Samuel Heinrich Fröhlich

Samuel Heinrich Fröhlich (born July 4, 1803 in Brugg , Aargau ; † January 15, 1857 in Strasbourg ) was the founder of the Evangelical Anabaptist Congregations (also known as "New Baptists" or "Fröhlichians").

After studying theology, he was from 1828 to 1830, in the service of the Reformed Church in the canton of Aargau , parish administrator in the parish in Leutwil . There he became known through revival sermons and a first community of baptismal people was formed. In 1830 he was expelled from the church service and received 1832 in Geneva by Ami Bost , the believer's baptism . His followers became a free church movement with its center in Hauptwil , Thurgau , which spread throughout German-speaking Switzerland , France , Germany , Eastern Europe (especially Hungary ; Nazarénusok ) and the USA .

After he was put under pressure by the Swiss authorities, he moved to Strasbourg in 1843/44.

literature

• Rudolf Dellsperger : Happy, Samuel Heinrich. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Oswald Eggenberger :  Happy, Samuel Heinrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 647 ( digitized version ).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  MERRY, Samuel Heinrich. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 138-139.
• Garfield Alder: The baptism and church issue in the life and teaching of Samuel Heinrich Fröhlich, VDM, von Brugg 1803-1857 , Bern 1976, ²1980
• Albert Märki: Evangelical Anabaptist Congregation. Brief historical outline , Uster 1995
• Bernhard Ott : Becoming a missionary congregation. The Path of the Evangelical Anabaptist Congregations , Uster 1996
• Hermann Rüegger, notes on the origin and confession of the community of Evangelical baptized people (Nazarenes) , Zurich ²1962

Web links

• Information on Fröhlich and the Protestant Anabaptist communities on relinfo.ch
• Federation of Evangelical Anabaptist Congregations