Abraham Rietmaker (Rietmacher), was a preacher of the Mennonite congregation of Aachen, Germany, in the early 17th century. The Amsterdam Mennonite Archives contain five letters written by Rietmaker to the Waterlander leader Hans de Ries, in which he informed de Ries on the situation of the congregations in the Rheinland, the progress of the unions between the High German Mennonites, the (Young) Frisians and the Waterlanders, the troubles in this united group at Haarlem, where Leenaerdt Clock and Claes Wolters Kops were in discord, and the relation between the Mennonites and the Socinians in Danzig. The first of these letters is dated 29 December 1613, the last 7 October 1614.

Rietmaker was a defender of a plain Christianity; about 1620 he censured Claes Wolters Kops, who was then living at Gladbach, for his wealth and his luxurious estate.

Particulars about the life of Rietmaker are not available. It is not very likely that he is identical with Abraham Dirks (Bierens), an elder of the Flemish congregation at Amsterdam from 1617, who is also called Abraham Rietmaker, and who was also a rietmaker (maker of baskets or of cane chairs).

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 332. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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