Appingedam (Groningen, Netherlands)
Appingedam is a city in the Dutch province of Groningen (2005 population 12,451). It is known that there was an Anabaptist center here in the early days of the movement, for in 1537 Obbe Philips ordained his brother Dirk Philips as bishop in Den Dam. Leenaert Bouwens in 20 visits between 1551 and 1557 baptized 93 persons; between 1557 and 1563, five persons; and between 1563 and 1568, in five visits, 31 persons, totaling 129. About 1596 Jan Gerrits van Emden became the preacher here, after he had been living in Appingedam for 20 years. In 1606 he moved to Haarlem, and soon after to Danzig.
The congregation at Appingedam, which belonged to the Groninger Old Flemish group, was relatively strong in the 17th century, but declined in the second half of the 18th, at least in part in consequence of the Collegiant disputes. Its membership was in 1710, 50 men; in 1733, 26 men and 33 women; in 1754 only 15 men and 15 women; in 1767, only 14 members. To be sure, it had in 1754 a considerable number of unbaptized older persons, but their treasury for the poor was deeply in debt.
At the beginning of the 17th century they held their meetings in a building that was built in 1570 as the town mint. They later met in a building given them by Grietje Hans Blaupot in 1694. When the Blaupot family died out the church became extinct. By 1785 it was no longer mentioned in the reports of the Groninger Old Flemish Sociëteit, and in 1800 there were only 10 Mennonites living here. For at least 50 years after 1707 Jan Symons Blaupot served the congregation as preacher.
In the 1950s, the Mennonites at Appingedam belonged to the congregation of Leermens-Loppersum.
Bibliography
Cate, Steven Blaupot ten. Geschiedenis der Doopsgezinden in Groningen, Overijssel en Oost-Friesland, 2 vols. Leeuwarden: W. Eekhoff en J. B. Wolters, 1842: v. I, II, passim.
Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1879): 3.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 80.
van der Aa, Abraham Jacob. Aardrijkskundig woordenboek der Nederlanden. Gorinchem: Noorduyn, 1839-: v. I, 306.
Maps
| Author(s) | Karel Vos |
|---|---|
| Nanne van der Zijpp | |
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Vos, Karel and Nanne van der Zijpp. "Appingedam (Groningen, Netherlands)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Appingedam_(Groningen,_Netherlands)&oldid=144737.
APA style
Vos, Karel and Nanne van der Zijpp. (1953). Appingedam (Groningen, Netherlands). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Appingedam_(Groningen,_Netherlands)&oldid=144737.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 144. All rights reserved.
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