RE: Hermannsburg Missionhaus

Ladies and Gentlemen:

    For you English speakers who may be interested in the activities of the
Missionsanstalt Hermannsburg graduates in the USA, I thought I would provide
you with a short outline to give you an idea of some of the history of this
institution.

    The Missionsanstalt was founded in 1849 by Louis Harms who was its
director until his death in 1865 at which time he was succeeded by his brother
Theodor. The first students graduated in 1853 and went to Africa along with a
number of colonists. A second class graduated in 1857 followed by a third in 1861.
The missionaries and colonists were transported to Africa on board the ship
"Candaze" which was owned by the Institute.

    A fourth class was enrolled in 1861 which graduated in 1866. From this
class four graduates went to Australia, three to India, and two to America in
addition to those destined for African missions.

    Pastor Harms first really became aware of the need for missionaries for
America in 1860 when Pastors C. F. W. Walther and E. A. Brauer of what is now
the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod made a trip to Germany looking for pastors.
The then 13 year-old church body was experiencing growth that far outstripped
its ability to supply pastors. Walther and Brauer attended the 1860
Hermannsburg Mission festival and spoke with Harms. Harms was deeply moved by their
plea ("Louis Harms war tief bewegt davon, und tatkraeftig, wie er war, zoegerte
es nicht, sondern entschloss sich sofort, auch Pastoren fuer Amerika
auszubildern.") and decided to train missionaries for service in America. Harms
subsequently began to receive letters from the United States requesting that he
send missionaries from Hannover.

    The candidates for American service did not reside at the Institute, but
had to live in the town of Hermannsburg, as there was no room for them at the
school. However, they did not have to pay tuition. After their graduation,
the cost of their transportation to New York was paid for by the
Missionsanstalt and transportation costs in America were paid by the Missouri Synod. The
first two candidates sent to America were J. E. Wuebben and C. F. W. Sapper. In
1867, a much larger class was sent to the Missouri Synod, a practice that
lasted until about 1875 when friction developed between Hermannsburg and the
Missouri Synod. Two of the 1867 graduates, Lorenz Menge and L. E. Knief left
Hermannsburg before their ordination and were ordained in the US. The remainder
of the class was ordained before their departure.

    Colonists were also sent to America. My great-great grandfather, Georg
Landgraf, was a member of the class of 1867 and he departed Hermannsburg with
several classmates on 15 September 1867 and arrived in New York on November
2nd. He fiance, Louise Wolters, did not depart until the following April when
she sailed to America with a group of colonists. Some Hermannsburg trained
individuals did go to Canada and some worked with Synods other than Missouri.

    In addition to the Georg Haccius history of the Hermannsburg Mission,
there is valuable information on the Hermannsburg graduates and there service in
the Missouri Synod in the Missouri Synod newspaper "Der Lutheraner", published
between 1844 and 1974 and its German language theological journal "Lehre und
Wehre". The Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis and the libraries of
some Lutheran Universities have copies of these resources. In Germany, the
archive at Hermannsburg has a lot of information on this period and has been
very helpful to researchers in the past.

    I do have a list of most of the Hermannsburg Missionaries.

Gary Beard