Andreas Honorary Award

Andreas Ehrenpreis (also Ehrenpreiß ; * 1589 in Illingen (Württemberg) ; † August 1, 1662 in Sobotište , Slovakia ) was an important figure in the Anabaptist movement and an influential head of the Hutterites .

Life

Illingen, Cyriakus Church

Moravia (blue) in today's political division of the Czech Republic

Andreas Ehrenpreis came from a respected middle class family in Illingen. His father, Peter Ehrenpreis, had already joined the Anabaptist movement around 1583 and was baptized in Moravia . In 1585, for unknown reasons, he moved back to his home in Württemberg and attended the services of the Lutheran Church there. It was not until 1596 that he and his family returned to the Moravian Hutterites. Andreas, who was now 7 years old, was baptized as soon as the family arrived and became a member of the Hutterite brotherhood. As a teenager he learned the trade of miller . In 1621 the Hutterite congregation in Nové Mlýny (Neumühl / Moravia) appointed him their servant of the word .

Around 1622 the Hutterite community and with it honorary award from Moravia was expelled. Looking for a new home she wandered into the Slovakia to Sobotište (German: Sabatisch, Freischütz), then part of Hungary. 186 Hutterites came to Vințu de Jos (German: Alwinz or Alwünz ) in Transylvania .

After completing the usual two-year probationary period as a servant of the word , the official ordination took place in Sobotište (German: Sabbath or Freischütz ) . In 1639, Andreas Ehrenpreis was appointed bishop (head) of the Hutterite community as the successor to the deceased head Heinrich Hartmann . In the Great History Book of the Hutterite Brothers (p. 621) this calling is described as follows:

“ When my dear brother Heinrich left in peace, all servants of the word ( note: preacher) and of necessity (note: deacons ) , including all stewards, buyers, spenders and otherwise much trusted brothers from all over the community 3rd October gathers on the Sabbath ud earnestly appeals to God for another faithful shepherd and bishop about his community, concerned about and deliberating; in the choice of the assembled brothers, a unanimous and happy testimony affected dear brother Andreas Ehrenstein. It is such a service that he should faithfully take care of the community of the Lord, who were charged and ordered on October 4th. "

Andreas Ehrenstein worked within the Hutterite Brotherhood for 41 years. 23 years of them served as head of the community or as bishop. A few days before his death, marked by a serious illness, he gave his well-known farewell speech in the presence of his closest colleagues. It can be found in excerpts in the Great History Book (p. 650ff). In this speech he gave an account of his ministry, gave final instructions to his fellow elders about the future, and concluded, among other things. a. with the words: But here I am taking leave of you all together with the hand of my heart and command you under the hand of God, who will also help you argue and fight honestly until the blessed end. (History book of the Hutterite Brothers, p. 651). The history book gives as the exact time of his death: August 1st (1662), 1/4 past 9 am and adds: He remained sensible to his end. (History book of the Hutterite Brothers, p. 652). His successor in the office of bishop was Johannes Rücker on August 8, 1662 .

meaning

During his time as bishop, Andreas Ehrenpreis tried to build on the so-called golden age of the Hutterite movement . He encountered a community threatened by external persecution and internal division. Added to this were the catastrophic consequences of the Thirty Years War , which repeatedly undermined the economic existence of the social community of outsiders. It is thanks to the consistency and prudence of Bishop Ehrenstein that the Hutterer congregation did not perish in the turmoil of the time. It is therefore probably rightly as the "second founder" ( "second founder" ) in community property called living Baptist.

His diverse writings were also significant for Hutterite history. On the one hand, they aimed to keep the geographically separated branches in contact with one another. Here, for example, the letter to the community of God belongs to Allwünz . On the other hand, his publications were about the internal Reformation of the Hutterites. Here he reveals himself to be stricter, a leader who insists on community discipline. As early as 1640 an excerpt from several of the municipal regulations appeared in this context . Here the preachers of the community are exhorted to greater dedication. The congregation should avoid contact with world leaders ( worldly people ) and concentrate on their work within the community. For him, the community is "the people separated from the world", as the address of another missive that appears between 1647 and 1648 says. The community of goods - as Ehrenpreis teaches here - is founded in the highest commandment of Christ , in the commandment of love . This letter, to which the Schleitheimer articles written by Michael Sattler were added later , belongs to the most important documents of the Huttertum together with them. Here the external basic orders of this community were formulated, which have not lost their validity to this day. These include: ban (congregational discipline), avoidance of marriage with non-believers, strict upbringing of children, simple clothing, quiet lifestyle and the voluntary integration of the individual into the community.

A third group of Ehrenstein's letters contains the theological dispute with other currents, some of which are related to Huttertism. Its addressees were u. a. the Polish Socinians and the Prussian Mennonites who had settled in the area around Danzig. He tried to unite them with the Hutterite community, but this failed. Ehrenpreis also exchanged letters with the Schweckfeldian Balthasar Jäckel .

The further way of the Hutterites from Sobotište

In 1763, the recatholicization of the Bruderhof in Sobotište brought a violent end to it. A small remnant around the headmaster Jakob Walter moved from there to the Ukraine in 1783 , where the Transylvanian Hutterites from Alwünz had founded a new colony in 1770.

Works

• Letter to the community of God zu Allwünz , Sabbath 1642, printed in: The large history book of the Hutterian brothers , Standoff Colony / Canada 1923, pp. 623–628

Selected literature

• R. Wolkan (Ed.): History = Book of the Hutterite Brothers . Standoff Colony 1923
• J. Beck (Ed.): The history books of the Anabaptists in Austria-Hungary from 1526–1787 . Vienna 1883
• R. Wolkan: The songs of the Anabaptists . Berlin 1903
• A. Mais: The song manuscript of Andreas Ehrenpreis . In: Yearbook of the Austrian Volksliederwerkes Vol. 11, 1962, pp. 58-109
• A. Mais: The meaning of the song manuscript of Andreas Ehrenstein . In: Yearbook of the Society for the History of Protestantism in Austria 78–79, 1963, pp. 65–89
• R. Friedmann: An Epistle Concerning Communal Life: A Hutterite Manifesto of 1650 and its Modem Paraphrase . In: Mennonite Quarterly Review 34, 1966, pp. 249-274
• R. Friedmann (Ed.): Sources for the history of the Anabaptists (vol. 12): testimonies of beliefs from Upper German baptismal people , vol. 2, Gütersloh 1967
• R. Friedmann (Ed.): Brotherly Community: The Highest Command of Love . Rifton, NY 1978
• J. Loserth: On the history of the Anabaptists in Moravia . In: Journal for general. History, culture, literature and art history 1, 1884, pp. 438–457;
• J. Loserth: The Communism of the Moravian Anabaptists in the 16th and 17th centuries . In: Archive for Austrian History 81, 1894, pp. 137–322
• L. Müller: The communism of the Moravian Anabaptists . Leipzig 1927
• J. Loserth: The Decline and Revival of the Hutterites . In: Mennonite Quarterly Review 4, 1930, pp. 93-112
• Fr. Hrubý: The Anabaptists in Moravia . Special print from ARG, Leipzig 1935
• E. Buchinger: The history of the Carinthian Hutterite Brothers in Transylvania and Wallachia (1755-1770), in Russia and America . Special print from Carinthia , Klagenfurt 1982
• V. Peters: The Hutterite Brothers. The historical and social development of a successful community of property . Marburg 1992
• Daniel Heinz:  Andreas Honorary Award. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 16, Bautz, Herzberg 1999, ISBN 3-88309-079-4 , Sp. 434-437.

Web links

• Johann Loserth and Robert Friedmann: Andreas Ehrenpreis . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online