Huguenots in Germany

History
After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 almost 50,000 French Protestants fled from France to various German States. About 20,000 of them settled in Brandenburg, where Duke Frederick William had granted them special privileges. Hessen, Hessen-Nassau, Franconia, the Palatinate, Braunschweig, and Baden were other preferred areas of settlement. During the early years local residents0 took them into their homes until primitive housing was built.

Descriptive Terms
• Hugenotten (Huguenots) – originally a derogatory term meaning “conspirer” – used as umbrella term for all early French-speaking Protestant groups • Wallonen (Wallooons) – Protestant inhabitants of the French-speaking Wallonie, a region in today’s Belgium • Waldenser (Waldensians) - A specific group of early Protestants founded in Southern France in the 12th Century and their descendants