Über die „Heimkehr“ des Matthäus Freundlich

Abstract

Matthäus Freundlich had been a Moravian missionary on St Thomas since 1735. At the beginning of 1742 he travelled back to his homeland with his wife Rebekka and daughter Anna Maria and other travelling companions. Having fallen ill, he died shortly before they reached the town of Xanten. His burial there resulted in unplanned meetings between Moravian Church members from the Caribbean and regional officials, as well as with clergy of the Lutheran and Reformed churches in north-western Germany. A travel journal gives details of these events in 1742, and they are confirmed by an entry in the church registers of the Reformed parish of Mörmter.