Below movement
The Below movement was a late Pietist revival movement at the beginning of the 19th century in Western Pomerania . The movement, inspired by the noble von Below brothers, is considered a forerunner of the Pentecostal movement .
history
During his participation in the Wars of Freedom , Gustav von Below came into intensive contact with the piety of Pietism , which resulted in encounters with personalities such as Adolf von Thadden-Trieglaff (1796–1882), Ernst Senfft von Pilsach (1795–1882) or Hans Jürgen von Kleist -Retzow (1771–1844).
Together with his brothers Karl and Friedrich, Gustav declared his departure from "glass, cards and pipes" in a formal and programmatic way, in contrast to the luxury life at the Berlin court and in the Prussian nobility. As landlords and patrons of the church , the brothers developed an intensive popular missionary activity on the Reddentin estate, as well as at Wollin and Seehof . They introduced Bible and prayer lessons that were well attended, often lasted for several hours until midnight, and were accompanied by ecstatic phenomena such as speaking in tongues . This led to violent disputes with the local pastors and the state church authorities. The church pastor's office remained orphaned until Baron Hans Ernst von Kottwitz (1757–1843) intervened.
The high Prussian personalities who maintained contact with the Reddentine movement during certain phases of their lives included Otto von Bismarck (1815–1896), Ernst Ludwig von Gerlach (1795–1877) and his brother Leopold (1790–1861) and Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal (1810-1900).
While the brothers Gustav and Karl von Below withdrew over time and studied the theosophy of Jacob Boehme and Gichtel , Friedrich deepened his spiritual commitment by founding an independent " Seehöfer Congregation ", which temporarily joined the Old Lutheran Church after Friedrich's death gradually disintegrated.
Numerous "sectarians" who emerged from the movement later joined the Old Lutheran congregation or emigrated to America , where they acted as initiators of the emerging Pentecostal movement .
The inspirers
The brothers
- Gustav Ernst Anton Wilhelm von Below (* July 18, 1790 in Gatz ; † November 19, 1843 in Reddentin )
- Karl Ewald Andreas von Below (born May 22, 1783 in Greifenberg in Pomerania , † March 2, 1843 in Gatz)
- Heinrich Friedrich von Below (born January 23, 1792 in Wollin, † July 15, 1855 in Seehof)
were joined by two sisters of children from Livonia originating Prussian captain Karl Gustav von Below (1759-1840) and Charlotte Wilhelmine of Woedtke (1757-1798).
literature
- Gustav Adolf Benrath, Ulrich Gäbler (Hrsg.): The Pietism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The revival movement within the German regional churches . Göttingen 2000, p. 169.