Heinrich Plütschau

Heinrich Plütschau (also known with last names of Plütschow or Plütscho; 1676, Wesenberg, Germany – 4 January 1752, Beidenfleth) was, along with Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, the first German evangelical priest to what is now India.

Life and Work

Plütschau attended Friedrichswerdersches Gymnasium in Berlin with Joachim Lange as rector and then studied theology at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. There he came into contact with August Hermann Francke, the founder of the Francke Foundations. On a request of the Danish king Frederick IV for potential missionaries, Plütschau and his fellow peer Ziegenbalg were suggested by Lange. In 1705, they travelled to the Danish colony of Tranquebar on the southeastern coast of India, known as the Danish-Halle Mission.

The missionaries had already begun during the voyage to learn Portuguese, the lingua franca, and the local Indian language, Tamil. With increasing work, the missionaries shared their community tasks. Plütschau focused on the parishioners, which spoke Portuguese, and Ziegenbalg, because of his particular language skills with the Tamil-speaking community. In 1711, Plütschau returned to Germany for health reasons. There he gave the Small Catechism out in Tamil and taught mission candidates in this language. In 1714 he received the pastorate as a Lutheran pastor in Beidenfleth, ruled at the time by the Danish king, where he worked until 1750. A few short years later, he died.

Further reading

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