofmann had found accommodation at the castle, Karlstadt traveled to Hicko Houwerda , who had his aristocratic residence in Uphusen and who was later reported to have been a Karlstadtian . After that, Andreas Karlstadt was guest of Berumer Drosten Jeltco Iderhoff for seven weeks . While he was banned from the pulpit in both Uphusen and the Hage near Berum, the churches in Pilsum and Werdenum were made available to him. Karlstadt spent the last months of his stay in East Friesland under the code name Bauer Andrees on a farm near Schoonorth . It is not known at which meetings on his trip to East Friesland Hofmann was present in the two months together. He wrote his report on the Flensburg Disputation at Oldersum Castle and with this writing finally broke with Lutheranism. While Karlstadt remained first in Berum and then in Krummhörn until the beginning of 1530 and was then expelled by Count Enno II due to the Anabaptist mandate , Hofmann left for Strasbourg , the “meeting place of many deviants”.

Intermezzo: Hofmann in Strasbourg

In Strasbourg Hofmann got to know the different directions of the Anabaptist movement. In 1529 these included the Swiss brothers Schleitheimer coinage, members of the Marbeck district and supporters of Hans Denck's spiritualism . He also met the group of so-called Strasbourg prophets, who had gathered around the couple Jost and Barbara Rebstock . He wrote down and published Ursula Jost's visions. They confirmed him in his apocalyptic teachings. He also saw in them a clear indication of his own role in the end-time conflicts. From Ursula's husband Lienhard Jost , he took over the idea of ​​the "apostolic messengers" who had to establish a special covenant between God and an end-time church with the baptism of faith . The baptism was for Hofmann henceforth as federal character whose establishment was especially applied among other things to him. Other theological peculiarities of Hofmann probably also have their roots in Strasbourg. These include Denck's view of universal reconciliation , the Erasmic doctrine of free will and his peculiar Monophysitic Christology : Christ passed through Mary without having accepted the “cursed Adam's flesh” from her. According to this concept, Maria was a kind of “surrogate mother” who God made herself available for his son to “come into the world”.

The question of by whom Melchior Hofmann was baptized cannot be answered on the basis of the available sources. It is quite possible that he, who saw himself as an apostolic messenger, did not consider it necessary to be baptized himself. Even with the majority of the New Testament apostles there was no indication of receiving a baptism. It is known, however, that during his first stay in Strasbourg he personally campaigned for the various directions of the Anabaptist movement and, in the spring of 1530, demanded the provision of a separate church building for them. When the City Council of Strasbourg wanted to arrest him, Hofmann fled the city and returned to East Friesland, where he arrived in Emden in May 1530 after Karlstadt's expulsion.

The Emden Anabaptist Congregation

Great Church today ( Johannes-a-Lasco Library )
Today's interior of the Great Church

Once in Emden, Melchior Hofmann immediately began an extensive preaching activity. The ground was obviously prepared by Karlstadt and other personalities already mentioned who were inclined to the Anabaptist movement. Hofmann's proclamation aroused great approval and enthusiasm. Even preachers took his side for support. Hofmann's place of preaching was the Great Church in Emden and - according to the chronicler Eggerik Beninga - its Gerkamer his baptistery . Over 300 people are said to have undergone baptism at the beginning of June 1530, which for Hofmann symbolized the engagement between the believer and his heavenly bridegroom Christ. According to Hofmann's doctrine of baptism, they entered into the obligation “to leave the world and walk undeterred through the desert of persecution and loneliness to the Promised Land.” Obbe Philips (1500–1568) wrote, looking back on the Emden events of 1530: “ And the old count let everything happen as long as Melchior was there. And as they said, the count was devoted to this belief. "

There is only sparse information about the organizational form of the first Emden Anabaptist congregation. Hofmann's ecclesiological concept, which had developed after several changes and breaks on his “path from Luther to the Anabaptists”, can, however, be represented on the basis of his writings. At the head of “his” church are the apostolic messengers who, as directly called to proclaim God, go from town to town and country to country. They have a perfect righteousness that they do not lose even if they sin. They live in extreme poverty and travel penniless as ambassadors of the gospel. The second group in this hierarchy is " the band of firstborn prophets ". They are subject to the messengers and have their dreams and visions examined by them against the norm of God's Word. Third is “the whole bunch of pastors,” each of whom is the shepherd of the local church. You yourself are under the spiritual shepherdess of the messengers. In contrast to them, they are allowed to dispose of a house and yard, not least to be able to accommodate traveling apostles. The lowest stratum of the congregation consists of the simple congregation members who have no right to personal contact with the messengers, but receive apostolic instructions from their congregation leaders. This hierarchical church structure radically contradicted the “community democracy” that was taught and lived by other Anabaptists - for example by the Swiss brothers . Here the shepherds, teachers, servants of necessity ( deacons ) and messengers were elected by the congregation and in the place of a church hierarchy that gave instructions from top to bottom, there was the synod, the union of several children of God who are concerned with teaching and ethics wrestled with each other. The East Frisian Anabaptists should only come closer to the views of the Swiss brothers through the effectiveness and influence of Menno Simons . Until then, the Emden congregation and the movement initiated by some of its members in the Netherlands and in the Münsterland were melchioritic .

This ecclesiological concept is partly reflected in the few reports that we have about the organizational structure of the Emden Anabaptist community. Melchior Hofmann sent apostolic messengers to the Netherlands while he was still in Emden . Before leaving for Amsterdam , he subordinated the Emden community to Jan Folkertsz Trypmaker , a shepherd from Hoorn in North Holland . A prophet also spoke up during the early days of the Emden Anabaptist community. The above-mentioned chronicler Obbe Philips wrote in his confessions : “And since Melchior ran his agitation [in Emden] with haste, he went up to Strasbourg on an old man's prophecy in East Friesland. The man had prophesied that he would spend six months in prison in Strasbourg and then continue his ministry with the help of his servants or followers all over the world. ”Hofmann followed this prophecy, but not without detour. He first moved to Amsterdam and only from there to Strasbourg, where he was "good willed, happy and comforted" (Obbe Philips) captured. His imprisonment should not only last six months and also not end with the prophesied freedom. He died in prison after ten years of imprisonment. During his stay in prison, Melchior Hofmann wrote more than 35 writings, more than half of which have been lost.

News about Hofmann's appearance in East Frisia reached Wittenberg within a very short time. As early as June 1, 1530, Martin Luther wrote to the Bremen preacher Johannes Zelst that he and the other representatives of the Lutheran party should avoid the “Melchior with his figurative interpretation of the script”, “because it had long been given over to Satan and was only filled with fanatical speculations . "

Further developments

From Emden, the Melchioritic Anabaptist movement spread over Friesland, North Holland and Amsterdam in the entire northern Netherlands within a very short time and experienced rapid growth there. In addition to Hofmann, it was above all the aforementioned Jan Folkertsz Trypmaker and Sikke Freriks , who was still baptized by him in Emden , who preached the Anabaptist teachings beyond the East Frisian western border. On the one hand, their message fell on fertile ground, since "large parts of the population were alienated from the Roman Church by the sacramental criticism of the Lord's Supper and, under deteriorating conditions, were susceptible to apocalyptic interpretation of the world". On the other hand, there was fierce resistance from state and church authorities, which led to persecutions and executions from the start. Hofmann therefore ordered a so-called standstill of baptism around 1533 . However, this order was not followed by parts of the Melchiorites, which had since become radicalized. One of them was Jan van Leiden , who later became the so-called Anabaptist King of Munster .

One of the first Anabaptist martyrs in the Netherlands was Sikke Freeriks, founder of the Anabaptist Congregation Leeuwarden, from which the brothers Obbe and Dirk Philips later emerged. Freeriks' execution made a deep impression on the Roman Catholic priest and later Baptist Menno Simons and prompted him to search for the biblical justification of infant baptism .

Eggerik Beninga reported on the further development of the Anabaptist movement in East Frisia: So soon de Overicheit vernam, dat Melchior began to dope, he was annexed with the sects, and on other days dopen hadden laten, uth Ostfreeslant banned, and all who were sects , had to ruy. According to this report, the Anabaptist movement in East Friesland would only have been a short episode. However, there are legitimate reasons to doubt this report. On the one hand, it can be proven that Melchior Hofmann only left the city of Emden in the late autumn of 1530. His stay in Emden therefore lasted several months. There can be no question of Hofmann's immediate expulsion after his first baptisms. A mandate from Count Enno II, which was only issued in 1534 and instructed the Emden magistrate to prevent rebaptisms and arrest Anabaptists, would then also have no reason. The Anabaptist movement initiated by Melchior Hofmann outlasted all official measures and persecutions, but experienced an inner change in the following years through the appearance of Dirk Philips, Menno Simons and other Anabaptist personalities. The East Frisian Melchiorites, who had carried the Anabaptist message to the Netherlands, became Mennonites under the influence of Dutch Anabaptists.

History of the Mennonites in East Frisia

Menno Simons
William Penn

The development of the Melchioritic East Frisian Anabaptists to Mennonism is closely connected with Menno Simons, who gave this free church movement its name . Simons, originally a Catholic priest in the West Frisian towns of Pingjum and Witmarsum , had for a long time had doubts about the doctrine of the Lord's Supper due to his preoccupation with the Bible and various writings of Luther . In 1531 he learned of the execution in Leeuwarden of the aforementioned Anabaptist martyr Sikke Frerichs and consequently began to deal with the baptismal doctrine of his church and its biblical justification. The consequence of this reflection and further considerations for him was the resignation of his priesthood and the exit from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1536 he was baptized by Obbe Philips. After a year of silence and personal scripture study, which he spent in hiding in Groningen , Menno Simons was ordained elder of the Anabaptists in 1537. In the same year he moved to East Frisia, where he lived until 1546. Menno Simons succeeded in forming orderly congregations from the remnants of the East Frisian Anabaptist groups, which were strengthened by the influx of religious refugees from the Netherlands.

Although the Mennonites remained a religious minority in the partly Lutheran and partly Reformed environment, they were always represented in the cities and rural communities of East Frisia in the centuries that followed. In relation to the other Protestant denominations they established themselves over the years and “practiced ecumenical dialogue early on ”. With the political rulers they remained "the object of constant financial blackmail" until the end of the 17th century. So asked Count Enno III. In 1622, 12,000 Reichsthalers from the East Frisian Mennonites, for which he wanted to allow them safe conduct and free - albeit non-public - practice of religion for ten years . After the Mennonites had refused the requested protection money payment, Enno III declared. the members of the Mennonite congregations declared stateless and ordered the imprisonment of their preachers. The punitive measures could not be enforced because of the incursion of the Mansfeld mercenary troops (autumn 1622). Further extortion of protection money and other repression measures did not fail to materialize. So enacted Count Ulrich II. In 1641 a law against so-called Privatkonventikel that brought the East Frisian Mennonites in distress. They could only buy themselves freely with large sums of money. In 1666/67, Princess Christine Charlotte banned Mennonite services and gatherings - despite objections from the East Frisian estates . Only after repeated payments were they issued a letter of protection . "It was not the willingness to be tolerant on the part of East Frisian counts and princes, but the Mennonites' ability to pay, that gave this minority opportunities to live in East Frisia." Not only external political pressure blocked the growth and expansion of the heirs of the East Frisian Anabaptist movement, but also internal disputes and divisions. In 1645 Uko Walles , who had previously worked in Groningen and had been banished there because of his teachings, came to East Frisia. Ulrich II gave him a residence permit after posing as a Mennonite. Wallis leased the old Sielmönken monastery as a residence and began to spread its teachings, especially in Mennonite circles. Among other things, this led to a division of the parishes in the north, which however was overcome later.

William Penn (1644 to 1718), founder of the Quaker movement , visited the city of Emden in 1671 and was accepted into a Mennonite town house. His stay in the East Frisian port city was not without consequences for the Mennonite community. Penn won the Emden doctor Johann Wilhelm Haesbaert for his religious views. Haesbaert founded a Quaker community whose members were mainly recruited from the Mennonite Church. The Emden magistrate banned the new community and expelled its members. When they returned a short time later, they were arrested. William Penn intervened against the magistrate's actions. In this context, he wrote an extensive letter of complaint in 1674 and three years later visited the East Frisian port city a second time. The result of this advocacy was the official toleration of the Emden Quaker community. In 1688 most of this community emigrated to England. Only five to six families remained in Emden.

Aurich

Relatively little information is available about the municipality in Aurich. As early as the late 16th century, Leenaert Bouwens had baptized several people in Aurich. Later, both a Flemish and a Waterland community probably existed. From 1644 there is a report from Aurich Mennonites that their pastor was arrested surprisingly. A register from 1646 lists 21 names (probably standing for entire families). However, the few Aurich Anabaptists / Mennonites seem to have not been able to permanently meet the financial demands that were based on a toleration in the city, so that they emigrated in the course of time. A petition by the East Frisian Mennonites from 1709 stated that the community in Aurich would have died out.

Emden

The history of the Mennonite community in Emden goes back to the Anabaptist movement in the East Frisian port city described above. Today it has 102 members and, together with the municipalities of Leer / Oldenburg, Norden and Gronau, belongs to the conference of the north-west German Mennonite congregations . The congregations associated with the conference maintain a pastor's position. Church of the Emden Mennonites is a church hall at Brückstraße 74, which was built in place of the Mennonite church that was destroyed in World War II. The congregation is also involved in urban ecumenism and has corporate rights .

north

Mennonite Church North (historical engraving)

A specific founding date of the northern Mennonite congregation is not known. However, there is evidence of a so-called religious talk that took place from February 17 to 19, 1556 between the Reformed pastor Martin (us) Micron (ius) and the Mennonite Adolph Spegelmaker. The main theme of this doctrinal dispute, to which the Reformed had challenged, were christological questions, especially the question of the incarnation of God . In 1647 the community splits due to the appearance of the Mennonite separatist Uko Walles . He began to hold conventicles and founded the congregation of the Old Flemingians , who were also called Ukowallists . While the followers of Uko Walles gathered in a rented house, the Mennonites, who now referred to themselves as Waterlanders , met in a small prayer house of their own , which was at today's Mennonite wages. It was not until April 12, 1780, that the two separate communities reunited to form the North Mennonite community. In 1795 the united Mennonite congregation acquired a house on the north market square and converted the secular building into a church. To this day this (later expanded) house is the community center of the Northern Mennonites.

Empty

Mennonite Church Leer

The beginnings of the still existing Leer Mennonite community go back to the 40s of the 16th century. This makes it the second oldest Anabaptist community on the East Frisian peninsula after Emden. Their founding fathers were Anabaptist religious refugees from the Netherlands who had received asylum in Leer and later received letters of protection from the East Frisian counts. In 1644 there was a split in the community, but this was overcome in the second half of the 18th century.

Neustadtgödens

Mennonite Church Neustadtgödens (today a café)

After the Antonius flood of 1511, when the Jade Bay reached its greatest extent , extensive dike measures began in the glory of Gödens , which at that time belonged to East Frisia. In the course of these measures, a sewer was built in 1544 , which formed the nucleus of Neustadtgödens . The owners of the glory, the von Frydag family , attracted many religious refugees to the planned town through religious tolerance , which was named Neustadt Gödens after the rulership of Gödens . The first settlers were mainly Mennonite religious refugees. Many of them were specifically recruited Dutch skilled workers. Among them were mainly dike workers from the Netherlands . Many of them later worked as linen weavers . The Mennonites had had their own prayer house since 1709, and in 1741 they were finally allowed to build their own church on Brückstrasse as the last Christian denomination in the town. The church ( Vermaning ) is a simple brick building in the classicism style and is now a listed building . After the Thirty Years' War , the von Freydag family issued community letters of protection to the Mennonites , which resulted in further immigration from the Netherlands, Emden and Leer . In the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Mennonite community developed into the largest in East Frisia. From the end of the 18th century, however, the number of parishioners fell sharply, so that the last sermon was read here in 1841. The community has been considered extinct since 1893. Today a café has been set up in the former Mennonite church .

Oldersum

In the 16th century, the history of the Anabaptists played an important role in the introduction of the Reformation in East Friesland. The religious talk of 1526 took place here and Andreas Karlstadt, Melchior Hofmann and Menno Simons found accommodation and work here. In the further course of the 16th century there were rebaptisms in Oldersum. After the government by local chiefs, Emden bought the heavily indebted glory of Oldersum in 1631. Although this did not give the Oldersum Mennonites greater freedom than in the rest of East Friesland, it ended the high special payments to the princes for the letters of protection, since Oldersum was subject to the magistrate. Hendrick Derks († 1652), who felt connected to the old Flemish direction of Groningen, is proven to be one of the last elders of the Oldersum congregation, which dissolved around 1700 at the latest or became part of the neighboring communities.

present

After the gradual decline in the number of Mennonites in East Frisia, the remaining communities in Emden, Leer and Norden united with the Westphalian community of Gronau in the " Conference of Northwest German Mennonite Communities " in 1942 . Since then, the congregations have had a common pastor, but they have retained their independence. In 1960 the community in Emden had 268 members (including 48 children), in Leer 59 members (12 children), Norden 101 and Gronau 87 (with 14 children). After a community was established in Oldenburg in 1945, primarily through emigrants from West Prussia, the community merged with the one in Leer in 1970 and today has a total of 97 members. The Emden community has 102 and the Northern community 49 members (as of 2012). The East Frisian communities belong to the "Association of German Mennonite Communities", in which 14 communities from the northern half of Germany with around 2,400 members are united. Characteristic for the communities in East Friesland is their large catchment area. All congregations are involved in the local ecumenical movement. Every congregation celebrates its service once a month.

Literature (selection)

  • Eggerik Beninga: Volledige Chronyk van Oostfrieslant , Emden 1723
  • Johannes Hast: History of the Anabaptists from their emergence in Zwickau in Saxony to their fall in Münster in Westphalia , Münster 1836
  • Friedrich Otto zur Linden: Melchior Hofmann, a prophet of the Anabaptists , Harlem 1885
  • Heinold Fast (Ed.): The left wing of the Reformation. Testimony of faith of the Anabaptists, spiritualists, enthusiasts and Trinitarians , Bremen 1962
  • Menno Smid : Ostfriesische Kirchengeschichte , Volume VI in the series Ostfriesland im Schutz des Deiches (Ed. Johannes Ohling on behalf of Deichacht Krummhörn), Pewsum 1974
  • Klaus Deppermann: Melchior Hofmanns way from Luther to the Anabaptists , in: Controversial Anabaptists 1525 to 1975. New research (Hrsg. Hans-Jürgen Goertz ), Göttingen 1975, ISBN 3-525-55354-4
  • Diether Götz Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Lage 2004 (2nd edition)
  • East Frisian Mennonite Congregations of the Northwest German Conference (Ed.): The Mennonites in East Frisia. History. Resumes. Municipalities , Emden 2006

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eggerik Beninga: Volledige Chronyk van Oostfrieslant , Emden 1723, p. 652
  2. ↑ Smid: East Frisian Church History. 1974, p. 138
  3. ^ For example, Friedrich Otto zur Linden: Melchior Hofmann, a prophet of the Anabaptists , Haarlem 1885 (reprint), p. 229
  4. ↑ For example with Johannes Hast: History of the Anabaptists from their emergence in Zwickau in Saxony up to their fall in Münster in Westphalia , Münster 1836, p. 255 ( Google Books )
  5. ↑ Klaas-Dieter Voss: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland , in: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden of the Northwest German Conference), Emden 2006, p. 4
  6. ↑ Diether Götz Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Lage 2004 (2nd edition), p. 66
  7. ↑ Klaas-Dieter Voss: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland , in: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden of the Northwest German Conference), Emden 2006, p. 9
  8. ↑ Compare Heinrich Holze: A Lutheran Voice in the Controversy over the Last Supper? Melchior Hoffman at the Flensburg disputation of 1529 , in: Yearbook of the Society for Lower Saxony Church History Volume 99, 2001, pp. 31–49
  9. ↑ Klaas-Dieter Voss: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland , in: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden of the Northwest German Conference), Emden 2006, p. 9f
  10. ↑ a b Klaas-Dieter Voss: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland , in: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden of the Northwest German Conference). Emden 2006. p. 9f
  11. ↑ Klaas-Dieter Voss: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland , in: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden der Nordwestdeutsche Conference), Emden 2006, p. 10 - These are the writings Prophecy usz holy divine script and Prophecey or prophecy usz holy god script . Both appeared in Strasbourg in 1530.
  12. ↑ a b Götz Diether Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Lage 2004 (2nd edition), p. 66
  13. ↑ Smid: East Frisian Church History. 1974, pp. 139f.
  14. ↑ It is about the text Dialogus and green report of the disputation held in the Land zu Holstein underm künig von Denmarck of the noble sacrament or night time of the Lord. In the present kü. ma. sun hertzog Kersten sampt kü. councils, vilen corn nobility and grand priesthood meeting. Now recently happened the other Thursday after Easter in the Jar of Christ when it was 1529
  15. ↑ Compare Götz Diether Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Lage 2004 (2nd edition), p. 67.
  16. ↑ Götz Diether Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Lage 2004 (2nd edition), p. 68
  17. ↑ Klaas-Dieter Voss: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland , in: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden of the Northwest German Conference), Emden 2006, p. 10f
  18. ↑ Smid: East Frisian Church History. 1974, p. 145.
  19. ↑ On the question of the place of baptism see Klaas-Dieter Voß: Die Mennoniten in Ostfriesland in: Die Mennoniten in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden of the Northwest German Conference ), Emden 2006, p. 34ff
  20. ↑ Diether Götz Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Lage 23004, p. 67
  21. ↑ Klaus Deppermann: Melchior Hofmanns way from Luther to the Anabaptists , in: Controversial Anabaptists 1525 to 1975. New research (Ed. Hans-Jürgen Goertz), Göttingen 1975, ISBN 3-525-55354-4 , p. 191
  22. ↑ This is probably Count Enno II. Compare Heinold Fast (ed.): The left wing of the Reformation. Testimonies of faith of the Anabaptists, spiritualists, enthusiasts and Trinitarians , Bremen 1962, p. 321, note 4
  23. ↑ Obbe Philips: Confessions (before 1560), printed in Heinold Fast (Hrsg.): The left wing of the Reformation. Testimonies of faith of the Anabaptists, spiritualists, enthusiasts and Trinitarians , Bremen 1962, (p. 319–340) p. 321
  24. ↑ Klaus Deppermann: Melchior Hofmanns way from Luther to the Anabaptists , in: Controversial Anabaptists 1525 to 1975. New research (Hrsg. Hans-Jürgen Goertz), Göttingen 1975, p. 198f
  25. ^ This is how the Anabaptist Synod of Schleitheim describes itself
  26. ↑ Compare to this Klaas-Dieter Voß: The Mennonites in Ostfriesland in: The Mennoniten in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden of the Northwest German Conference ), Emden 2006, p. 13
  27. ↑ Diether Götz Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Lage 23004, p. 68
  28. ↑ Nanne van der Zijpp: Article January Volkertsz Trypmaker (d 1531st) , in: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online ; Accessed March 7, 2011
  29. ^ Obbe Philips: Confessions ; quoted from Heinold Fast: The left wing of the Reformation. Testimonies of faith of the Anabaptists, spiritualists, enthusiasts and anti-Trinitarians , Bremen 1962, p. 322f
  30. ^ De Wette: Luthers Briefe , Volume IV, p. 29f; quoted from Friedrich Otto zur Linden: Melchior Hofmann, a prophet of the Anabaptists , Haarlem 1885 (Reprint 2011), p. 226
  31. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Goertz: Religious Movements in the Early Modern Times , Volume 20 in the series Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte (edited by Lothar Gall and others), Munich 1993, ISBN 3-486-55759-9 , p. 29
  32. ↑ Menno: Uytgang uit het pausdom (German: output from the papacy) , written in 1553, printed in 1554 Emden; Printed by Heinold Fast (ed.): The left wing of the Reformation. Testimonies of faith of the Anabaptists, spiritualists, enthusiasts and anti-Trinitarians , Volume IV in the series Classics of Protestantism (edited by Christel Matthias Schröder ), Bremen 1962, p. 151
  33. ↑ Quoted from Friedrich Otto zur Linden: Melchior Hofmann, a prophet of the Anabaptists , Haarlem 1885 (reprint), p. 238, note 2
  34. ↑ Dieter Götz Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Großburgwedel 2004, p. 68
  35. ↑ Compare also Friedrich Otto zur Linden: Melchior Hofmann, a prophet of the Anabaptists , Haarlem 1885 (reprint), p. 239f
  36. ↑ Diether Götz Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Großburgwedel 2004, pp. 74f
  37. ↑ Smid: East Frisian Church History. 1974, p. 327.
  38. ↑ Quoted from Diether Götz Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Großburgwedel 2004, p. 120
  39. ↑ Quoted from Smid: Ostfriesische Kirchengeschichte. 1974, p. 327f.
  40. ↑ Quoted from Smid: Ostfriesische Kirchengeschichte. 1974, p. 328.
  41. ↑ On Haesbaert see article Haesbaert, Johann Wilhelm (author Menno Smid ), in: Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland , Volume III (Ed. Martin Tielke, i. A. der Ostfriesische Landschaft), Aurich 2001, p. 188f; online (PDF; 55 kB)
  42. ↑ Smid: East Frisian Church History. 1974, pp. 329-330.
  43. ^ Christian Hege and Christian Neff: Aurich (Ostfriesland, Lower Saxony, Germany) . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  44. ↑ Website of the Mennonite community in Emden : Mennonite community Emden Kdö.R. ; accessed on August 26, 2012
  45. ↑ Ursula Boll: Die Mennoniten in Norden , in: Die Mennoniten in Ostfriesland. History. Resumes. Communities (Ed. Ostfriesische Mennonitengemeinden of the Northwest German Conference), Emden 2006, p. 129ff
  46. ↑ a b Cornelius Krahn: Oldersum (Lower Saxony, Germany) . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  47. ↑ Smid: East Frisian Church History. 1974, p. 386.
  48. ↑ Smid: East Frisian Church History. 1974, p. 533.
  49. ↑ Union of German Mennonite churches Kdö.R.