The arguments between Henckel with his Lutheran congregations and the Catholics, especially as led by the Catholic Commission in Heidelberg, continued. In February of 1709, the Baron von Gemmingen entered the picture again with a letter to the Elector. von Gemmingen had no standing in Breitenbronn, as that village was a personal fief of the Elector and the Church there reported to the Lutheran Consistory in Hesse. von Gemmingen used the legal arguments that Henckel had used and added that, for peace’s sake, action by the Elector was needed.
The Catholic administrator in this district heard of von Gemmingen’s letter and he rushed to send a four-page letter to the Superior Chancery at Heidelberg in which he put all of the blame on Henckel. He blamed the Lutherans for locking the church and preventing the bells from ringing (even for a fire alarm). Finally, an Electoral Order of Confirmation was issued which supported the rights of the Catholics to use the church also. Emboldened, the Catholics forcibly broke into the church. Henckel wrote a long letter to Baron von Gemmingen describing what the Catholics and done and insisted, still, that the Order was not valid, as it had not come from the Elector himself. The Baron did not intercede and the Order was considered valid. The Church was used simultaneously by the Catholics and the Lutherans; however, the Lutherans were able to keep the tithes, and they did not have to share these. (After Henckel had left for America in 1717, there was an order requiring half of the tithes be given to the Catholic pastor.)
In the midst of the severe religious conflicts, the harsh winter of 1708-1709 struck. All of this must have been very discouraging to the Henckels.
In 1705, there had been an order for the redistribution of the churches, with five of the seven to be assigned to the Reformed, and two of the seven to be assigned to the Catholics. The Lutherans were to get nothing. Two years later, though, the wholesale Church distribution was terminated and the battle was fought on the individual community level as has been recounted.
The Lutherans in the Palatinate were extremely hard pressed and resorted to appealing to their fellow Churches in other areas for help.
After twenty years in the ministry, the Henckel family still knew only poverty. In 1714, came another blow. Anthony Henckel lost his position at Daudenzell as the result of a decision by Baron von Gemmingen. Henckel applied to his friend, Baron von Festenberg to be installed in the church at Mönchzell. The parish members were dissatisfied with the minister they had. von Festenberg took on Henckel, but the conditions of the service were not clear.
(03 Mar 03)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.