Müller, Ernst (1849-1927)
Ernst Müller, a Reformed clergyman and historian, was born in Bern, Switzerland on 10 May 1849, the son of the apothecary Christian Müller. His youth was spent in Bern. He studied theology in the universities of Bern, Jena, Tubingen, and Leipzig. In 1873 he entered the service of the Reformed Church in the canton of Bern. .His first pastorate was Reichenbach in the Bernese Oberland, where he preached 1874-1884. In the latter year he took a similar position at Langnau in the Emmental, serving there until his death on 26 March 1927. He was an enthusiastic promoter of many charitable undertakings.
In the Emmental he came in contact with the Mennonites and became acquainted with their manner of life and their principles. He was deeply interested in the Anabaptist movement and took great pains to study its history from the original sources. His great book, Geschichte der bernischen Täufer, which was published at Frauenfeld in 1895, deserves all respect. The foreword states correctly, "The justification for the existence of this book lies in the fact that this part of Swiss church and cultural history has never been presented, and is intended to fill a gap not only here, but also in the history of the great spiritual movement of the Reformation, which is customarily known as Anabaptism." Again in the introduction, "Above all it will be of interest to the Mennonites to have a presentation of their history, for this brotherhood is a church of martyrs, the justification of whose existence and whose strength lie in its history. The willingness to sacrifice and the devotion to ideals revealed by those who suffered for their faith deserves to be snatched from oblivion as a monument to the character of our people."
In recognition of his work the University of Jena in 1904 conferred upon him an honorary doctor's degree.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III: 176.
| Author(s) | Samuel Geiser |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Geiser, Samuel. "Müller, Ernst (1849-1927)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 18 Dec 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=M%C3%BCller,_Ernst_(1849-1927)&oldid=105983.
APA style
Geiser, Samuel. (1957). Müller, Ernst (1849-1927). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 December 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=M%C3%BCller,_Ernst_(1849-1927)&oldid=105983.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 769. All rights reserved.
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