Henrietta Catharina, Baroness von Gersdorff

Who was Henrietta Catharina, Baroness von Gersdorff?

Henrietta Catharina, Baroness von Gersdorff was a German Baroque religious poet, an advocate of Pietism and also a supporter of the beginnings of the Moravian Church. She was the maternal grandmother of Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf.

Born the daughter of Karl, Baron von Friesen, she was educated in Dresden and Leipzig. She was a sister of Otto Heinrich von Friesen, chancellor to Saxon Elector Friedrich August I. 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, 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.

She encouraged the translation of the Bible into the Lusatian Slavic language of Sorbian but also encouraged the schooling of girls.