Friedrichstadt (; da, Frederiksstad) is a town in the district of

Nordfriesland Nordfriesland (; da, Nordfrisland; frr, Nordfraschlönj ), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the exception o ...

, in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is situated on the river Eider approx. 12 km (7 miles) south of

Husum Husum (, frr, Hüsem) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of ...

History

The town was founded in 1621 by Dutch settlers. Duke Friedrich III of Holstein-Gottorp persuaded them to invest capital and knowledge in this region in turn for freedom of their

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

and

Remonstrant The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that had split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ...

religions (''see:

Arminianism Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

'') and opportunities to reclaim fen and marsh land in the vicinity of the town. One of them was Johannes Narssius. Dutch became an official language. The town was named after Duke Frederick. By 1630, many Arminians had already returned to the Netherlands. Between 1633 and 1637 Frederick III sent an embassy to Tsar Michael I of Russia and to Shah Safi of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

with a view to setting up Friedrichstadt as a European trade terminus. The delegation was led by the jurisconsult Philip Crusius and the merchant Otto Bruggemann or Brugman; their secretary, the scholar

Adam Olearius Adam Olearius (born Adam Ölschläger or Oehlschlaeger, 24 September 159922 February 1671) was a German scholar, mathematician, geographer and librarian. He became secretary to the ambassador sent by Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, to ...

, later wrote a book documenting the mission. The aim of creating a regular trading route that did not need to pass around Africa was not achieved, the delegation proved fruitless and the town did not become as successful as anticipated. Beside the Remonstrants and Mennonites, other faith communities which settled in the town included

Unitarians Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Notable people

Sons and daughters of the city

Johannes Thedens Johannes Thedens (1680 – 19 March 1748) was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 6 November 1741 until 28 May 1743. Thedens, born in a largely Dutch settlement in Friedrichstadt, Schleswig, sailed on 17 December 1697 as a soldier aboa ...

(1680–1748),

Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies ( nl, gouverneur-generaal van Nederlands Indië) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese fo ...

1741/1743. * Benjamin Calau (1724–1785), visual artist who used who used an encaustic technique. * Eduard Alberti (1827–1898), literary historian and philosopher. *

Wilhelm Mannhardt Wilhelm Mannhardt (March 26, 1831, Friedrichstadt – December 25, 1880, Danzig) was a German mythologist and folklorist. He is known for his work on Germanic mythology, on Baltic mythology, and other pre-Christian European pantheons; and for his ...

(1831–1880), scholar and

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

* William Thordsen (1879–1932), US Navy Medal of Honor recipient * Norbert Masur (1901–1971), subcontractor of the Jewish World Congress

Connected to Friedrichstadt

* Wolfgang Marcus Gualtherus, (ca.1580-1642 in Friedrichstadt), rector in Kampen and, city secretary in Friedrichstadt. * Jürgen Ovens (1623–1678), Rembrandt pupil and court painter of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf, lived here and is buried in St. Christophorus Church * Louis Philippe I (1773–1850) lived a few months in the flight from the French Revolution, worked under a blanket as a home teacher. * Hjalmar Schacht (1877–1970), German politician, banker, Reichsbank president and Reichswirtschaftsminister, his grandparents lived here

Images

Friedrichstadt Holländerhäuser Sleeswijk-Holstein Duitsland markt waterpomp uit 1879.jpg, Waterpump from 1879 File:Friedrichstadt straatbeeld met Hollandse huizen Holländerhäuser Sleeswijk-Holstein Duitsland.jpg, Streetview with Dutch architecture Friedrichstadt remonstrantenkirche.jpg,

church Friedrichstadt Detail Remonstrantse Kerk Sleeswijk-Holstein Duitsland.jpg, Detail Remonstrant church Am Mittelburgwall, Friedrichstadt 2016.jpg, Streetview Friedrichstadt Mennonietenkerk te Friedrichstadt.jpg, Mennonites church Friedrichstadt Nederlandstalige grafsteen uit 1725 op het Mennonietenkerkhof.jpg, Dutch gravestone 1725 in the Mennonite cemetery File:Friedrichstadt alte synagoge.jpg, Former synagogue File:Am Mittelburgwall 32 4.jpg, House brand with the monogram of the Danish king File:Mittelburggraben3.jpg, Building used by the Unitarians

References

External links

In search of the Dutch origin of Friedrichstadt and the surrounding polderlands, including walking tourFriedrichstadt's official homepage.
Populated places established in 1621 Nordfriesland 1621 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire {{Nordfriesland-geo-stub