Peter Friedhofen was a 19th-century German Roman Catholic priest who was born in Weitersburg in early 1819. After working as an apprentice chimney sweep and supporting his brother's widow and children, he dedicated his life to religious service. In 1850, he established the Brothers of Mercy, a religious order that received official diocesan approval in 1852. Throughout his life, he struggled with chronic lung disease, eventually passing away in Koblenz on December 21, 1860.