Mercator was born Gerard de Kremer or de Cremer in the town of Rupelmonde in the County of Flanders (modern-day Belgium) to parents from Gangelt in the Duchy of Jülich, where he was raised.
These German Catholics were fleeing the Gangelt, Geilenkirchen district of Germany to avoid religious persecution and military impressments.
William Kreiten (21 June 1847, in Gangelt near Aachen – 6 June 1902, at Kerkrade (Kirchrath) in Limburg) was a literary critic and poet.
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