Modest Modestowitsch von Korff

Modest Modestowitsch von Korff

Count Modest Modestowitsch von Korff ( Russian граф Модест Модестович Корф , born June 30, 1842 , † November 9, 1933 in Basel ) was court marshal and master of ceremonies at the Russian tsar's court of Emperor Alexander III. He belonged to the community movement in Russia .

Life and church historical circumstances

Korff's father was a senior civil servant under Nikolaus I and Alexander II. He entered the civil service at the age of 18 and was appointed to the Russian court in Saint Petersburg as a chamberlain at the age of 19 . During a stay in Paris in 1867, Korff came into contact with the British and Foreign Bible Society , with which he worked for a number of years. In 1870 he distributed 62,000 Russian Gospels at the expense of the Holy Synod .

From 1874, under the English Lord Radstock , there was a spiritual revival movement in Saint Petersburg , which many Russians joined and which became known far beyond the city. Private circles were formed everywhere to read the Bible and pray. The class differences disappeared; In the stately halls of the nobles, coachmen and grooms also met daily for prayer. The smell of the stable in the salons of the devout counts was therefore mocked. Fyodor Michailowitsch Dostoevsky referred to this Petersburg revival in his diary of a writer . At Radstock's request, the evangelist and missionary Friedrich Wilhelm Baedeker came to Russia to instruct the new converts, including Korff, in the Christian faith.

Korff developed a lively evangelistic and social activity together with other members of the high Russian nobility . He was friends with Colonel Paschkow, one of the richest landowners in Russia, wing adjutant of the Tsar and founder of the Pashkovians , with Count Bobrinsky, Minister of Transport, and with Princess Lieven, the wife of the chief master of ceremonies at the imperial court Paul von Lieven (1821–1881). Paschkow invited the German pastor and evangelist Otto Stockmayer and the orphanage director Georg Müller from Bristol to teach the faithful in Christian doctrine . In the first few years the revival movement met with no resistance, but in 1881 it was spread that it was a dangerous socialist party under the guise of Christianity. Large gatherings were banned, so sewing evenings to spread the gospel were held in individual districts of St. Petersburg for two years, which had to be approved by the Interior Minister. In 1876 the "Society for the Promotion of Spiritual and Moral Reading" was founded with Colonel Paschkow as chairman and Korff as deputy, which printed over a million Christian tracts and distributed them free of charge. The Russian Orthodox Church, and in particular the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, viewed these writings as dangerous because they represented the teachings of Luther , Calvin , Zwingli and Wesley . On April 1, 1884, over 70 leaders from various evangelical circles in Russia gathered for a conference in Saint Petersburg. After the police arrested all visiting brothers for a few hours, all further meetings were banned. On May 24, 1884, the tract society founded by Paschkow and Korff was closed. Korff, under police supervision, was faced with the decision to end his evangelistic work and home meetings or to leave Russia. Together with his heavily pregnant wife, he was expelled from Russia in 1884. From there he went to Paris, then to Baden and later to Switzerland , where he preached the gospel and died at the age of 91. After Korff's banishment from Russia, the meetings took place in the house of Princess Lieven.

Quote

“I have to confess that it was very difficult for me to leave my homeland, my activity as a witness of Jesus, in human terms. But that I was allowed to leave everything and follow the Lord, to bear his yoke, was not only consolation, but also a deep joy ... We had to leave everything; but we did not mourn this because we acted according to our convictions of faith, with full confidence that the Savior would not forsake us. "

- Graf Modest Modestowitsch von Korff : http://cmvm.de/wordpress/13910-korff-ausweise

Works

• At the Tsar's court. Memories from the spiritual awakening movement in Russia from 1874–1884 . Wernigerode, Verlag "Licht im Osten", 1927 (later editions by Brunnen-Verlag Gießen from 1942 and 1956).
• About the meaning of the word conversion . Thun, Interlaken, Evangelische Buchhandlung 1942.
• Are you sure that your sins are forgiven? . Dinglingen, St. Johannis printing works 1920.
• Hymns of praise and spiritual lovely songs . Dinglingen, St. Johannis printing works around 1935.
• Some hints for the everyday life of God's children . Hanover, Stephanstift 1914.
• To think about true belief . Hanover, bookstore of the regional church community 1914.
• Remain in Jesus, because being alone with Him is necessary . Hanover 1914

Individual evidence

1. ^ MM Korff: At the court of the tsars. Brunnen-Verlag Gießen and Basel 1956, pp. 7–13.
2. ^ Winrich Scheffbuch : Christians under hammer and sickle. Brockhaus Verlag Wuppertal 1972, ISBN 3-417-00404-7 , p. 10.
3. ^ Stephan Holthaus: Vision of Faith. (PDF; 75 kB) Friedrich Wilhelm Baedeker - the evangelist of Russia. Brothers Movement, 2006, p. 4 , archived from the original on March 16, 2011 ; Retrieved March 16, 2011 . 
4. ^ MM Korff: At the court of the tsars. Pp. 37-62.
5. ^ Winrich Scheffbuch: Christians under hammer and sickle. Brockhaus Verlag Wuppertal 1972, ISBN 3-417-00404-7 , p. 11.
6. ↑ Helmut Burkhardt, Erich Geldbach, Kurt Heimbucher (eds.): Brockhaus Gemeindelexikon , R. Brockhaus Verlag Wuppertal, special edition 1986, ISBN 3-417-24082-4 , p. 313.
7. ^ MM Korff: At the court of the tsars. P. 66.