Gottlob Samuel Flemming

Kötzschenbroda recently celebrated the festive highlight of the winegrowing year with the wine festival and the village green was transformed into a colourful round dance of enjoyable conviviality. Many a guest climbed the steps of the Friedenskirche church and enjoyed the unique view over the roofs of the town to the Elbe and vineyard landscape.

The church is the landmark of Altkötzschenbroda, as its name commemorates the signing of the armistice treaty between Saxony and Sweden in 1645. A place as steeped in history as this one produced pastors of equal importance, and one such pastor was Samuel Gottlob Flemming. He went down in the chronicles of the town's history as courageous, enterprising and courageous. He died 190 years ago on 23 November 1827 in Zitzschewig. He was born in October 1740 in Lütte near Potsdam, a small town that at the time still belonged to the Wittenberg district and thus to Saxony. From 1753, he attended the St Augustin Princely State School in Grimma. His father, Johann Gottlieb Flemming, was already a priest, so it was likely that his son would follow in his footsteps. After completing his school education, Gottlob Samuel dedicated himself to theology and became a fortress-building preacher in Dresden. On 2 February 1772, he took up the post of vicar to Pastor Behrisch in Kötzschenbroda and finally took up his position on 1 November 1773. He remained in this post until the ripe old age of 84, only taking on his nephew Benjamin Flemming as his assistant at the age of 82. In 1790, he had already acquired an extensive property near Zitzschewig, the so-called Wettinshöhe. His wife Johanne Friederike, née Raschig, also owned a property and inherited the Dehne estate in Niederlößnitz. As a thrifty pastor, he sold a large part of the church-owned agricultural land and thus secured a certain prosperity for the parish. He also revived an unusual custom: Glass boxes with wreaths in memory of the deceased were hung up in the church for a fee. At the same time, he provided funds for the church choir and musical instruments.

In addition to his work as a dedicated parish priest, one achievement is probably the most highly honoured: "In response to a rumour that a band of marauding Frenchmen was approaching the village from Serkowitz, Flemming, the priest in charge at the time, mustered a band of young farmers armed with flails, scythes, pitchforks etc. and marched with them towards the band to keep them away from Kötzschenbroda. This impressed the French so much that they, respectfully following Flemming and his band, marched into the village with the strictest discipline." This is quoted by journalist and local historian Fritz Adolf Theodor Schruth (1872-1946) from Schubert's chronicle of Kötzschenbroda.

Not all the hardships of the war could be solved in such a relaxed manner, especially the compulsory billeting made life difficult for the Lößnitz and not all looting could be stopped. Epidemic diseases also became a problem. Flemming also had to endure several fire disasters in the town during his time in office. On one occasion, a blaze in the Niederschänke (now the Goldener Anker) spread to a number of neighbouring farmsteads. Even worse was the arson attack by a firebug, which in 1805 caused extensive damage to the streets of Altkötzschenbrodas, the church, Oberschänke, Vorwerkstraße and Fürstenhain within 1 ½ hours. Naundorf, however, was hit the hardest in 1822 and was almost completely destroyed. Flemming immediately organised an extensive fundraising campaign. The call for support even reached the Leipziger Zeitung (one of the first daily newspapers ever to do so). These and other merits are the basis of the decision that was published in the Radebeul Tageblatt on 20 April 1935 and still reminds us today of this personality's commitment, namely the renaming of Luisenstraße in Kötzschenbroda to Flemmingstraße.

Maren Gündel, City Archive

Published in: Radebeul Official Gazette, November 2017