Editing Krefeld (section)

=== The Mennonites of Krefeld ===
From 1607 [[Mennonites]] arrived in Krefeld, as in nearby [[Gronau, North Rhine-Westphalia|Gronau]], from neighboring Roman Catholic territories where they were persecuted. In 1609 [[Herman op den Graeff]], originally from [[Kerken|Aldekerk]], moved with his family to Krefeld. There he became a lay preacher and chairman of the Mennonite religious community. In 1637, Op den Graeff was referred to as “the Mennonite lord Bishop” (der hiesigen Mennoniten Herrn Bischof) of Krefeld in the reformed community’s minutes book.<ref>Taufgesinnte und großes Kapital: die niederrheinisch-bergischen Mennoniten und der Aufstieg des Krefelder Seidengewerbes, Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts-1815. Page 105. Von Peter Kriedte (2007)</ref> They sought refuge in the lands of the more tolerant [[House of Orange-Nassau]], at the time rulers of Krefeld; in 1657 their congregation was officially recognized and in 1693 they were allowed to build their own church, although hidden in a back yard (which still exists, reconstructed after World War II, with about 800 members). Also the [[Quakers|Quaker]] Evangelists received a sympathetic audience among the larger of the German-Mennonite congregations around Krefeld, Gronau, [[Emden]] and [[Altona, Hamburg]].<ref>C. Henry Smith, ''Smith's Story of the Mennonites'', p. 139 (1981, 5th ed. Faith and Life Press) {{ISBN|0-87303-060-5}}</ref> In 1683 a group of thirteen Mennonite families (twelve of them Mennonite-Quakers), the so called [[Original 13]], including three of the [[Op den Graeff family|Op den Graeff]] families left Krefeld to re-settle in [[Pennsylvania]] in order to enjoy religious freedom. They crossed the Atlantic on the ship ''Concord'',<ref>Germantown Historical Society: Founders of Germantown; Jones, Iris Carter: Krefeld Immigrants</ref> and founded the settlement of [[Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Germantown]] (now incorporated in [[Philadelphia]]), invited by [[William Penn]], and thus beginning the [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] ethnic identity.<ref>C. Henry Smith, ''Smith's Story of the Mennonites'', p. 360</ref> The most important Mennonite family of Krefeld were the [[silk]] merchants and silk weaving industrialists [[Von der Leyen (family from Krefeld)|Von der Leyen]] who, by 1763, employed half of Krefeld's population of 6,082 in their factories. Their residence, built from 1791, is the current City Hall.