5 March 1744
Georg Schmidt departs the Cape
On 5 March 1744, Georg Schmidt left the Cape after the Dutch Reformed authorities challenged his baptisms and mission authority.
View in timelineAfter the Cape authorities challenged his authority to baptise Khoikhoi converts, Georg Schmidt suspended his mission work and left the Cape in 1744. The Baviaanskloof community and its pupils remained, but the Moravian mission lost its resident founder and organised work among Khoikhoi communities entered a long interruption.
Significance
Schmidt's departure ended the first Moravian mission phase and explains the gap before Moravian missionaries returned to Baviaanskloof in 1792.
Why it matters
Schmidt's departure ended the first Moravian mission phase and left the Baviaanskloof community without its founding missionary for almost five decades.
Disputed interpretations
The departure date is recorded as 5 March 1744 in the Cape chronology, while some Moravian accounts place his physical departure earlier in January; the institutional end of his Cape mission is clear even though the date requires source-specific reconciliation.
Perspective notes
The dispute concerned both church jurisdiction and Khoikhoi participation in baptism and mission life. Colonial church records emphasise authorisation, while Moravian accounts emphasise Schmidt's calling and the community's religious instruction.