Friedrichstadt: A little piece of Holland in northern Germany

By Andreas Heimann Jun 15, 2010, 12:51 GMT

Friedrichstadt, Germany - It's no coincidence that Heinrich Carstensen arrives wearing an outfit comprised of a blue cap, blue clogs, a white shirt and red scarf.

After all, these are the Dutch national colours and Carstensen is a tour guide in Friedrichstadt, a small town in northern Germany that wouldn't look out of place in the Netherlands with its canals and Dutch stepped gable architecture.

Why this town in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein has such a Dutch influence is an amazing story.

If it wasn't for the whim of an eccentric count, large numbers of Dutch fleeing religious persecution and the dogmatic passion of others, Friedrichstadt wouldn't look like it does today - a small, but perfectly formed town, dotted with romantic houses and canals.

The count in question was of course called Friedrich, who dreamt of founding a trading metropolis that would welcome ships from all over the world in his small kingdom of Schleswig-Gottorf.

He thus founded the town of Friedrichstadt, which was linked to the North Sea by means of the River Eider, on September 24, 1621.

The dream of Friedrichstadt becoming a world-renowned trading centre never came to fruition, even though Count Friedrich went as far as commissioning Dutch workers and engineers to construct a series of canals along the model of Amsterdam.

Municipal law, market rights and the freedom to practise religion were all protected and soon the town was home to communities from seven different faiths, five of which are still present to this day.

The first religious refugees were from the Dutch Remonstrant church, a Protestant group fleeing the theological dogmatism sweeping Holland at the time.

The Remonstrant church in Friedrichstadt, which is the only Dutch reform church outside the Netherlands, is one stop on Carstensen's tour. The church is also home to the Remonstrant community's pastor and, in accordance with Remonstrant tradition, there is no altar.

A religious service is still held in the house once a month, when a pastor travels from Gronigen. Although most of the proceedings are in German, the Our Father is still said in Dutch.

The tour also stops at the Paludanushaus, a white stepped-gable house built by Godefridus Paludanus, a Remonstrant preacher. For the last 40 years, the building has been in the hands of the town's Danish minority, which uses it for meetings. The pastor of the Danish Lutheran community also resides here when he is in Friedrichstadt.

The oldest house in town isn't far from the Paludanushaus, a redbrick building built in 1621.

The local synagogue and rabbinate are only a couple of steps away. In the 19th century, there was a 450-strong Jewish community here, the second largest religious grouping in the town, which, Carstensen reveals, was once home to 13 kosher abattoirs.

Nearly all of Friedrichstadt's Jews were murdered during Hitler's Third Reich and today the synagogue is used for cultural exhibitions.

At the Mittelburgwall, Carstensen points out the former Protestant Mennonite church.

'There are only around a half a dozen members,' he says, adding that the community's pastor travels from Hamburg.

The Lutheran St Christophorus Church, meanwhile, is noteworthy for its granite tower, which can be seen from all parts of the town.

'The church was completed in 1649,' Carstensen explains. 'This was quite late, but the community had no money.'

Many of the most interesting buildings, such as the collection of stepped-gable buildings, are clustered around the town's market area and once belonged to Dutch traders.

The former courthouse is now a cafe. The tourist office, where Carstensen starts his tours daily, is situated nearby.