Hartwich, Abraham (1663-1721)
Abraham Hartwich, a historian of West Prussia, was called on 4 August 1698, from Königsberg to Lindenau in the Gross-Werder of Marienburg to serve as Lutheran pastor, after he had taught in the local school in Löbenicht at Königsberg for five years. On 20 June 1712, he accepted the pastorate in Barenhof. He wrote a description of the Werder (river islands), a preliminary account of which he had written in 1719. After his death the book was printed and published in Königsberg in 1722. Part I presents the geographic and historical description of the Werder.
Part II deals with the religion and the divine services of the Catholics and the Protestants, the Lutheran church regulations, churches, and preachers, and the Reformed, the Mennonites, and the Quakers. Reformed preachers and laymen worked in Danzig, Marienburg, and Elbing as well as in the country from 1650 to 1750, but were gradually crowded out. In Marienburg, the Werder, and along the Vistula, in Elbing and Danzig there were Mennonites in the first half of the 16th century, who (1581) held meetings in various villages. In 1646 they were expelled from all Poland by the diet at Warsaw, but by paying large sums they were given permission to remain. The author also mentions two confessions of faith, one printed at Hoorn in 1640, one written in 1698; and a catechism with about 26 questions and answers. He writes about their ideas on baptism and communion, their doctrine, services, preachers, the ban, and their resistance against paying fees to the Lutheran preachers, and records a few transfers to the Lutheran Church.
Part III deals with government, housekeeping, war, and damage by fire and water.
Bibliography
Hartwich, Abraham. Geographisch-historische Landesbeschreibung deren dreyen im Pohlnischen Preußen liegenden Werdern. Nachdruck der Ausgabe von 1722. Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang, 2002.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 259.
| Author(s) | Abraham Driedger |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Driedger, Abraham. "Hartwich, Abraham (1663-1721)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hartwich,_Abraham_(1663-1721)&oldid=100470.
APA style
Driedger, Abraham. (1956). Hartwich, Abraham (1663-1721). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hartwich,_Abraham_(1663-1721)&oldid=100470.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 670. All rights reserved.
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