p. 13 | L. R. CONRADI by L. R. Conradi

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 15, 1906

L. R. CONRADI

By L. R. Conradi

The Work in the German Empire —No. 1

L. R. CONRADI

Although until 1889 there were not more than twenty-five Sabbath-keepers in all this empire,—and they were in a small country village,—the work has been steadily advancing until to-day the land of the great Reformation is second only to the United States so far as our membership is concerned. Our first conference in this field was organized only seven years ago; to-day, however, there are in Germany proper five organized conferences and the German Union District; and all things considered, the year 1905 has been the best Germany ever had.

The German empire has a population of about sixty millions; and there is no other country, outside of the United States, where the cities show such a rapid growth in population as they do in Germany—thus giving evidence of general prosperity.

Thus far we have held our German Union meetings at Friedensau, during the summer months, when about eight hundred of our people have camped on the grounds; but this does not in the least detract from the local attendance at our annual winter conferences for the various fields. Five such meetings were appointed this year, from December 27 to January 28, the meetings in each instance to begin Wednesday night, and to close the following Sunday night.

The first of these meetings was that held for the Rhenish-Prussian Conference, in the beautiful city of Cologne on the Rhine (population, four hundred and twenty thousand), a city often referred to as the “German Rome.” When this conference was organized three years ago, it contained about six small churches in the Protestant towns in the neighborhood of Elberfeld-Barmen. There was but a handful of workers at that time; but since then one large city after another has been entered,—even cities containing a large Catholic population,—until we now have fifteen organized churches and companies, four of which were organized the past year. Among the new companies is the church in the historic city of Aix-la-Chapelle, a strong Roman Catholic center, where we have twenty-seven members. Many of these were formerly Romanists. Among them are a former Catholic missionary and his wife. The gentleman was in China a number of years, and traveled even to Tibet. He received his education in Rome and Paris; he also studied medicine, and he had charge of a large hospital in Peking. This gentleman is an Austrian by birth, and during the Boxer revolution in China he defended the hospital with such valor that the Austrian emperor received him into special audience and conferred high decorations of honor upon him. He has also had an audience with the pope. He and his wife are now engaged in self-supporting work, but would be ready at any time to connect definitely with our cause.

We also have recently organized a company of fourteen members, at Bonn, the famous university city—a town of about eighty-one thousand inhabitants. We had quite a difficult time to secure any kind of hall for this meeting, as it was held from Christmas to New-year. There were in attendance forty-one delegates from the different churches, and about one hundred and eighty of the four hundred and thirty-three members we have in this field. Although they have but nine workers in this conference, last year they had one hundred and twenty-four additions, and five thousand dollars tithe, an increase of one thousand dollars over 1904. They pay an average tithe of more than ten dollars per capita in this field. All our conference transactions passed off harmoniously. Brother G. Schubert was again chosen president. About eighty dollars was pledged and given for the material fund for the new book, “Ministry of Healing,” in German. About thirty dollars was given as Sabbath-school and First-day offerings at this meeting. Aside from the writer, and local workers, Brethren J. Erzberger and Luepke assisted at the meeting. Brother Erzberger will have his home in the Rhenish Conference for the future, continuing in the German Union employ. Our book sales last year in this field amounted to about seven thousand five hundred dollars.

Our next meeting was that for south Germany, held at Pforzheim, a city that contains about sixty thousand people. Elder Boettcher had secured a hall three months ahead; knowing that the proprietors were Catholics, he told them that we were Protestants. The business manager told him that it did not matter to him who we were, so long as we paid our dues. The circulars were printed and distributed; and the day we were coming to the meeting, the manager told him that the priests had been after him, and said that by no means could this meeting be held there, unless we took it by force. So he went with Brother Boettcher to secure another place; a fine hall was secured, but at much greater expense. While we thus had some trouble at the very beginning, yet we were glad to see about two hundred of our people present, from Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Baden, Alsace-Lorraine, and Hessen. The South German Conference has a population of about thirteen million two hundred thousand. It was organized in 1902. They added one hundred and fifty-nine last year, and their membership increased from four hundred and one to five hundred and twenty-five, while their tithe sprung from four thousand four hundred dollars in 1904 to six thousand dollars in 1905. We are glad this field had such a good representation of our membership at the general meeting this year, and that such a harmonious spirit was manifest in our deliberations. Two hundred and fifty dollars was pledged and given to the material fund for “Ministry of Healing,” for German East Africa, etc., at this time. Many not of our faith were present at the public services. We had baptism, five going forward in this rite. We are glad that lately the number of workers in the South German Conference has grown, and that now we have some workers at least in every large section of the field. Elder J. T. Boettcher was chosen president. This conference, as also does the Rhenish Conference, pays two tithes to the German Union; and yet each of these fields, after settling with the workers, had a small surplus in the treasury for the beginning of the next year. H. F. Schuberth, J. Erzberger, and the writer were present from abroad at this meeting. The prospects were never brighter for this field than they are to-day, although we still have some difficulty in Bavaria, and do not know what the end may be. However, we are sure that God, who is ever tenderly regarding his work in all the world, will have a care for it here, too. The book sales in the South German Conference were about fifteen thousand dollars last year.

The next conference was held at Bremen, January 10-14, where the friends in western Germany came together. For two nights we had the

trades-union hall, a very nice new building—one of the leading halls in the city. The West German Conference has nineteen million inhabitants, and is about five hundred miles long, and perhaps four hundred miles wide. Within its territory is the independent German Union District, which was cut off from the West German Conference last winter. As the territory of this conference extends over such an area, we could not expect a large attendance, especially as Bremen is to one side of the field; yet about one hundred and seventy-five of our brethren were able to visit the meeting. Their report was very encouraging. Two hundred and fifty-two members had been added during the year, so that while they had lost four hundred members last January by the organization of the German Union District, they had gained half of that number, and had also regained half of the tithe lost by this division, through the natural growth in their own field. This conference now has about twenty-five workers, and among them are four ordained ministers. Among the churches received was a prosperous company at Eisenach, at the foot of the Wartburg. We have also a strong church at Erfurth, another town closely associated with Luther and the Reformation. The ministers had warned the city against our meetings, but in spite of that, we had a good outside attendance. Dr. Hoenes and Elders Frauchiger and Erzberger, with the writer, were able to render assistance at this meeting. The present membership of the West German Conference is nine hundred and sixty-nine, and their tithe is over $10,250, or an average of over ten dollars a member. The book sales here amounted to about eleven thousand dollars for the year. Elder J. Pieper was again chosen president of the West German Conference. Everything passed off with the greatest harmony. The brethren were glad to welcome Brother Isaac, from America, who takes the place which is made vacant in this field by the removal of his brother Daniel to Russia.

The outlook for the future of this conference is bright. We hope all our friends in all parts of the world will remember the cause of God here in their prayers.

Hamburg.