View source for Fluri, Adolf (1865-1930)

Adolf Fluri, born 15 February 1865 at Tramelan, J. B., [[Switzerland|Switzerland]], died 1930 in [[Bern (Switzerland)|Bern]], was teacher of French in the [[Muristalden Teacher's Seminary (Kanton Bern, Switzerland)|Muristalden Training School]] at Bern, Switzerland.  He rendered notable service in research on [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] history and aided in the amplification of [[Müller, Ernst (1849-1927)|Ernst Müller's]] noted book on the Bernese Anabaptists (1895) with respect to their cultural history. In the center of Fluri's later work was the question of the history of the Bible and its distribution in the field of the Swiss Reformation. The first Bible printers in [[Zürich (Switzerland)|Zürich]] at that time, the [[Froschauer Bibles and Testaments|Froschauers]], belonged to the religiously radical circles. Fluri's investigations on the Bible brought him in direct contact with Anabaptist history through the phenomenon peculiar to them of having their own editions of the Bible. (<em>Täufertestamente</em>). He was the first to make a thorough study of this one phase of Anabaptist history. Previously he had already confirmed and added to the [[Martyrs' Mirror|&lt;em&gt;Martyrs' Mirror&lt;/em&gt;]] ("Täuferhinrichtungen in Bern im 16. Jahrhundert," in <em>Berner Heim</em>, 1896, Nos. 35 and following.). In 1903 he received the honorary doctor's degree from the University of Bern.

Most of Fluri's published material is found in <em>Blätter für Bernische Geschichte, Kunst und Altertumskunde</em>. Some of the more important articles are "Bern und die Froschauerbibel mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der sogenannten Täufertestamente" (XII, 342; XIII, 263 ff.), and "Das Täufertestament von 1687" (XIX, 1 ff.). His earlier writings from this journal also appeared in a separate reprint volume under the title, <em>Beiträge zur Geschichte der bernischen Täufer</em> (Bern, 1912), including "Der Märtyrerspiegel," "Das Waisenhaus als Täufergefängnis," a valuable example of Bernese persecution in the 1670s, "Das Wiedertäufermandat vom 9. August 1659" with commentary, and "Die Lötscher von Latterbach" (later changed to Latscha), in which the typical Anabaptist family is excellently characterized. <em>Die Beziehungen Berns zu den Buchdruckern in Basel, Zürich und Genf, 1476-1536</em> (Bern, 1913) includes a discussion of the Anabaptist colloquy (<em>Täufergespräch</em>) of 1531 and that of 1532 at [[Zofingen Disputation|Zofingen]]. He wrote the article "Froschauer Bibeln und Testamente" for the [[Mennonitisches Lexikon|&lt;em&gt;Mennonitisches Lexikon&lt;/em&gt;]] (II, 15), which has been translated and published in this encyclopedia (see [[Froschauer Bibles and Testaments|Froschauer Bibles and Testaments]]). A valuable feature of Fluri's work is his thorough bibliographical notation, which presents otherwise unobtainable material.


= Bibliography =
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em>Mennonitisches Lexikon, </em>4 v. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 658.


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