F. C. D. Wyneken

Wyneken was born to Pastor Heinrich Christoph Wyneken and Anne Catherine Louise Wyneken née Meyer on May 13, 1810, in Verden an der Aller in the Kingdom of Westphalia. Some of the earlier Wynekens and their relatives were minor government officials in the Duchy of Bremen-Verden when it was under Swedish control. The Wyneken family had an established Lutheran heritage long before Friedrich arrived in America. Heinrich Wyneken's father, grandfather, and one brother were pastors in Hanover. Two of Friedrich Wyneken's older brothers also became pastors. Significant numbers of more distant relatives and in-laws were also Lutheran clergy members, such as Superintendent Hans Heinrich Justus Phillip Ruperti, (1833–1899), who was Friedrich's nephew.

Other Wyneken relatives had military careers in the Electorate of Hanover and others would serve in army of the Kingdom of Hanover. Friedrich Wyneken's maternal grandfather was a Rittmeister stationed in Verden. Wyneken's second cousin Christian Wilhelm August Johann Ernst Wyneken (1783–1853) fought in the King's German Legion in Spain and at the Battle of Waterloo and later became a Lieutenant General in the Hanoverian Army and led a German contingent in the First Schleswig War. Much later a third cousin, Hans Kannengiesser (1880–1970), would fight at Gallipoli and later become a generalleutnant.

Wyneken was baptized on May 22, 1810, by his father at St. Andreas Church in Verden. Heinrich Wyneken died five years later, leaving eleven children and a widow behind. Friedrich attended the gymnasium in Verden. At the age of 17 he went to the University of Göttingen but soon enrolled at the University of Halle. Neither of these institutions had a reputation for the dogmatic Lutheran orthodoxy which Wyneken was later to embrace; rather they both promoted strong rationalistic viewpoints. At Halle, Wyneken became a student of August Tholuck, a skilled linguist and a believer in the personal religious experience.

After graduation, Wyneken worked as a private instructor in Lesum (now a locality of Bremen) at the home of Consistorial Counsellor Georg von Henfstengel, himself an "Awakened" pastor. During this time Wyneken became more influenced by the Erweckungsbewegung ("Awakening" movement) led by August Tholuck. He was ordained in Stade along with his fellow theology student E. W. Wolff on May 8, 1837, and soon the pair secured free passage to America from an "Awakened" sea-captain, Stuerge, and the blessing of the Stade Bible and Mission Society.

When Wyneken's health declined, he moved to Cleveland and assisted his son, who was also a pastor, for a decade. He then traveled to California, where his daughter lived and where he hoped the climate would help his health. Friedrich Conrad Dietrich Wyneken died in San Francisco on May 4, 1876. His son-in-law, Pastor Buehler, preached at the emotional funeral.