Henrietta Catharina, Baroness von Gersdorff (maiden name von Friesen auf Roetha; 6 October 1648 – 6 March 1726) was a German noblewoman, Baroque religious poet, an advocate of

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy and ...

and also a supporter of the beginnings of the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

. She was the maternal grandmother of Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf.

Biography

She was born in Sulzbach,

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...

, the daughter of Karl, Baron von

Friesen Friesen (; gsw-FR, Friese) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Haut-Rhin département The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department of Haut-Rhin. The ...

, and Justina Sophia von Raben. She was educated in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. She was a sister of Otto Heinrich von Friesen, chancellor to Saxon Elector Friedrich August I (''August der Starke'' or

Augustus the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...

). Unlike most girls of the time, she was trained in multiple disciplines, and even as a youth she was recognized by her contemporaries for her German and Latin verses. She early became a correspondent with many theologians and scientists of the day. At the age of 24. in 1672, she married Nicolas, Baron von Gersdorff (1629–1702), governor of the Saxon Upper Lusatia. In that capacity she was able to exercise a not unimportant influence in affairs of both church and state. She supported the movement called Pietism and the Saxon Court preacher

Philipp Jakob Spener Philipp Jakob Spener (23 January 1635 – 5 February 1705), was a German Lutheran theologian who essentially founded what would become to be known as Pietism. He was later dubbed the "Father of Pietism". A prolific writer, his two main works, '' ...

. She encouraged the translation of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

into the Lusatian Slavic language of Sorbian but also encouraged the schooling of girls. In this connection she was engaged also in the founding of the ''Magdalenenstift'' School for girls in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

. Following her husband's death in 1702, she withdrew to her Grosshennersdorf estate in the mountains of eastern Saxony, where she died. There she devoted herself to the education of her grandson Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf. Her home was open to many visitors including Lutheran missionaries to

Tranquebar Tharangambadi (), formerly Tranquebar ( da, Trankebar, ), is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel Coast. It lies north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary named Uppanar of the Kave ...

and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. She often offered refuge to religious refugees escaping persecution in neighboring

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

and

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

. The German Pietist poet Johann Jakob Rambach considered her spiritual poetry among the best of their day. Some of her verses are still used in the German Moravian Church, and some were set to music by German composer

Pauline Volkstein Pauline Volkstein (19 January 1849 – 6 May 1925) was a German composer of over 1,000 songs. Volkstein was born in Quedlinburg. She had little formal music training, but came from a musical family. Her mother had studied counterpoint with Friedr ...

References

Sources

* Karl Goedeke: 2. bzw. 3. ganz neu bearb. Aufl. 15 Bde., Dresden 1884–1966. Neudr. Nendeln 1975. (N. F. Fortführung von 1830–1880. vol. 1, Berlin/DDR 1962.), vol. 3, pp. 328. * Linda Maria Koldau: ''Frauen - Musik - Kultur. Ein Handbuch zum deutschen Sprachgebiet der Frühen Neuzeit.'' Köln-Weimar-Wien 2005, . * Robert Langer: ''Pallas und ihre Waffen. Wirkungskreise der Henriette Catharina von Gersdorff.'' Dresden: Neisse Verlag, 2008; *

Georg Christian Lehms Georg Christian Lehms (; 1684 – 15 May 1717) was a German poet and novelist who sometimes used the pen-name ''Pallidor''. He published poetry, novels, libretti for operas, and the texts of cantatas. Life Born in Liegnitz (now in Poland) in 168 ...

: Teutschlands Galante Poetinnen. Frankfurt a. M. 1715. * Norbert Weiss/ Jens Wonneberger: ''Dichter Denker Literaten aus sechs Jahrhunderten in Dresden.'' Dresden 1997. * * (Familienartikel) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gersdorff, Henrietta Catharina von 1648 births 1726 deaths 17th-century German poets 18th-century German poets People from Sulzbach-Rosenberg Lutheran poets German Lutherans 17th-century Lutherans 18th-century Lutherans People from Upper Lusatia German women poets German poets 18th-century German women writers 18th-century German women 17th-century German women writers Baroque writers