View source for Helm, Matthias (1637-1724)

Matthias Helm was the head of the [[Hutterian Brethren (Hutterische Brüder)|Hutterian Brethren]] 1701-1724. The <em>Väterlied</em> gives a few data of his life. He died in 1724 at the age of 87. He was chosen probational preacher 6 May 1688, and confirmed 15 March 1689, at [[Sobotište (Trnavský kraj, Slovakia)|Sobotiste]]; he served the brotherhood in this capacity for 36 years. He was by trade a scythe-smith.

The <em>Väterlied</em> gives him the tribute of having been an upright man, understanding and wise. When as an old man, oppressed by ill health, he felt his death imminent, he urged the Brethren to choose [[Wollmann, Jakob (d. 1734)|Jakob Wollmann]] as his successor. It is rather remarkable that in 1678 the <em>Schadsche Chronik</em> (Beck, <em>Geschichts-Bücher</em>, p. XVII) was in Helm's possession.

Since the Wolkan edition of the <em>Geschicht-Buch</em> closes with 1665, Beck's edition of the <em>Geschichts-Bücher</em> must be used for this period. The most important source is the continuation of the <em>Väterlied</em>, pp. 563 and 565 in Beck. The <em>Väterlied</em> is also in the <em>Lieder der Hutterischen Brüder</em> (Scottdale, 1914: 878.) The <em>Klein-Geschichtsbuch</em> (Philadelphia, 1947) does not mention him at all.
= Bibliography =
Beck, Josef. <em>Die Geschichts-Bücher der Wiedertäufer in Oesterreich-Ungarn</em>. Vienna, 1883; reprinted Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1967: 563, 565.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em>Mennonitisches Lexikon</em>, 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 280 f.

<strong></strong><em>Die Lieder der Hutterischen Brüder: Gesangbuch darinnen viel und mancherlei schöne Betrachtungen, Lehren, Vermahnungen, Lobgesänge und Glaubensbekenntnisse, von vielen Liebhabern Gottes gedichtet und aus vielen Geschichten und Historien der heiligen Schrift zusammengetragen, allen frommen Liebhabern Gottes sehr nützlich zu singen und zu lessen. </em>Scottdale, Pa. : Mennonitisches Verlagshaus, 1914. Reprinted Cayley, AB: Hutterischen Brüdern in Kanada, 1962: 878.
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