Andreas Gustav Hettasch was a Moravian missionary who served at Genadendal from 1859 to 1864, and again from 1877 to 1894 [MS]. In his second term the village’s crafts were failing, and he tried new work to give people a living [MS]. He led the building of the church that stands on Church Square today, which is sometimes called the Hettasch Church [MS].
What the letters in square brackets mean
Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.
- [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
- [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from Moravian records and the histories written from them, above all Genadendal: A Long Walk by Isaac Balie. These often agree with each other because they share an origin.
- [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.
At a glance
| Born | Not known |
| Died | Not known. He returned to Europe after 1894 [MS]. |
| Known for | Leading the building of the church on Church Square (1891 to 1893), and efforts to create new work at Genadendal [MS] |
| Link to the valley | Missionary at Genadendal for 22 years |
His life
Balie’s history says Hettasch was of Roman Catholic origin, and committed his life to Christ at the age of 21 [MS]. He was appointed to Genadendal again in 1877 [MS]. The mission was then in a hard state: 600 adults had been put out of the church for failing to pay their contributions [MS]. Balie’s history says he won the confidence of the community, quietly restored their membership, and that a spiritual awakening broke out among the children in 1885 [MS].
New work for the village
By the late 1800s factory goods were undercutting the village’s crafts, and many people left to find work [MS]. Hettasch started projects to create jobs: 13,000 castor oil plants were sown, and 12,000 mulberry trees planted to feed silkworms for raw silk [MS]. He encouraged residents to collect buchu and everlasting flowers for export to Europe [MS]. An oil press came from England, and Genadendal’s castor oil won prizes at the Agricultural Exhibition in Cape Town in 1886 [MS]. For the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London in 1886, he listed 33 medicinal herbs used in the valley, where they grew, and how they were used; the collection won an honourable mention [MS]. He also planted hops and tobacco, which Balie’s history says many Christians thought a mistake [MS]. None of the projects lasted [MS].
The church on Church Square
In 1889 the congregation decided to replace the church of 1800, and started a building fund [MS]. Residents raised 1,225 pounds, the mission society gave 700 pounds, the old church’s materials fetched 519 pounds, and gifts from abroad came to 656 pounds [MS]. The last service in the old church was held on 20 August 1891 [MS]. Hettasch chose the Italian Renaissance (palazzo) style [MS]. Men made the bricks, and women and children carried about 5,000 a day to the site [MS]. On 15 March 1893 he unlocked the doors of the new church with the words of Psalm 100:4, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving” [MS]. It is also called the Jubilee Church, because it marked a hundred years since the missionaries of 1792 [MS].
His wife, Agnes Paulina Hettasch, born Ballein at Berthelsdorf in 1838, died at Genadendal on 23 April 1894, and he returned to Europe after her death [MS]. Their son Otto Gerhard Hettasch, born at Clarkson in 1871, later served as a missionary in the Himalayas and at Genadendal [MS].
His legacy in the valley
- The church he built is still in use on Church Square [MS].
- The museum keeps the castor oil press and silkworm cocoons from his projects [MS].
Links to other figures
- Benno Marx ran the mission press during Hettasch’s first years at Genadendal.
What is still open
- When and where he was born and died.
- What happened to the castor oil, silk, hops, and tobacco projects, and why each ended.
- How residents saw the ending of church membership for unpaid contributions, and its restoration.
Related
- Valley History
- Moravian Church
- The Mission Economy
- Genadendal: A Long Walk
- Moravian Church Genadendal
References
- Balie, I. (2023). Genadendal, The Valley of Grace: A Long Walk Through the History of the First Mission Station in South Africa. AuthorHouse. First published 2020. His years at Genadendal, the state of the congregation, the new work, the exhibitions of 1886, the building of the church, and his family. Page numbers are on Genadendal: A Long Walk.