Johann Georg Rapp
Johann Georg Rapp (born November 1, 1757 in Iptingen , † August 7, 1847 in Economy , Pennsylvania ) was a leading figure of radical Pietism .
biography
As the son of poor parents, Johann Georg Rapp grew up in Iptingen and learned the trade of linen weaver . After two years of wandering, he returned to his hometown and soon attended the local Pietist private meeting. In 1785 he married Christine Benzinger from Friolzheim , who brought him so much wealth into the marriage that the linen weaver rose socially to the middle class of the village. Since spring 1785 Rapp stayed away from church services and the Lord's Supper and founded a radical pietist group. Within a few years, Rapp rose to become the most important separatist leader in Württemberg by bundling and organizing the rapidly growing radical pietist movement in the Maulbronn , Remstal and Balingen offices. The separatists kept in touch with one another through mutual visits and extensive correspondence. The rise Rapp was favored by the blandness of the authorities because it was feared that it hard sanctions or even expulsion in the eyes of his followers and supporters to a martyr would do.
When the pressure on the separatists increased after Duke Friedrich II of Württemberg came to power, Rapp decided to emigrate. At first he thought of settling in Louisiana , but when this territory was sold from France to the United States , he and some companions left Württemberg for Pennsylvania in the summer of 1803 . Not far from the city of Pittsburgh , he found a suitable settlement area. Around 700 of his followers followed him in 1804/05. With a contract dated February 15, 1805, the Harmony Society was founded, which can be attributed to the inspiration movement , and the settlement Harmony was named after it. The people lived in perfect community of property; all private property was abolished. Serious conflicts broke out when Rapp postulated complete sexual abstinence in 1807 and also rigorously enforced it. Thanks to exemplary agriculture and the establishment of modern factories ( cloth production and processing, later silk production), the settlement prospered within a few years.
However, Rapp sold the entire settlement in 1814 and moved his community to Indiana , where he built a new settlement, also called Harmony , in the wilderness on the Wabash River . There, too, an exemplary community developed within a short period of time, which generated high profits. The group around Rapp also did a great job building up the state of Indiana. After another ten years, Rapp sold the settlement to Robert Owen , who renamed it New Harmony , and again forced his followers to move - back to the vicinity of the first settlement in Pennsylvania, where a new settlement called Economy (today's place name : Ambridge ) 18 miles north of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . However, this increased the conflicts within the community.
Johann Georg Rapp, who thought himself immortal towards the end of his life, died in Economy at the age of 89 and, like all his followers, was buried in an unmarked grave.
literature
- Viktor Rauscher: From the life and doings of the separatist G. Rapp . Theological studies from Württemberg 6, 1885.
- Theodor Schott: Rapp, Johann Georg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 27, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, pp. 286-289.
- Rudolf Stumberger : Communist America. On the trail of utopian communities in the USA. Mandelbaum, Vienna 2015 ISBN 978-3-85476-647-6
- Theodor Heuss : Der Räpple , in: Ders .: Shadow conjuring. Figures on the margins of history. Wunderlich, Stuttgart 1947; again Klöpfer and Meyer, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 3-931402-52-5
- Daniel Heinz: Johann Georg Rapp. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 1359-1361.
- Eberhard Fritz : Johann Georg Rapp (1757–1847) and the separatists in Iptingen . With an edition of the relevant Iptingen church convention protocols. Leaves for Württemberg Church History, 95, 1995, pp. 129–203
- Eberhard Fritz: Radical Pietism in Württemberg. Religious ideals in conflict with social realities . Tübingen 2003.
- Eberhard Fritz: Separatists in Württemberg and in neighboring territories. A biographical directory . Workbooks of the Association for Family and Heraldry, 3rd Stuttgart 2005.
- Hermann Ehmer: Johann Georg Rapp 1757–1847 , in: Siegfried Hermle (Hrsg.): Church history of Württemberg in portraits. Pietism and Awakening Movement. Holzgerlingen 2001, pp. 219–243
- Karl JR Arndt: George Rapp's Separatists 1700–1803. A Documentary History . Worcester MA 1980
- Document volumes by Karl JR Arndt:
- Harmony on the Connoquenessing, 1803-1815. George Rapp's first American Harmony . Worcester MA 1980
- A Documentary History of the Indiana Decade of the Harmony Society. Vol. 1, 1814-1819. Indianapolis 1975
- A Documentary History of the Indiana Decade of the Harmony Society. Vol. 2, 1820-1824. Indianapolis 1975
- Harmony on the Wabash in Transition to Rapp's Divine Economy on the Ohio and Owen's. New Moral World at New Harmony on the Wabash 1824-1826. Worcester MA 1982
- Economy on the Ohio 1826-1834. A Documentary History
- George Rapp's Years of Glory. Economy on the Ohio 1834-1847. A Documentary History. New York 1987
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ pp. 115-137
- ↑ Information on around 3000 separatists; this also includes most of Rapps' followers.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rapp, Johann Georg |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Pietist leader (Radical Pietism) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 1, 1757 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Iptingen |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 7, 1847 |
| Place of death | Economy , Pennsylvania |