Berlin Missionary Society
Encyclopedia
The Berlin Missionary Society (BMS) or Society for the Advancement of evangelistic Missions amongst the Heathen (German: Berliner Missionsgesellschaft or Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der evangelischen Missionen unter den Heiden) was a German
Protestant (Old Lutheran) Christian
missionary
society that was constituted on 29 February 1824 by a group of pious laymen from the Prussian nobility.
It was a successor organisation, in Berlin
, to the missionary training efforts of Pastor Jänicke (of the Bohemian
-Lutheran congregation in Berlin) which had prepared missionaries since 1800 for work with other missionary societies including the London Missionary Society
.
The BMS began the training of its first missionaries in 1829, with assistance from missionary societies in Pomerania and East Prussia
.
The Society supported work in South Africa
, China
and East Africa
.
and Rhenish
Missionary Societies, making South Africa an obvious choice, with the initial objective being to set up a mission to the Tswana. Upon arriving in the southern Free State
, and on advice from the London Mission Society’s G.A. Kolbe at Philippolis
, it was decided instead to establish a mission amongst the Korana
at a spot on the Riet River
, which they named Bethanien, in September 1834.
From Bethanien missionaries founded a station at Pniel
on the Vaal River
in 1845, which would be at the centre of South Africa’s diamond discoveries in 1869/70.
and Itemba amongst the Xhosa in a part of the Eastern Cape
then known as Kaffraria
. Other stations followed but on-going frontier conflict was a constraint. During the Frontier War of 1846 to1847, these stations were abandoned and the missionaries sought safety in the neighbouring British colony of Natal
.
Missionaries Posselt and Güldenpfennig founded the first BMS station in Natal which they named Emmaus
, with further stations being established in the years that followed, including the Christianenberg and Hermannsburg
Missions.
and Grützner started work in the north eastern part of the South African Republic
in 1860, their first station being at Gerlachshoop. There were unsuccessful early attempts to evangelise the Swazi and in Sekhukhuneland. Merensky sought refuge amongst his Christian converts in the Middelburg
district and founded the station at Botshabelo (“city of refuge”) – which soon became the most important station of the Berlin Society in South Africa. Here were established a school, seminary, workshops, mill and printing press; and from here BMS influence spread throughout the Transvaal
. By 1900 there were more than thirty six stations and nearly 30 000 converts in the region.
The Berlin missionaries in South Africa, particularly Merensky, Knothe, Trümpelmann, Schwellnus and Eiselen, contributed to the study of African languages
, producing Bible translations and hymnals.
Their work was interrupted by the Anglo Boer War
and, even more so, the World Wars when access to funding became severely limited. Moreover, after World War II
the society's Berlin headquarters fell within the Russian zone of occupation. In 1961 the BMS established a branch in West Berlin
, which remained in contact with its only remaining missionary field, namely in South Africa, for the next 28 years. However, from 1962 it began granting independence to its mission churches which, in time, became amalgamated with other Lutheran mission churches in the region forming the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in South Africa.
The Tswana Catechist Richard Miles
was an early example of an indigenous person fulfilling this role at the Mission Station at Bethanie
in the Southern Free State. Miles traveled to the interior with the missionary party in 1835.
Niklaas Koen, a “Khoikhoi
”, was sent by the BMS to Germany in 1875 to further his education at a high school at Ducherow
in Pomerania
and afterwards to study for the ministry at the Berlin Missionshaus, where he adopted a German version of his name, Klaus Kuhn. Kuhn qualified as a missionary (he also took lessons as a violinist) and, after becoming engaged to a German woman, Maria Brose, returned to Africa to the mission station Königsberg in Natal – where he married his bride in 1878.
Another gifted African student who had started out with violin lessons and was to follow in Kuhn’s footsteps to Ducherow and then the theological seminary in Berlin was one Jan Sekoto. Apparently not adapting well to the Pomeranian climate, however, he returned early to the BMS station at Botshabelo
as a teacher. Sekoto’s son Gerard Sekoto
, born at Botshabelo in 1913, would later emigrate to Europe, obtaining French citizenship and achieving considerable renown as an artist.
in 1869 during the late Qing Dynasty
But it was not before 1882 that the Society officially declared Canton
as its mission field, inheriting a station of the Rhenish Mission. A second missionary field in China arose after Germany
declared Shantung to be within their sphere of political and colonial influence in 1896.
Later the BMS in China merged with the German East Asia Mission (German
: Deutsche Ostasienmission), which in 1972 was integrated into the still existing Berlin Missionary Endowment (German
: Berliner Missionswerk). The latter keeps well established ties with the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (est. 1953) and the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
and co-operates with the United Church of Christ in Japan
and the Church of Christ in China
.
, German East Africa
, inviting the BMS in 1903 to take over a number of its stations. These missions declined after World War I
(when Germany lost all its colonies and German missionaries in such areas were deemed undesirable) and their work was impossible after World War II
.
.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Protestant (Old Lutheran) Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
society that was constituted on 29 February 1824 by a group of pious laymen from the Prussian nobility.
It was a successor organisation, in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, to the missionary training efforts of Pastor Jänicke (of the Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
-Lutheran congregation in Berlin) which had prepared missionaries since 1800 for work with other missionary societies including the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
.
The BMS began the training of its first missionaries in 1829, with assistance from missionary societies in Pomerania and East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
.
The Society supported work in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
.
Free State and Northern Cape
The BMS sent its first missionaries to South Africa in 1833. Missionaries with ties to Berlin had been working there with the LondonLondon Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
and Rhenish
Rhenish Missionary Society
The Rhenish Missionary Society was one of the largest missionary societies in Germany. Formed from smaller missions founded as far back as 1799, the Society was amalgamated on 23 September 1828, and its first missionaries were ordained and sent off to South Africa by the end of the year.The...
Missionary Societies, making South Africa an obvious choice, with the initial objective being to set up a mission to the Tswana. Upon arriving in the southern Free State
Free State
The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...
, and on advice from the London Mission Society’s G.A. Kolbe at Philippolis
Philippolis
Philippolis is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was founded as a missionary outpost for the Bushman in 1823, making it the oldest settlement in the Free State. It was named after John Philip of the London Missionary Society. Adam Kok II, a Griqua leader, settled here with...
, it was decided instead to establish a mission amongst the Korana
Korana
The Korana is a river in central Croatia and west Bosnia and Herzegovina. The river has a total length of and watershed area of .It rises in the eastern parts of Lika, creates the world-famous Plitvice Lakes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Downstream from Plitvice Lakes the Korana river forms a 25...
at a spot on the Riet River
Riet River
The Riet River is a westward-flowing tributary of the Vaal River in central South Africa, of which a major tributary, in turn, is the Modder River. In precolonial times the Riet was known as the Gama-!ab , a !Kora name meaning muddy...
, which they named Bethanien, in September 1834.
From Bethanien missionaries founded a station at Pniel
Pniel, Northern Cape
Pniel was a mission station established by the Berlin Missionary Society on the Vaal River near modern Kimberley, South Africa, in 1845.-Establishment and early history:...
on the Vaal River
Vaal River
The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Ermelo and only about 240 km from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction...
in 1845, which would be at the centre of South Africa’s diamond discoveries in 1869/70.
Eastern Cape and Natal
Further missionaries arrived in 1836/7, with Ludwig Döhne setting up BMS stations BethelBethel
Bethel was a border city described in the Hebrew Bible as being located between Benjamin and Ephraim...
and Itemba amongst the Xhosa in a part of the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
then known as Kaffraria
Kaffraria
Kaffraria was the descriptive name given to the southeast part of what is today the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Kaffraria, i.e. the land of the Kaffirs, is no longer an official designation...
. Other stations followed but on-going frontier conflict was a constraint. During the Frontier War of 1846 to1847, these stations were abandoned and the missionaries sought safety in the neighbouring British colony of Natal
Natal, South Africa
Natal is a region in South Africa. It stretches between the Indian Ocean in the south and east, the Drakensberg in the west, and the Lebombo Mountains in the north. The main cities are Pietermaritzburg and Durban...
.
Missionaries Posselt and Güldenpfennig founded the first BMS station in Natal which they named Emmaus
Emmaus
Emmaus was an ancient town located approximately northwest of present day Jerusalem...
, with further stations being established in the years that followed, including the Christianenberg and Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg is a municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the River Örtze, approx. 15 kilometers east of Bergen and 30 kilometers north of Celle.-Division of the municipality:...
Missions.
South African Republic/Transvaal
Missionaries Alexander MerenskyAlexander Merensky
Alexander Merensky was a German missionary, working in South Africa since 1859.-Life:...
and Grützner started work in the north eastern part of the South African Republic
South African Republic
The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
in 1860, their first station being at Gerlachshoop. There were unsuccessful early attempts to evangelise the Swazi and in Sekhukhuneland. Merensky sought refuge amongst his Christian converts in the Middelburg
Middelburg
Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...
district and founded the station at Botshabelo (“city of refuge”) – which soon became the most important station of the Berlin Society in South Africa. Here were established a school, seminary, workshops, mill and printing press; and from here BMS influence spread throughout the Transvaal
South African Republic
The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
. By 1900 there were more than thirty six stations and nearly 30 000 converts in the region.
The Berlin missionaries in South Africa, particularly Merensky, Knothe, Trümpelmann, Schwellnus and Eiselen, contributed to the study of African languages
African languages
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
, producing Bible translations and hymnals.
Their work was interrupted by the Anglo Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
and, even more so, the World Wars when access to funding became severely limited. Moreover, after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the society's Berlin headquarters fell within the Russian zone of occupation. In 1961 the BMS established a branch in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, which remained in contact with its only remaining missionary field, namely in South Africa, for the next 28 years. However, from 1962 it began granting independence to its mission churches which, in time, became amalgamated with other Lutheran mission churches in the region forming the Evangelical Lutheran Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa is a Lutheran church in South Africa. The Church has 580,000 baptized members. in seven Dioceses in South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland. It became a member of the Lutheran World Federation in 1976 after it was formed out of four previous Synods in...
in South Africa.
Nationalhelferen
The BMS focused on providing schooling and bringing the gospel to people in their own language. Hence the Society’s missionaries were often at the forefront of publishing Bible translations, dictionaries and grammars in indigenous languages. It was as part of this process that Africans, duly trained and sometimes salaried, were accepted into the Society as teachers, catechists and lay-preachers, the so-called Nationalhelferen or national helpers.The Tswana Catechist Richard Miles
Richard Miles (Tswana catechist)
Richard Miles was a Motswana catechist and preacher "to the native tribes beyond the border" in South Africa.-Origins:Nothing definite is known of Richard Miles's origins, except that he was born a Motswana , and as a youth was in the employ of the apothecary John Harfield Tredgold in Cape...
was an early example of an indigenous person fulfilling this role at the Mission Station at Bethanie
Bethanie
Bethanie is a village in southern Namibia, and is ranked as one of the oldest settlements in the country...
in the Southern Free State. Miles traveled to the interior with the missionary party in 1835.
Niklaas Koen, a “Khoikhoi
Khoikhoi
The Khoikhoi or Khoi, in standardised Khoekhoe/Nama orthography spelled Khoekhoe, are a historical division of the Khoisan ethnic group, the native people of southwestern Africa, closely related to the Bushmen . They had lived in southern Africa since the 5th century AD...
”, was sent by the BMS to Germany in 1875 to further his education at a high school at Ducherow
Ducherow
Ducherow is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.-Transport:* Ducherow railway station is served by local services to Berlin, Angermünde, Eberswalde and Stralsund....
in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
and afterwards to study for the ministry at the Berlin Missionshaus, where he adopted a German version of his name, Klaus Kuhn. Kuhn qualified as a missionary (he also took lessons as a violinist) and, after becoming engaged to a German woman, Maria Brose, returned to Africa to the mission station Königsberg in Natal – where he married his bride in 1878.
Another gifted African student who had started out with violin lessons and was to follow in Kuhn’s footsteps to Ducherow and then the theological seminary in Berlin was one Jan Sekoto. Apparently not adapting well to the Pomeranian climate, however, he returned early to the BMS station at Botshabelo
Botshabelo, Mpumalanga
Botshabelo in the district of Middelburg, in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, originated as a mission station established by Alexander Merensky of the Berlin Missionary Society , in February 1865 in what was then the Transvaal Republic...
as a teacher. Sekoto’s son Gerard Sekoto
Gerard Sekoto
Gerard Sekoto , was a South African artist and musician. He is recognized as the pioneer of urban black art, social realism, and more recently as the father of South African art and of his 8 daughters and 3 sons...
, born at Botshabelo in 1913, would later emigrate to Europe, obtaining French citizenship and achieving considerable renown as an artist.
China
The BMS also sent workers to ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in 1869 during the late Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
But it was not before 1882 that the Society officially declared Canton
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
as its mission field, inheriting a station of the Rhenish Mission. A second missionary field in China arose after Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
declared Shantung to be within their sphere of political and colonial influence in 1896.
Later the BMS in China merged with the German East Asia Mission (German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Deutsche Ostasienmission), which in 1972 was integrated into the still existing Berlin Missionary Endowment (German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Berliner Missionswerk). The latter keeps well established ties with the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (est. 1953) and the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan was planted in Taiwan in the 19th century by Dr James Laidlaw Maxwell Snr of the Presbyterian Church of England and Dr George Leslie Mackay of the Presbyterian Church in Canada....
and co-operates with the United Church of Christ in Japan
United Church of Christ in Japan
The United Church of Christ in Japan is the largest Protestant denomination in Japan. It was a union of thirty three diverse Protestant religious bodies forcibly brought together by the Japanese wartime government on June 24, 1941.The UCCJ is a member of the World Council of Churches .-Events...
and the Church of Christ in China
Church of Christ in China
The Church of Christ in China was the largest Protestant organization in Nanjing. The church's history goes back to 1922, when several Protestant denominations in China decided to unite...
.
See also
- Protestant missionary societies in China during the 19th Century
- Timeline of Chinese historyTimeline of Chinese historyThe following is a timeline of the history of China. Between the changing of the dynasties, most dates overlap as ruling periods do not transfer immediately...
- 19th Century Protestant Missions in China
- List of Protestant missionaries in China
- Christianity in ChinaChristianity in ChinaChristianity in China is a growing minority religion that comprises Protestants , Catholics , and a small number of Orthodox Christians. Although its lineage in China is not as ancient as the institutional religions of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism, and the social system and ideology of...
East Africa
The Bethel Mission had established a missionary presence in TanganyikaTanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
, German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
, inviting the BMS in 1903 to take over a number of its stations. These missions declined after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(when Germany lost all its colonies and German missionaries in such areas were deemed undesirable) and their work was impossible after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Berlin
The Berlin Missionary Society is still active today as an integral part of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO)Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
The Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia is a Protestant church body in the German states of Brandenburg, Berlin and a part of Saxony. The seat of the church is in Berlin. It is the most important Protestant denomination in the area....
.