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[German Version] (Jan 11, 1810, Tübingen-Nov 26, 1881, Korntal near Stuttgart). Coming from Württemberg Pietism (I, 1), Krapf worked as a missionary of the Church Missionary Society in what is now Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania (1837–1855, 1861/1862, 1868; from 1846 with J. Rebmann). Although himself unsuccessful in hi…

[German Version] (Sep 30, 1709, Kunewalde, Moravia (Kunín) – Aug 2, 1785, Niesky, Upper Lusatia), first Protestant missionary in South Africa. Schmidt, an educated butcher, joined the Herrnhut community (Bohemian and Moravian Brethren). While traveling as an itinerant preacher for the community, he was imprisoned in Moravia (1728–1734). In 1736 he was sent to the Cape Colony, where h…

[German Version] (Feb 4, 1814, Stuttgart – Apr 25, 1893, Calw) came from Württemberg Pietism. In South India since 1836 (with K.T.E. Rhenius), he joined the Basel Mission in 1838 and laid the foundations of their work in Malabar (Thalassery, 1839; Chirakkal, 1849). In 1857 he became school inspector of the English colonial government of Malabar and South Kanar…

[German Version] (May 2, 1829, Wimmis near Thun, Switzerland – Mar 17, 1880, Bern), was pastor at the Waldau sanatorium (near Bern) from 1858 and became associate professor (1871), then full professor (1876) of systematic theology and the history of religion in Bern; he was a cofounder of the Kirchlicher Reformverein (Church Reform Society, 1866). Langhans caused a stir with his profusely documented work Pietismus und Christenthum im Spiegel der äußeren Mission [Pietism and Christianity in the light of foreign mission; 1864], in which he sharply criticized Pietist/…

[German Version] (Dec 12, 1621, Styria [Chemnitz?] – 1668 [?], Surinam), pioneer of worldwide Protestant missions. Born to an Austrian Lutheran family in exile, Welz grew up in Ulm and studied law and history in Leiden. Endowed with a mystical spirituality and determined to live as a Protestant solitary, he pilloried the abuses rampant in state and church and was the first to call the attention of German Protestantism to its missionary obligation (1663/1664). He also planned to establish a “Jesus-…

[German Version] (Nov 19, 1824, Fellbach – May 2, 1864, Basel) grew up in the setting of Württemberg Pietism and was inspired by the “humanism of Goethe and Hegel.” In his studies he was influenced especially by J.T. Beck. He served…

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[German Version] (Oct 14, 1753, Schleusingen, Thuringia – Jun 11, 1812, Doberlug-Kirchain, Lower Lusatia), forerunner of the revival movement (Revival/Revival movements). Scion of an ancient aristocratic family with roots in Franconia and Vogtland, he served as head forester in Doberlug and, in the spirit of Herrnhut, as sponsor of missionary and charitable programs, including a school ¶ and distribution of Bibles deep in Eastern Europe. Of particular importance was the missionary seminary in Berlin (1800), headed by J. Jänicke, the first German schoo…

[German Version] (Aalst, East Flanders – Sep 5, 1578, Leuven) belonged to the Order of Friars Minor ( Ordo Fratrum Minorum = OFM), in which he held the functions of definitor and provincial superior; he was also professor in Leuven. Mermannius authored apologetic writings. His Theatrum conversionis gentium totius orbis (1572 and 1614) appears to be the first ¶ attempt to write a comprehensive literary account of the mission history of the early and medieval church. Conceived as the Counter-Reformation's reaction to the Centuries of Magdeburg, it seeks to de…

[German Version] (1607/16…

[German Version] (Sep 27, 1722, Fahrland near Potsdam – Aug 25, 1796, Vorsfelde near Wolfsburg), studied in Helmstedt where he attended lectures by J.L. v. Mosheim. In 1747, he became a Lutheran pastor in Glentorf near Königslutter, and in 1762 superintendent and pastor primarius in Vorsfelde. Sympathetic in his early years with the theology of Wolffianism (C. Wolff), he ultimately adhered to late orthodox…

[German Version] (Jan 9, 1836, Mieszkowice [Ger. Bärwalde], Poland – May 3, 1924, Belzig) was a Protestant pastor in Bitterfeld (1861), Frankfurt an der Oder (1863) and Mörz near Belzig (1869–1913); he was a cartographer for Justus Perthes in Gotha (1865–1869). As a close collaborator with G. Warneck, Grundemann was a co-founder of missiology, for which he created the cartographical and statistical foundations, especially through his …

[German Version] (Jul 21, 1799, Stuttgart – Nov 12, 1862, Calw) served as Lutheran pastor in Möttlingen (Black Forest) from 1824 to 1838. A journalist and author, he founded (1833) and directed the Calwer Verlag (1838–1862). He was an internationally renowned, pioneering…

[German Version] (Gnadau Brazil Mission), founded in 1927 as an independent work of the Evangelische Gnadauer Gemeinschaftsverbandes für Evangelisation und Gemeinschaftspflege (Protestant Gnadau Society for Evangelization and Congregational Ministry Gnadauer Verband) among those of German extraction in southern Brazil (since 1989 also in Paraguay). The work includes socio-diaconal assistance and theolo…

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[German Version] (Apr 12, 1782, Wimsheim, near Pforzheim – Dec 8, 1867, Basel), vigorous organizer of the revival movement (Revival/Revival movements) in southern Germany. After receiving training in public administration, in 1801 he was appointed secretary of …

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[German Version] 1. Christian Gottlieb (Apr 29, 1779, Stuttgart – Dec 19, 1838, Basel). As a pastor in the Württemberg regional church, Blumhardt played a central role in the ¶ intensive exchange between the capital Basel and Pietist basic groups in his native Württemberg that arose in the early 19th century. From 1803 to 1807 he was assistant secretary of the German Society of Christianity (Deutsche Christentumsge…