Gravestone of Christoph Brasen
Christoph Brasen (1738-1774) was a surgeon and the first superintendent of the Nain Mission. He came to Labrador with his wife, Maria Catharina Federhahn, in 1771. Brasen's skills as a surgeon and as an administrator were of great value, however, his life was tragically cut short during his service at Nain. While exploring the northern Labrador coast for a site to establish a second mission post, the sloop George foundered in a storm. Brasen and Gottfried Lehmann were both drowned although two other Moravian missionaries and the crew of the sloop were saved. Brasen and Lehmann were buried at the Moravian graveyard in Nain after their bodies washed up on shore.

Courtesy of the Centre for Newfoundland Studies Archives (Siegfried Hettasch Collection), Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's Newfoundland.