Herman op den Graeff

Herman op den Graeff
leader of the Mennonites
Personal details
Born	November 26, 1585 Aldekerk, Germany
Died	December 27, 1642 Krefeld, Germany
Nationality	German
Denomination	Christianity
Occupation	Linen weaver
Profession	merchant

Herman op den Graeff (Aldekerk, 26 November 1585 - Krefeld, 27 December 1642) was a Mennonite community leader from Krefeld.

Herman op den Graeff was the first reported member of the Op den Graeff family. He was born November 26, 1585 in Aldekerk, Germany.

Herman op den Graeff was a wealthy linen weaver and merchant. In 1605 he removed to Kempen where he met and married on August 6, 1605 Greitgen Pletjes (or Greitje Pletjes) (1588–1643).

In Krefeld Op den Graeff became a leader and of the Mennonite community, and in 1632 was one of two Krefeld Mennonite Church delegates to sign the Confessions of Faith. In 1637 he was named as the „der hiesigen Mennoniten Herr Bischof" of Krefeld.

Some of Herman op den Graeff's descendents migrated to the United States. They are among the thirteen families often referred to as the Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Founders, who arrived on the ship Concord on October 6, 1683. Among these families were three op den Graeff brothers, including grandson Abraham op den Graeff, a cousin of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Governor Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker was Herman's sixth-great grandson.

A fictional book published in 2011 by Nancy Dellinger entitled "The Legend of the Lohengrin Swan" plots Op den Graeff as a central figure leading during the tumultuous religious divisions and wars of the period.

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