As burgomaster Smidt confiscated the considerable estates of the Lutheran congregation, arguing it would be a legal non-thing, null and void. The representatives of the Lutheran congregation, led by the cathedral preacher Johann David Nicolai, started to fight for its right to exist.
Smidt, the burgomaster, confiscated the large estates belonging to the Lutheran church, arguing that they were legally nonexistent.  The church's representatives, led by the cathedral preacher Johann David Nicolai, then fought to preserve their existence.