Juhan Leinberg

Juhan Leinberg's grave in the Reopalu cemetery in Paide .

Juhan (Johann) Leinberg (born September 26, 1812 in Norra, parish Koeru ; † August 28, 1885 in Pruuna, parish Ambla ) was an Estonian sect leader under the name Prophet Maltsvet .

Early years

Juhan Leinberg was born into a religious family in Järva County . He received his education in the village school and at home. At an early age he moved to live with relatives on the Maltsvet manor near Järva-Jaani . Since his youth he worked as a farmer, pub owner (1840–1847), miller and flour seller (1848–1853). In 1848 he bought two houses in Tallinn , but returned to Järvamaa after a serious illness .

Sect leader

From 1854, the beginning of the Crimean War , when the fear of war spread across the Estonian north coast, he began to preach in northern Estonia. The first of his famous prayer hours took place in December 1854. Above all, Leinberg called on his followers to refrain from collecting earthly goods. Leinberg called himself Prophet Maltsvet and founded a sect whose followers called themselves Maltsvetians. He quickly came into conflict with the ecclesiastical and secular authorities. In September 1858 he was imprisoned in Paide , which further increased his popularity. It is estimated that between 200 and 300 Estonian families were among his followers.

In 1860, Leinberg propagated emigration to the Crimea , where he himself moved in February 1861. His idea was to take possession of land that the Tatars had supposedly given up there. The Russian Tsar had given permission to move in January 1861. In May and June 1861 fanatical Maltsvetians in Lasnamäe (now a district of Tallinn ) waited in vain for the arrival of a “white ship” that would lead them to the promised land. Leinberg's ideas also played a major role in the uprising of the rural population in Albu and Ahula in November 1861.

Return to Estonia

Around 700 Estonians emigrated to the Crimea between 1861 and 1865, but were mostly very dissatisfied with the land made available. In the mid-1860s, fascination with Prophet Maltsvet waned significantly. He himself returned to Estonia in 1865. After a brief detention, he was released on the condition that he would not spread any more ideas in the future.

Leinberg died in 1885 in the Pruuna parish ( Järva district ). He is buried in Paide's Reopalu cemetery .

aftermath

1904–1908 the Estonian writer Eduard Vilde processed the movement of the Maltsvetians in his novel Prohvet Maltsvet , the last part of his historical trilogy. Vilde saw in Maltsvetianism an important reaction of the Estonian rural population against the Baltic German landowners.

Today an Estonian band is also called Prohvet Maltsvet .

Web links

• Detailed biography (Estonian)