View source for Zapff, Hauptrecht (1546-1630)

Hauptrecht Zapff, a [[Hutterian Brethren (Hutterische Brüder)|Hutterite]] [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]], born 1546 in Sprendling, Hesse, joined the brotherhood in [[Moravia (Czech Republic)|Moravia]] as a lad of fourteen. In 1594 he was made Diener des Wortes (minister), and for thirty years he was the secretary-clerk of the bishop. His major contribution was his work on the great chronicle of the Hutterites, the <em>Geschichtsbuch</em>, which [[Braitmichel, Kaspar (d. 1573)|Kaspar Braitmichel]] had begun to write in the 1570s and completed up to 1542. In the days of the [[Kräl, Hans (d. 1583)|Vorsteher Hänsel Kräl]], 1578-1583, Zapff first copied the Braitmichel original (no longer in existence), most likely at the [[Nové Mlýny (Jihomoravský kraj, Czech Republic)|Neumühl Bruderhof]], and continued it chronologically to 1591. This work was done apparently conjointly with the bishops, first with Hänsel Kräl and then with [[Braidl, Klaus (1528?-1611)|Klaus Braidl]], more or less as Braitmichel had started it. Zapff and the bishops used the large archives at the Neumühl center. The title page of the [[Hutterite Chronicles|<em>Chronicle</em>]], as it still exists today, bears the name of Krai and then the initials "H. Z." for the writer. At the end of Braitmichel's "Vorrede an den Leser" Zapff expressly signed also, as "continuer and worker on this book."

Zapff died in 1630 in Slovakia, at the age of 84. Five hymns were written by him, three now in the [[Lieder der Hutterischen Brüder, Die|<em>Lieder der Hutterischen Brüder</em>]], 846-849, and two in a hymn codex in [[Bratislava (Slovakia)|Bratislava]].
= Bibliography =
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. IV.

Wolkan, Rudolf. <em>Die Lieder der Wiedertäufer</em>. Berlin, 1903, reprinted Nieuwkoop, B. De Graaf, 1965: 241.

Zieglschmid, A. J. F. <em>Die älteste Chronik der Hutterischen Brüder: Ein Sprachdenkmal aus frühneuhochdeutscher Zeit</em>. Ithaca: Cayuga Press, 1943: xxiii-xxiv.
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