Philipp Georg Friedrich von Reck (1710–1798) was a
Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
of
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
who after making two journeys to the
Colony of Georgia in 1730s joined the Hanover and Danish civil service.
Biography
Von Reck was born into nobility and held a land charter for 500 acres in America under certain contingencies of qualification. He accompanied the
Salzburger Emigrants
The Salzburger Emigrants were a group of German-speaking Protestant refugees from the Catholic Archbishopric of Salzburg (now in present-day Austria) that immigrated to the Georgia Colony in 1734 to escape religious persecution. This group was ex ...
, German-speaking Lutheran settlers who were expelled from the
Catholic principality of Salzburg, on their relocation voyage to
Ebenezer Ebenezer may refer to:
Bible
* Eben-Ezer, a place mentioned in the Books of Samuel
People
* Ebenezer (given name), a male given name
Places Australia
* Ebenezer, New South Wales
* Ebenezer, Queensland, a locality in the City of Ipswich
* Ebeneze ...
,
Georgia. He became a part of the first and third transports of the Salzburgers being responsible for secular affairs. Von Reck was described by his contemporaries as charming and enthusiastic but totally inexperienced young commissary. He was stripped of his responsibilities after repeated disputes with
Johann Martin Boltzius and the competing commissary Jean Vat.
After the first voyage, von Reck left Georgia with vivid utopian descriptions of what he experienced. He wrote about
Native Americans with great sympathy: His journal was published in 1734 in German and English. He came back to Ebenezer on February 7, 1736 with the third transport of which he was in charge. Ultimately, Von Reck never formalized his land claim and returned to Europe where he entered the Hanover and later Danish civil service.
Von Reck not only kept a journal of his time in America but also made his own drawings. However, the drawings and watercolor sketches were made public only in 1977 after they were discovered at the
Royal Library in Copenhagen. They show his encounters with indigenous people, nature and wildlife in America. These images and journal are considered important source for the study of the
Creek
A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet.
Creek may also refer to:
People
* Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans
...
and especially
Yuchi indigenous societies during the period of Von Reck's travels to America.
[Reck, Philipp Georg Friedrich von, and Kristian Hvidt (1980). ''Von Reck's voyage: drawings and journal of Philip Georg Friedrich von Reck''. Savannah: Beehive Press.]
References
External links
*
Philipp von Reck's scetchbook ''Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Danmarks''
''Ahalenia: Native American Art, History, Writing, Theory, and Practice''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reck, Philipp Georg Friedrich von
1710 births
1798 deaths
German Lutherans
Barons of Germany
Georgia Salzburgers