Anna Ovena Hoyer (born: Anke Hanß, aka Anna Ovena Hoyers,

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Anna Orena Höijer'') (

Koldenbüttel Koldenbüttel ( North Frisian: ''Koolnbütel'', nds, Kombüddel, da, Koldenbøl, Koldenbyttel) is a municipality in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Geography und infrastructure Koldenbüttel lies in the Eider Tre ...

on Ejdersted peninsula 1584 – 27 November 1655) was a writer and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, originally German; active in Sweden from 1632. She belonged to the Schwenkfeldians (a branch founded by Nicolaus Knutzen Teting called Brethren in Christ (Brüder in Christo)) and was a critic of

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Biography

Hoyer was the only child of the wealthy astronomer Hans Owens (aka Johann Oven) (1560-1584) and his wife Wennecke Hunnens (1567-1587). After her parents' deaths she lived with her uncle Meves Owens (1555-1630) and was educated in

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, literature, music, and the Classics. At 15 she married Hermann Hoyer, stadtholder in Ejdersted, with whom she had at least nine children. With her

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

, amounting to 100,000

rixdollar Rixdollar is the English term for silver coinage used throughout the European continent (german: Reichsthaler, nl, rijksdaalder, da, rigsdaler, sv, riksdaler). The same term was also used of currency in Cape Colony and Ceylon. However, the R ...

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

fineness, she helped to repay debts charged on her spouse's estates. She inherited the manor Hoyersworth (a part of today's Oldenswort) in the North Sea coastal

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es at Hermann Hoyer's death on 13 September 1622. She was influenced by Indian religion in her reluctance to kill anything living, and became influenced by the sectarians Nicolaus Knutzen Teting and Hartvig Lehmann, religious refugees from

Flensborg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

to whom she gave asylum. She refused to participate in the church services and held her own. She ruined herself on

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

. In 1632, she sold her estate to

Augusta of Denmark Princess Augusta of Denmark (8 April 1580 – 5 February 1639) was the Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp as the wife of Duke John Adolf. She was the third daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark and Sophia of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. She was politi ...

and fled with her five children to Sweden, where she became a protégée of the queen,

Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (11 November 1599 – 28 March 1655) was a German princess and Queen of Sweden as the consort of King Gustav II Adolph (''Gustavus Adolphus''). She was a daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, and An ...

. In 1634 she visited Hoyersworth and experienced in October the devastating

Burchardi flood The Burchardi flood (also known as the second Grote Mandrenke) was a storm tide that struck the North Sea coast of North Frisia and Dithmarschen (in modern-day Germany) on the night between 11 and 12 October 1634. Overrunning dikes, it shatter ...

. In Sweden she resided in

Västervik Västervik is a city and the seat of Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden, with 36,747 inhabitants in 2021. Västervik is one of three coastal towns with a notable population size in the province of Småland. Climate Västervik h ...

and thereafter at a little property outside Stockholm until her death.

Works

* Poem (anonymous, Slesvig, 1617) *"Schreiben an die Herrn Titulträger von Hohen Schulen" (1625) *''Gespräch eines Kindes mit seiner Mutter'' (1628) *''De denische Dörp-Pape'' (anti-Lutheran publication), Paul Schütze (ed.), in: ''Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für schleswig-holstein-lauenburgische Geschichte'', vol. 15 (1885), pp. 243–299. **originally published in 1630 *''Das Buch Ruth, in Teutsche Reimen gestellet.'' Stockholm (1634) (dedicated to Queen Maria Eleonore) *''Ein Schreiben übers Meer gesandt an die Gemein in Engellandt'' (1649) *''Annae Ovenae Hoijers Geistliche und Weltliche Poemata.'' Amsterdam (1650) *«Geistliche und weltliche Poëmata» (collection) Amsterdam, (1655) * «Posaunenschall vom Abendmahl im Königs Saal nach Babels Fall» *«Two seventeenth century Dutch Carols», ''Editions Ars Femina'' (1991) Her ''Gespräch eines Kindes mit seiner Mutter'', written for her children and published in 1628, was reissued in 1698 by Phillipp Jacob Spener without naming the actual author. Another new edition entitled ''The Way of True Piety in the Following Spiritual Conversation of a Child with His Mother: Presented by a Christian Matron'' appeared in 1720. Her ''Annae Ovenae Hoijers Geistliche und Weltliche Poemata'' (Spiritual and Secular Poetry), on the other hand, was banned the following year. Some of her unprinted poetry, including songs, are kept in Stockholm today. For her songs she partly composed with her own melodies, partly she wrote them on known secular songs for the common house music with her children.

References

Sources

*Höijer, Anna Orena i Wilhelmina Stålberg, Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor (1864) *Hoyers, Anna Ovena, i Carl Frederik Bricka, Dansk biografisk Lexikon (första utgåvan, 1894) *Kjellander Rune, Familjen Hoyer i Schlesvig-Holstein och Sverige (1989)
Biography for Anna Ovena Hoyers
at New German Biography
Women and the Reformation: Anna Hoyers

Biography

Works

References

Sources

Further reading