Johann Ludwig Schneller

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Grave of the married couple Johann Ludwig and Magdalene Schneller, b. Böhringer, at the Protestant Zion Cemetery in Jerusalem

Johann Ludwig Schneller (born January 15, 1820 in Erpfingen , † October 18, 1896 in Jerusalem ) was a Swabian teacher and missionary .

Life

Schneller was born in the Swabian Alb as the son of the weaver and farmer couple Jakob and Anna Katharina Schneller. His son Ludwig stated in the biography of Father Schneller that one branch of the family goes back to emigrated Protestants from Salzburg; local research in Sonnenbühl-Erpfingen has not yet been able to confirm this. At home he was shaped by pietism . Schneller received his schooling in private lessons from the pastor and teachers in his home town. In 1838 he was accepted as a teacher in the Württemberg state service without having completed a teacher training seminar. In keeping with his pietistic character, he began to collect Bible study groups. In 1843 he was appointed head of the Vaihingen an der Enz prison .

Through his missionary activities he came into contact with the St. Chrischona pilgrimage mission in Basel. In 1847 he went to the pilgrimage mission as a householder and head of the brotherhood. After he got engaged to Magdalene Böhringer in 1854, he had to leave the brotherhood. From then on he worked in Jerusalem on behalf of St. Chrischona.

From November 26, 1854, Schneller was in charge of the Brothers' House, founded in 1846 but dissolved again in 1849, which was intended for the training of missionaries for Ethiopia . He sold the brother house building, bought a piece of land and was the first European to live in his own house outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Schneller had to teach Arabic in the Brotherhood. He also received lessons from Bishop Samuel Gobat (1799–1879).

In 1855, Schneller began to do missionary work independently. His work was not very successful, so that he turned to charitable tasks since 1860. This year, as a result of the Druze-Maronite civil war in Syria in what is now Lebanon and in Damascus , Christians were persecuted , in which around 30,000 Christians lost their lives. Schneller traveled to Beirut and Sidon , took in some orphans on his return on November 11, 1860 and began building an orphanage. In 1861 a support committee was formed, which included representatives from the Evangelical Church in Jerusalem , including Bishop Samuel Gobat. After a primary school for 6 to 14 year olds, a four-year vocational training followed. In 1871, 55 children were housed in the orphanage and in 1884 more than 90. In 1882, an additional department for training the blind was opened.

Around 1900 the area of ​​the Syrian Orphanage was the largest contiguous building complex outside of the walled old city of Jerusalem. With his commitment, Schneller paved the way for diaconal and missionary activities in the Middle East.

Schneller was able to work there until his death and build up a wide-ranging work - with branches in Bethlehem, Bir Salem and Nazareth  . The persecution of the Armenians that began in 1894 made his commitment even more urgent, so that his sons Theodor and Ludwig continued the work after his death.

Faster was buried in Jerusalem in the Zion cemetery of the evangelical community and the Anglican St. George's Cathedral on Mount Zion .

Works

Remembrance day

October 19 in the Evangelical Name Calendar .

literature

  • Samir Akel: The pedagogue and missionary Johann Ludwig Schneller and his educational institutions . Surbir, Bielefeld, 1978, DNB 790473054
  • Jakob Eisler, Arno G. Krauss (ed.): We have to go to Jerusalem. The travel diary of the educator and missionary Johann Ludwig Schneller in autumn 1854 . artemedia, Birsfelden, 2002, ISBN 3-905290-30-8 and Johannis, Lahr, 2002, ISBN 3-501-01459-7
  • Siegfried Hanselmann: German Protestant Palestine Mission. Handbook of their motives, history and results . Verlag der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Mission, Erlangen, 1971, ISBN 3-87214-027-2
  • Mitri Raheb (Rã.hib, Mitr¯i): The Reformation legacy among the Palestinians (= The Lutheran Church, History and Shapes, 11). Mohn, Gütersloh, 1990, ISBN 3-579-00127-2
  • Georg Sauer:  Johann Ludwig Schneller. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 9, Bautz, Herzberg 1995, ISBN 3-88309-058-1 , Sp. 572-574.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Ludwig Schneller: Father Schneller: A Patriarch of the Evangelical Mission in the Holy Land. With a portrait of Magdalene Schneller. HG Wallmann, Leipzig, 1898, DNB 576086681
  • Ludwig Schneller: Do you know the country? Images from the promised land to explain the holy scriptures . HGWallmann, Leipzig, 1892, DNB 576086568

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marcel Serr: Schneller family: "What is more vivid, what is more promising than a child?" In: Israelnetz . February 7, 2018, accessed March 1, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Joachim Schäfer: Johann Ludwig Schneller . Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints , September 9, 2015, accessed on March 1, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Faster, Johann Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German teacher and missionary
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Erpfingen
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 1896
Place of death Jerusalem