In 17th century Amsterdam, a cacophony of languages was spoken, but those who listened closely heard German surprisingly often. Not so strange, as the Germans formed the largest group of migrants. They carried stones at construction sites, preached in their own churches, and baked the bread that the Amsterdammers ate. But how did they come here and what did they leave behind?
From the beginning of the 17th century, Germans flowed in large numbers to Amsterdam. They came from various parts of the Holy Roman Empire, but especially from the Northwest and Münsterland. Some traveled with carts full of Cologne pots with vegetables, meat, and eggs through the city. The women who did so were called pottentrienen. Other Germans came as hannekemaaiers, seasonal workers who mowed grass, but stayed in the city as construction workers or sailors. They were also sometimes called grasmof. And then there were the moffinnen, German maids. The word mof already had a negative connotation back then.
The Lutheran Church
With the German (and Scandinavian) immigrants, the Lutheran faith also came to Amsterdam. It grew rapidly and by the 18th century, one sixth of all the city’s inhabitants were Lutheran. With around 20,000 members, the Lutheran congregation was the largest in the Protestant world. Although the congregation was initially only tolerated as one of the many churches in Amsterdam, it had a prominent status due to its influential members. For example, there were public worship services in monumental church buildings, unlike the secret services of Catholics and Anabaptists.
German Influence
The German community was so large and influential that the Calvinist city council in 1631, despite its own strict religious views, granted permission for the construction of a Lutheran church at the Spui. In 1671, the Ronde Lutheran Church followed at the Singel. There, German sermons rang out for decades until the younger generations preferred to speak Dutch.
Lutheran Congregation in Weesp
Moreover, the Lutheran Germans did not only move to Amsterdam. They also settled in Weesp as early as 1642, fleeing from the Thirty Years War. In 1643, a pastor from Wiesbaden was brought in to lead them. The Calvinists in Weesp resisted the Lutheran congregation. There, they were not allowed to practice their religion publicly. It was not until 1645 that they could celebrate the Holy Communion for the first time in a rented building. Thanks to the intervention of the Lutheran Count of East Frisia and Stadtholder Frederick Henry, they received permission for worship services in 1647. Eventually, there was also a Lutheran church in Weesp, at Nieuwstad 36. It now houses a dental practice, but the old Strümphe organ has been preserved.
Indispensable
The influence of the German immigrants went beyond just religion. They were indispensable to the economy and took on the jobs that the Amsterdammers were not interested in. In the 17th century, 49 percent of Amsterdam’s laborers, the men who carried stones all day for bricklayers, were Germans. In the drying shear industry, important for the cloth industry, it was even more than half. And anyone eating bread in Amsterdam in the 19th century was almost certainly indebted to a German baker. By the way, this is also how we got our Christmas tree tradition. Read How the Weihnachtsbaum ended up in Amsterdam.
From Worker to Retailer
Although many German migrants worked in the heaviest professions, many also belonged to the upper echelons of Amsterdam society. There were German doctors and printers, but also hat makers and peddlers. This last group grew into tailors and later into retailers. You can see this throughout the Netherlands. Think of the German names Brenninkmeijer (C&A, from Sneek) and Dreesmann (from Amsterdam). These families had little opportunities in Bismarcks Germany and ultimately found fertile ground for their entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. The founder of V&D, Anton Caspar Rudolph Dreesmann, fled to Amsterdam to avoid the three-year military service of Prussia.
Language and Integration
Despite their strong presence, Germans integrated surprisingly quickly. They married early with born Amsterdammers and their language merged with the local dialect. Although Amsterdam dialect already shared a common origin with German, it is likely that the many German migrants contributed to features such as the pronunciation of ‘f’ instead of ‘v’ (feertig instead of veertig). Also, words like ‘gaarkeuken’ (from the German Garkoch, for the cook of a street food stall) and ‘oproer’ (Aufruhr) originally come from German and found their way into Dutch.
Moffenbrug
The Lutheran Germans came in waves, settled, worked their way up, and left an indelible mark on Amsterdam, and thus also on other parts of the Netherlands. For example, the Ronde Lutheran Church still stands, although it is now a conference room of the Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel. The Old Bridge (the first bridge of Amsterdam) was once called the ‘Moffenbrug’ or ‘Moffenbeurs’ because the ships that docked there dropped off German seasonal workers. They built the city piece by piece. The bridge was actually demolished in 1883.
Image: City Archives Amsterdam