Johann Georg Krönlein

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JG Krönlein and three other missionaries on a southwest African first day cover from 1989 with four special stamps

Johann Georg Krönlein , (born March 19, 1826 in Segnitz near Würzburg (then "Seegnitz"); † January 27, 1892 in Wynberg , South Africa ), was a Lutheran missionary and linguist in South West Africa (now Namibia ) and South Africa.

Youth and education

Johann Georg Krönlein came from a family of tanners in Lower Franconia , initially worked as a merchant and joined the Rhenish Mission Society in 1846 , which trained him as a missionary in Barmen .

family

Several missionaries came out of the family. His eldest half-brother Johann Michael Krönlein (* 1811 Segnitz, † 1883 Bielefeld ), who had initially taken over the business of his father Vitus Krönlein, worked, among other things, as a missionary in Loudonville in Ohio . His brother Johann Friedrich Krönlein (* 1827 Segnitz, † 1903 Ebersdorf in Thuringia ) was a missionary in Paramaribo in Suriname . His youngest brother Carl Ludwig Krönlein (* 1828 Segnitz, † 1894 Karlsruhe ) worked in the inner mission as a hostel father. A great niece, Luise Wagner, daughter of his sister Sophia Margaretha Krönlein, who had married a pastor, supported her uncle as a missionary sister in South West Africa.

The most adventurous life among the children of the Segnitzer master tanner Vitus Krönlein, however, had the youngest daughter, Maria Magdalena (* 1833), who married the missionary Ferdinand Rott in 1854. Five years later, on May 7, 1859, Rott was murdered with his eldest daughter and six missionary sisters by rebel Dayaks in Borneo. The pregnant woman and two children narrowly escaped and fled on a Dutch steamer. A year later she returned to Germany with three children and lived as a teacher in Gütersloh . A book for young people that was published several times between the 1960s and the 1980s was created from this material 100 years later.

Missionary work in South West Africa and South Africa

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Johannis, Wynberg , Cape Town

In 1851 Johann Georg Krönlein went to South Africa and in the same year moved to Berseba in what is now Namibia, where he learned the language of the " Hottentots ", now called Nama , and subsequently wrote numerous articles about this people and their language, including the first Nama dictionary compiled. He was able to build on the work of Zara and Johann Heinrich Schmelen , who had already translated parts of the New Testament into the Nama language. Zara Schmelen (around 1793–1831) was born “Hottentottin” and did most of the translation work. Krönlein also used the help of local converts in the communities, for example that of chief Goliath and elder Tiboth. Under Krönlein, Berseba became a model station for the Rhenish Mission.

Under Krönlein, the Nama mission was extended to Keetmanshoop , Gibeon , Warmbad , Rietfontein and Gochas .

Krönlein married Sophie Terlinden on November 30, 1852 (* July 10, 1819 in Repelen , † May 19, 1898 in Wynberg near Cape Town) from Friemersheim. The couple had no children.

From 1867 to 1877 Krönlein was President of the Rhenish Mission Society in Namaland, for which he also remained partially responsible when he was transferred to Stellenbosch (South Africa) in 1877 . In 1882, for example, the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft sent him to the negotiations in which the Rehoboth peace treaty was negotiated with the Nama.

In 1887 Krönlein went to Wynberg as a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. There he continued to work on researching the Nama language and in particular on the translation of the Bible into this language, which Zara Schmelen had begun . Translations of the catechism, a hymn book and school books can also be traced back to him. He was the author of the first Nama dictionary, which is still the most important basis for further research into this language.

Honors

Johann Georg Krönlein is still mentioned as a co-translator on the cover of the current 7th edition of the Bible translation into the Nama language in South Africa and Namibia. He was also shown in 1989 on a commemorative stamp of what was then South West Africa. In addition, the suburb of Krönlein in Keetmanshoop , the capital of the ǁKaras region in Namibia, was named after him. In his birthplace Segnitz there is a Krönleinstraße in the old town, which is about 50 meters long. The only house number on this short street (Krönleinstraße 1) is the house where he was born and there is also a memorial plaque on it.

annotation

  1. ↑ Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .

Publications

  • Johann Georg Krönlein: "Bersaba" - reports of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft No.7 (1856), 108–112.
  • Johann Georg Krönlein: "Bersabaer Bilder" - reports of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft No.8 (1858), 113–126.
  • Johann Georg Krönlein: "From Groß-Namaqualand" - Reports of the Rhenish Mission Society No.? (1863), 209-222.
  • Johann Georg Krönlein (Ed.) :! Nai-! Keiti neisa tsi asa testamens diti. The Calwer Biblical History in the Nama-Language. Berlin: Wilhelm Hertz 1866.
  • Johann Georg Krönlein: Vocabulary of the Khoi-Khoin (Namaqua-Hottentots). German Colonial Society on commission from C. Heymanns Verlag, Berlin 1889.
  • Johann Georg Krönlein: "Reports and letters from Berseba 1858–1864." - Hermann Heinrich Vedder (Ed.): Sources on the history of Southwest Africa No. 11. Windhoek: State Archives 1928, 268–407.
  • Johann Georg Krönlein: “Letters and reports. Berseba 1870–1890. “- Hermann Heinrich Vedder (Ed.): Sources on the history of Southwest Africa No. 13. Windhoek: State Archives 1930, 576–744.
  • Johann Georg Krönlein: “A prize poem for the chief Jonker Afrikaner.” Republished in: Namibiana. Communications of the ethnological-historical working group Vol. I. Scientific Society, Windhoek 1979.

literature

  • Johannes Olpp:  Krönlein, Georg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 51, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, pp. 395-397.
  • Norbert Bischoff: Stories from the history of Segnitz. Local customers worldwide. Self-published, Segnitz 1999.
  • Klaus Dierks : Chronology of Namibian History . 2nd Edition. Klaus Hess Verlag, Göttingen 2003, ISBN 3-933117-52-6 .
  • Dr. Gerhard Buys (Windhoek Theological Seminary): Missionaries 1814–1870 (Description of the special stamp set from 1989 in German) Windhoek 1989.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Norbert Bischoff: The Krönleins. A life dedicated to missionary work. In: The Martinsbote. Segnitz, November 2015, 15-18.
  2. ↑ Otto Brauns: The life, work and end of the Hanoverian missionary Ferdinand Rott who was murdered on Borneo. Hermannsburg 1861.
  3. ^ Alfred Salomon: Among the headhunters of Borneo. The life of Ferdinand Rott. Constance 1960.
personal data
SURNAME Krönlein, Johann Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lutheran missionary and linguist
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1826
PLACE OF BIRTH Segnitz near Würzburg
DATE OF DEATH January 27, 1892
Place of death Wynberg , South Africa