Carl August Brückner

Carl August Brückner (* March 7, 1872 in Mylau ; † April 8, 1949 in Dresden ) was the founder of the Reformed Apostolic Congregation .

Carl August Brückner was born in the small town of Mylau in the Vogtland as the son of a weaver. He attended elementary school and did a commercial apprenticeship. Then he worked for a lawyer. He initially belonged to the Lutheran regional church. In 1895 he married. Shortly before, he had first come into contact with the New Apostolic congregation in Netzschkau and Greiz, whose services he attended.

In the spring of 1895 he was by Friedrich Krebs , who led at the time the NAK and the Chief Apostle ministry developed, sealed and taken to the church. Two years later he was ordained a priest. Soon afterwards he was head of the Zwickau community and was also active for Chemnitz and Falkenstein. In August 1897, he became the elder and head of the important Leipzig congregation . His very successful work, which impressed Chief Apostle Krebs, led him to the office of bishop on October 1, 1901. The founding of New Apostolic congregations in Saxony and Thuringia took place at this time amid violent disputes with the regional churches and authorities. The New Apostolic Chapel in the place of birth of Mylau was closed by the police for three years and in Saxony services were only allowed to take place under police supervision. Brückner played a decisive role in the fact that these provisions were repealed in 1902.

A few months after Chief Apostle Hermann Niehaus (1848–1932) took office, Brückner received the call to Apostle on October 22, 1905 in Bielefeld. He had the special trust and appreciation of the Chief Apostle. His field of work was Saxony, Thuringia and Silesia. Therefore, in June 1905, he moved from Leipzig to Dresden, the administrative seat of the Apostle District. In 1912 his district included 70 parishes.

The New Apostolic Review , which has been published in Leipzig since 1909 , was significantly influenced by him.

During the First World War , the Chief Apostle was increasingly guided by dreams and visions and prophesied that the war would end well. From 1917 at the latest, however, there were different views among the thinking officials and members. In the Apostle College, Brückner became the advocate for an open discussion of the problems. In the years that followed, his relationship with the Chief Apostle suffered greatly, and on April 17, 1921, he was expelled from the Church.

Together with Apostle Max Ecke and around 6,000 members, he founded the Reformed Apostolic Congregation Association on May 5, 1921 .

swell

• Andreas Plagge:  Carl August Brückner. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 25, Bautz, Nordhausen 2005, ISBN 3-88309-332-7 , Sp. 138-140.