Station: [24] The Assimilation of the Huguenots

The cast-iron cross commemorates a woman called Auguste Florentine Jordine, a Huguenot who died in Berlin in 1879. The cross stood in the cemetery of a Huguenot parish in Berlin. The inscription is in French, showing the close ties to French culture that many Huguenot communities continued to maintain in their new home country. The cross, however, isn't traditional in the Huguenot church. In fact, as a symbol of faith, it's especially common among Roman Catholics and some German Protestants. 
So this grave cross offers clear evidence of the long process of convergence between the culture of the Huguenots and the German population. 
For decades, the Huguenots led largely secluded lives, with their own culture and language, and no close contact with the German population. The special economic privileges they enjoyed, and the way they lived their lives in segregated colonies favoured that isolation.
It took roughly a hundred years for Germans and Huguenots to finally intermingle, marry and start families. One important reason for that late convergence was the dismantling of the Huguenots' privileges in the 19th century. Historical developments provided another reason. During the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon, Huguenot descendants and German soldiers fought side by side in the German army against the French troops. 
With each new generation, the German language was more widely spoken in Huguenot families. The schools operated by the Reformed communities started to teach in German. Often, the Reformed church service was the last place where French maintained its position as the language of psalms, sermons and prayers. But gradually, customs and traditions changed there, too. Since the 19th century, more and more French and German Reformed congregations have joined forces to become a shared Protestant Reformed congregation.

Foto: © DHG