Johann Hinrich Wichern (21 April 1808

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

– 7 April 1881 Hamburg) was a founder of the Home Mission (also translated as Inner Mission; German: ''Innere Mission'') movement in Germany.

Biography

Johann was born into a family of poverty, together with 7 siblings. He became headteacher of a

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. ...

in St. Georg which proved very successful, and in 1833 opened his Rauhes Haus at Horn, now a suburb of

. Wichern became especially known for recruiting and training a corps of "brothers" who helped educate and discipline wayward boys and men and tend to the needs of the poor. He founded hostels across Germany that were supposed to provide a refuge, free of alcohol and gambling, to journeymen and other travellers. In his writings and speeches, Wichern promoted the ideal of Christian voluntarism to assist the poor, criminals, and disabled and heal the class and political divides in Germany surrounding the Revolution of 1848 (which he loathed). He is also credited with inventing the (now traditional) Advent wreath in 1839."Christmas customs and recipes", Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH
/ref> In 1844, he founded a monthly periodical, ''Fliegende Blätter des Rauhen Hauses'', which he edited. Through his exertions, the Protestant synod at

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...

in 1848 appointed a central committee for home missions. In 1851 the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

n government made him inspector of prisons and houses of correction, and in 1858 member of the Supreme Ecclesiastical Council, the executive authority of the

Evangelical State Church in Prussia The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in Pru ...

. In 1872 disease forced him to retire from office.

Writings

* ''Die innere Mission der deutschen evangelischen Kirche'' (“The inner mission of the German Evangelical Church,” 1849) * ''Die Behandlung der Verbrecher und entlassenen Sträflinge'' (“The handling of criminals and the discharge of prisoners,” 1853) * ''Festbüchlein des Rauhen Hauses'' (3 vols., 1856) * ''Der Dienst der Frauen in der Kirche'' (“Women's service in the church,” 1858) * ''Unsere Lieder'' (“Our songs,” 4th ed., 1870)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wichern, Johann Hinrich 1808 births 1881 deaths German Lutherans German Christian religious leaders German activists University of Göttingen alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni People from Hamburg 19th-century Lutherans

Biography

Writings

See also

References