Friedenreich, Lorenz (1718-1794)

Lorenz Friedenreich, who came from Switzerland to Neuwied, Germany, in 1743, became minister of the Mennonite congregation there in 1755 and elder from 1758 until his death, did much to improve the lot of his brethren in Switzerland and the Palatinate. He was the intermediary in establishing connections with Holland, Danzig, and Hamburg-Altona through an extensive correspondence, and repeatedly visited the directors of the Amsterdam Committee on Foreign Needs on behalf of his Swiss and Palatine brethren. This remarkable man, who during the summer of 1774 received Goethe, Lavater, and Basedow in his home, must have had considerable education. By trade he was a Gürtler, that is, he made shoe buckles and other objects of brass. His son Heinrich (1747-1797) was also a preacher in the same congregation 1788-1797, and his grandson Abraham (1785-1864) was a Vorsteher, as was also Abraham's son Theodor (1822-1909).

Bibliography

Bach, Adolf. Goethes Rheinreise mit Lavater und Basedow im Sommer 1774: Dokumente. Zürich: Seldwyla, 1923: 119.

Beiträge zur Geschichte rheinischer Mennoniten. Schriftenreihe des Mennonitischen Geschichtsvereins, 2. Weierhof (Pfalz): Mennonitischer Geschichtsverein, 1939.: 145 f., 149.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 706.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam. 2 v. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884, I, Nos. 1543, 1544.

Mannhardt, W. Die Wehrfreiheit der Ältpreussischen Mennoniten. Marienburg, 1863: 54.

Mennonitische Blätter 77: 107 f.

Müller, Ernst. Geschichte der Bernischen Täufer. Frauenfeld: Huber, 1895. Reprinted Nieuwkoop : B. de Graaf, 1972: 47.

Author(s)	Christian Neff
	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1956

Cite This Article

MLA style

Neff, Christian and Nanne van der Zijpp. "Friedenreich, Lorenz (1718-1794)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Friedenreich,_Lorenz_(1718-1794)&oldid=94732.

APA style

Neff, Christian and Nanne van der Zijpp. (1956). Friedenreich, Lorenz (1718-1794). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Friedenreich,_Lorenz_(1718-1794)&oldid=94732.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 400. All rights reserved.

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