Berchtold Haller (c. 149225 February 1536) was a German

Protestant reformer Protestant Reformers were those theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer (sharing his views publicly in 15 ...

. He was the reformer of the city of Bern, Switzerland, where the Reformation received little to none opposition. Haller was born at

Aldingen Aldingen is a municipality in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Aldingen lies on the eastern edge of the Baar region at the foot of the Swabian Jura, and within sight of the Dreifaltigkeitsberg (Holy Trini ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

. After schooling in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

, where he established a friendship with Philipp Melanchthon, he studied theology in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. He became a teacher in Rottweil in 1510 and in Bern in 1513, where he was appointed assistant preacher at the church of St Vincent in 1515. In 1520 he became a canon and the people's priest. Even before his acquaintance with

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

in 1521 he had begun to preach the Reformation, his sympathetic character and his eloquence making him and the painter and writer

Niklaus Manuel Niklaus Manuel Deutsch (''Niklaus Manuel'', c. 1484 – 28 April 1530), of Bern, was a Swiss artist, writer, mercenary and Reformed politician. Biography Niklaus was most likely the son of Emanuel Aleman (or Alleman), a pharmacist whose own fat ...

a great force. Zwingli became his friend and adviser and they began a lively exchange of letters. In 1526, Haller participated in the disputation of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

, and in 1528 in the

Bern Disputation The Bern Disputation was a debate over the theology of the Swiss Reformation that occurred in Bern from 6 to 26 January 1528 that ended in Bern becoming the second Swiss canton to officially become Protestant. Background As the reformation in Z ...

, which resulted in the Bernese Reformation edict on 7 February 1528 in which Bern officially decided for the Reformation. Zwingli's 1531 death brought the Reformation in Bern to a crisis, to which the city council reacted by calling the first Bernese Synod with 200 participants. Haller was especially concerned as Zwingli's successor

Heinrich Bullinger Heinrich Bullinger (18 July 1504 – 17 September 1575) was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss R ...

was unable to attend. However, he received strong support from

Wolfgang Capito Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (also Koepfel) ( – November 1541) was a German Protestant reformer in the Calvinist tradition. His life and revolutionary work Capito was born circa 1478 to a smith at Hagenau in Alsace. He attended the famous Lat ...

who arrived in Bern shortly before the opening of the Synod. In 1532 Haller became the leader of the Reformed Church of Bern. He was in contact with

Guillaume Farel William Farel (1489 – 13 September 1565), Guilhem Farel or Guillaume Farel (), was a French evangelist, Protestant reformer and a founder of the Calvinist Church in the Principality of Neuchâtel, in the Republic of Geneva, and in Switzerland ...

in the western part of Switzerland and Heinrich Bullinger in Zürich and acted as a mediator between the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Reformation and Zürich. He died in Bern, leaving no writings except a few letters which are preserved in Zwingli's works.

References

* Rudolf Dellsperger
''Berchtold Haller''
In: ''Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz''. Retrieved 24 November 2009 (French, German, Italian) * Rudolf Dellsperger
''Haller, Berchtold''
In: Gerhard Müller (ed.): ''Theologische Realenzyklopädie'', Volume 14, de Gruyter, Berlin 1985, pp. 393–395 . Retrieved 24 November 2009 (German)

External links

* Christian Neff
''Haller, Berchthold (1492-1536)''.
In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, 1956. Retrieved 24 November 2009

References

External links

Further reading