Pastor Christoph Schondorf
Christoph Samuel Daniel Schondorf – Pastor to the Wendish Migrants to South Australia
By Trudla Malinkowa – Bautzen, Germany.
Translated into English from the original German publication by Christine Greenthaner, Melbourne, Australia.
The significance of Wendish pastors for the Wendish emigration to Australia
Among other issues such as the small numbers of Wends, the scattered settlements and the shortage of schooling in the mother tongue, the lack of Wendish-speaking pastors is held responsible for the quick loss of the language and identity of the Wends in Australia.
Only one Wendish clergyman, Andreas Kappler (1802 – 1877), who was the pastor in Weißenberg from 1835 to the time of his emigration in 1848, emigrated to Australia. His willingness to take over a rectorate with his Wendish compatriots was not honoured due to theological differences with the same. Decried as a liberal and a ‘unionist’ by orthodox Lutherans, Kappler lived as an outsider in Australia and served various congregations in the area around Adelaide until he took over the parish of the German congregation in Mount Gambier in 1860.
The Wendish groups of migrants at the end of the 1840s and the beginning of the 1850’s, who migrated partly for religious reasons, were determined to establish autocratic communities, both in economic and religious terms. Among them were important leaders of the Lutheran movement and fellow-founders of the Serbske luterske towarstwa, who were keen to find Wendish pastors. [In particular: Johann Zwahr from Drehsa, initiator and leader of the SLT; Andreas Pannach from Rachlau, acting head of the Rachlau SLT; Johann Preusske from Blösa, secretary of the Rachlau SLT; Peter Döcke from Großbrösern, acting head of the Siebitz SLT; Andreas Urban from Weigersdorf, joint initiatior of the Old Lutheran Separation Movement in Prussian Lutheran Upper Lusatia and head of the Old Lutheran congregation in Weigersdorf. ]
The group, which emigrated on the Pribislaw in 1849, had called Andreas Penzig (1808 – 1849) from Ebendörfel as its pastor. In order to take on the position, Penzig, who had not been able to get a parish in Lusatia, was ordained on 8.6.1849 in Krischa. Spiritually confused he died on 4.8.1849 while he was travelling to Hamburg from Berlin. Noteworthy efforts to obtain a Wendish pastor were made by the biggest Wendish emigration group on the Helena, in particular by its leader, Johann Zwahr. He strived in vain to get Korla Awgust Jenč (1828 – 1895); passing through Leipzig on the journey to Hamburg, he sought out his house and, since he did not find Jenč at home, he left a written greeting: hacž ßò saß newolodamo [“Until we see each other again.”]. After the founding of Ebenezer in the year 1852 the hope of attracting a Wendish pastor remained strong. The call went to Jan Kilian (1811 – 1884), but arrived too late; Kilian was already on the journey to Texas with his big congregation.
In 1851, and again in 1852, when Herrnhut was petitioned for a preacher by members of the Brethren in South Australia, the Unitätsdirektion decided to send Schondorf. After his ordination to the diaconate in Kleinwelka on 13.10.1853 he embarked up on the journey to Adelaide from Hamburg via Liverpool, arriving on 19.3.1854. He was brought to his new place of work, Lights Pass.
In order to facilitate the communal settlement of the scattered members of the Brethren, an area of land of 1912 acres had been acquired, on which Bethel, the first Herrnhut congregation in South Australia, was established in 1856. With the founding of Bethel, Lights Pass was given up as a preaching place for the Herrnhut congregation.
After twice failing to have Herrnhut send a wife to him from Europe, Schondorf Marie Rosine Kornetzky on 6.9.1858. The marriage produced several children.
After the arrival of his successor Jacobi, who was sent from Herrnhut, Schondorf retired on 1.1.1877 and settled on his private land in Bethel. Because of years of tension between him and the congregational members – to which were added conflict with Jacobi because Schondorf had been ministering to a group of separatists from Bethel – Schondorf was excommunicated from the congregations. Embittered, he died in the year 1898.
After the turn of the century Bethel separated from Herrnhut and joined the Lutheran Church.
As a result there was no Wendish pastor to minister to the Wends in Australia. Nevertheless many authors mention that the Herrnhut preacher, Christoph Samuel Daniel Schondorf (1814 – 1898), had preached in Wendish. The source on which these authors have drawn – in part via the intermediate stage of a note by Ota Wićaz – is the letter of 10.8.1885, of the Wendish emigrant Johann Brühl from the Lyndoch Valley in South Australia, in which he writes of Schondorf: wón prjeduje w jendźelskej, njemskej, sserbskej a papuaskej rycźi. [ “he preaches in English, German, Sorb and Papuan languages.”]
Since none of the authors have any closer information to give regarding Schondorf’s activities with the Wends, the importance of the matter for the history of the Wendish emigration remains unclear, despite the repeated references. A re-examination proves to be necessary, however, because Schondorf was not a Wend, did not belong to any of the Wendish migrant groups, nor was he ever called to Australia by one of them to be a Wendish pastor.
The object of this essay is to test how far Brühl’s statement corresponds to the facts, and what significance Schondorf should be accorded for the Wends in South Australia.
Biographical Information about Schondorf
Ch. S. D.Schondorf was born on 6.9.1814 in Schwerin, the son of the tanner and cobbler, Johann Gottlieb Schondorf and his wife Caroline nee Stapelfeld. Strongly impressed by his first encounter with the Moravian Brethren in Rathenow, he undertook a journey to the most important centres of pietistic Lutheranism during his younger years, and established an intimate connection to the Brethren community in Berlin after he moved there.
In 1837 Schondorf was called to Kleinwelka and was appointed as bookkeeper in the leather business. On the 13.8.1839 he was accepted into the Brethren community. From 1845 to 1850 he worked as a tutor with Moravian Brethren in Polish Pabianice and then was deployed to work among the Diaspora in Zürich. Having been replaced in 1852 because of an illness he was left without duties and lived in Pabianice, Gnadenfeld and Warsaw.
In 1851, and again in 1852, when Herrnhut was petitioned for a preacher by members of the Brethren in South Australia, the Unitätsdirektion decided to send Schondorf. After his ordination to the diaconate in Kleinwelka on 13.10.1853 he embarked up on the journey to Adelaide from Hamburg via Liverpool, arriving on 19.3.1854. He was brought to his new place of work, Lights Pass.
In order to facilitate the communal settlement of the scattered members of the Brethren, an area of land of 1912 acres had been acquired, on which Bethel, the first Herrnhut congregation in South Australia, was established in 1856. With the founding of Bethel, Lights Pass was given up as a preaching place for the Herrnhut congregation.
After twice failing to have Herrnhut send a wife to him from Europe, Schondorf Marie Rosine Kornetzky on 6.9.1858. The marriage produced several children.
After the arrival of his successor Jacobi, who was sent from Herrnhut, Schondorf retired on 1.1.1877 and settled on his private land in Bethel. Because of years of tension between him and the congregational members – to which were added conflict with Jacobi because Schondorf had been ministering to a group of separatists from Bethel – Schondorf was excommunicated from the congregations. Embittered, he died in the year 1898.
After the turn of the century Bethel separated from Herrnhut and joined the Lutheran Church.
Schondorf as Pastor to the Wends
Schondorf held his first sermon at Lights Pass on 9.4.1854. A little while later Wends from the neighbouring Ebenezer were also to be found among the worshippers. “When I was first here they attended the services without comment, but after a few weeks they came to me and begged me to take them on and to serve them …”
“Wendish men as a deputation from Ebenezer” explained their situation to Schondorf: “they … were still at the very beginning of their strenuous economic development and had, until that time, neither church nor school, but let themselves be served from time to time by Pastor Meier in Bethany. To join Pastor Meier’s congregation completely did not appeal to them because Bethany lay somewhat distant from Eben Ezer (Bethany lies 2 hours to the south of Lightspass, therefore 3½ hours from Eben Ezer); they mainly hoped, when they were better established, to call a Wendish preacher, in order to remain a Wendish Lutheran congregation here as they had been in their old homeland.”
The Wends, under Johann Zwahr, understood themselves as a community: Evangeliskich Lutherskich Sserbskich Bratro [Evangelical Lutheran Wendish Brethren] and were strongly motivated to remain true to the religious and national origins. “It was of the utmost concern to them to preserve the Wendish nationality and language”, declares Schondorf. The deputation begged Schondorf to temporarily take over the care of Ebenzer, “until they could get a Wendish preacher (a believer), about which they had already corresponded a few times.” There were barely any theological reservations, since the pietistic Wendish Lutherans in Lusatia already had close relations with the Herrnhut Brethren.
Schondorf dismissed the delegation with the request for time for consideration and searched out Pastor Meier in Bethany, who explained to him, “he had always hoped that these people would in the end join his congregation; he would now have to see and accept that they could not be comfortable with this for this reason – their language – and advised me to take it over if I cared to.” Due to theological but also certainly material considerations, Meier surrendered Ebenezer to the Herrnhut preacher unwillingly.
Schondorf now decided “that they would be seen as a filial congregation to this church for as long as I am nearby or until they have their own preacher. They are very pleased about this, and I can say that they bring me joy since most of them are very awakened people with many experiences, but also there are some with somewhat Wendish peculiarities. – Mostly they come here for the service on Sunday and every three Sundays I cancel the children’s instruction here and drive to Eben Ezer in the afternoon to hold a devotion there.”
Through Schondorf the Wends of Ebenezer were able to enjoy being cared for in their mother tongue: “And now my 8 year residence in Kleinwelke would come to serve me well, in that I had not only learned the peculiarities of the Wends in my service there, but can also still understood enough of their language to make myself understood by those, namely the women, who cannot speak German let alone English.”
With this statement of Schondorf, which next to Brühl’s assertion is the only evidence of his Wendish language abilities, it may be held as valid that Schondorf exercised the Wendish language in his pastoral work. Conclusions as to whether he only used Wendish to communicate or whether he also used it as church language remain hypothetical. It would be conceivable that he might occasionally celebrate Holy Communion in Wendish due to the monolingualism of a section of the population of Ebenezer, just as he also did in the English language. Baptisms, marriages and burials might also have been celebrated partly in Wendish. Less likely would be Wendish sermons since these would presume strong knowledge of the language. Thus Brühl’s statement that Schondorf would have preached in Wendish could be seen as a popularly inaccurate description of Schondorf’s other Wendish parish work.
Schondorf immediately intensified his care for Ebenezer: “For Eben Ezer I now decided to preach fortnightly on Sunday afternoons at 3 o’clock and in such cases to also hold baptisms and Holy Communion; further on every third Feast Day to officiate at Eben Ezer in the mornings (because we only held two Feast Days in Lightspaß) as well as on the so-called Marientagen [Marientage : Marian Feast Days. Feast days to mark events in the life of Mary which were celebrated in some protestant areas of Germany.] – such as 2nd February; 25th March; 24th June; 29 September; and also the 31st October to officiate at Eben Ezer in the mornings.” At times Schondorf’s presence was more frequently required, as shown by his appointment calendar for Easter 1855. “I visited” Ebenezer “often and began to establish a school there.” In cases of sickness Schondorf was called for advice because he had brought a medicine chest with him to Australia for private use. In the year 1855 he reported the following about an epidemic illness: “… in my Wendish congregation Eben Ezer there was no house in which at least one person was not sick and in four houses the husband and wife and several children were laid low. As a result of this I had to travel daily to Eben Ezer straight after confirmation lessons, from whence I usually returned only late in the evening. On the following morning at 8 o’clock a messenger always came to me to collect medicine for the sick which I had often had to prepare during the night.”
In return for this extensive service the inhabitants of Ebenezer proved to be very generous. Provisions were delivered to his housekeeper “… namely from the Wends in Eben Ezer not insignificant pieces of slaughtered beef, veal and pork, live hens, baskets of eggs, bowls of butter, crocks with pickled cabbage, sacks of potatoes and the like.”
The increasing intensity of the relationship between Schondorf and Ebenezer gave rise to demonstrations of resentment from the side of a number of members of the Brethren congregation, who were afraid that they would lose their pastor. Ebenezer reacted to this by suggesting to Schondorf that he move his residence from Lights Pass to Ebenezer until the Brethren community settlement had been founded. Behind this was probably the wish – later repeatedly stated – to win Schondorf as permanent pastor for Ebenezer. He nevertheless refused, since the founding of Bethel was within sight.
On 18.5.1856 Schondorf held his last worship service in Lights Pass and thereafter moved to the newly obtained land in order to devote himself to the establishment of Bethel. He continued to serve Ebenezer, despite the 30 kilometre distance: “As a result to continuing requests and the promise I made, I will continue to serve the Wendish Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Eben Ezer until they have own pastor. — Pastor Meier in Bethany has been very pointed, since my leaving of Lightspaß, to keep the congregation in Eben Ezer by any means – but you see my Wends unanimously want to be served and built-up not by Meier-Bethany, but rather as Lutherans, and they would not be refused even though I gave the difficulties of the distance between the settlements as grounds for handing it over.”
The worship services in Ebenezer were now suddenly reduced to once a month. Schondorf was able to undertake the journey to Ebenezer with his “own equipage [Carriage and horses] (which my Wends in Eben Ezer were very helpful in obtaining –)… They have also helped me with hard work in the development of Bethel.” In return Schondorf let the inhabitants of Ebenezer take part in important events in Bethel; he personally invited the leaders of the congregation to his engagement and wedding. The dedication of the church in Ebenezer followed on 13.2.1859, also under Pastor Schondorf.
After Schondorf suffered a bad accident on 19.10.1859 it was no longer possible for him to sustain his service in Ebenezer. “The Wends in Ebenezer, of whom I had grown very fond, pleaded with me not to leave them, to send for some help – for which they would also have happily paid travel expenses.” Nevertheless Schondorf refused and handed over the Ebenezer congregation “in the end with its approval – to my friend and successor at Lightspaß, P. Kavel.”
In the following years “visitors from Tanunda, Bethany and in particular from Lightspaß and Eben Ezer often came out here [to Bethel] for edification, away from the Lutheranism practised there.”
In 1867 Schondorf wrote in reference to his former congregational members from Ebenezer, that he was “friends with them to this day, and there is intercommunication between us to this day.” Moreover, Wendish families who had settled in the region around Bethel, stayed with his Brethren congregation, so that he continued to have “Germans, English and Wends” to serve.
A Defender of his Wendish Congregation
The Wends of Ebenzer did not all turn to Schondorf’s Brethren congregation; a small number remained with Pastor Meier and, together with the Germans who settled nearby, founded the Neukirch congregation. From this split in the church, tensions resulted which finally led to open attacks on Schondorf’s Wendish congregation.
In the spring of the year 1855 the Serbske Nowiny [Newspaper in Bautzen, Germany], leaning on letters from Australia, published the news that a new congregation had been founded in Ebenezer which had fallen away from the Lutheran Church, taught chiliasm, and had elected Johann Zwahr to be its minister. One year later a letter appeared in both the Wendish and English press, undersigned by seven Wends, in which monstrous accusations were made: Johann Zwahr had founded the congregation called “Eben-Ezer, Wendish Israel”, in which he held the office of High Priest and Andreas Pannach the office of Chief Justice; the laws of the congregation envisaged cicumcision as in the Judaic manner; Andreas Schmidt from Cortnitz who had opposed this rite, had been sentenced to death by stoning; due to his escape in the night before the day of his execution the processes had become public, whereupon a court case ensued which sentenced Pannach and Zwahr to high fines and imprisonment respectively.
Schondorf saw the background of this attack in the struggle between the churches to have influence over the residents of Ebenezer. This “lying report … came out of the Meier-Bethany-ultra-Lutheran clergy here, out of anger that the honest Wends in Ebenezer did not want to be ruled or entrapped by a Meier-Bethany church.
Forced by his conscience, as well as having been exhorted to do so many times by Ebenezer, Schondorf recorded a written defence:
“The in every way mendacious report in the Bautzen German and Wendish Weekly of 28 May 1856, etc, etc, concerning the honest Christian-minded Wends here in Eben Ezer – has been written and sent to Saxony by a Wendish tailor by the name of Lehmann who came here from Kreis Bautzen around six years ago, most probably out of anger that his presumptuous efforts to swap his mending and tailoring for a position as teacher in Eben Ezer had not succeeded; in that the honest Wends in Eben Ezer who, with their simple yet healthy appreciation for schooling and education – (even though he, at the same time, presented himself as being commendable, and also respectable ) – would not and could not trust their children to such a rascal. But not only did this Lehmann lie in every word in this very tidy document, but also all the signatures (in the Wendish newspaper) were made up by him – and, as if quite naturally, forgot his own name: Lehmann from Plotzen near Bautzen – and for good reason.”
Bewildered, Schondorf commented on the fact that such obvious false reports had even been published in Bautzen with no regard for the relatives of the accused who had stayed behind in Lusatia, “among whom there might be a few of the opinion that if one could read something in print, then it must be true.” Schondorf made himself available, with his “name and official position to be on call” to provide “illumination of this false report.”
Schondorf enjoined the leaders of the Brethren-Union [Brüder-Unität] in Herrnhut “to write a few encouraging lines to Eben Ezer, which would be nice not only of itself, but would also motivate others to have sympathy, (since in Leipzig one will surely also do so –). So I strongly request that you would sympathetically acknowledge my article pursuant to the false report in the Bautzener Wochenblatt of 28 May of the year, (in regard to Eben Ezer) in a few words. Although the people in Eben Ezer generally identify themselves as Lutheran in confession, which I am also quite happy for them to do, (which is, however, contested by the ultra-Lutheran communities here, and particularly by Bethany-Meier, because behind my back he always says – out of vexation: a people which has a Herrnhut Pastor, may not call itself Lutheran, but should rather call itself ‘Herrnhutan’) but still, under their number there are many brave brothers, whom one could set before many a true Brethren member as a role model.”
Johann Zwahr – not knowing that Schondorf had kept his promise to write a defence – had, in the meantime set about defending himself. “He had been in Adelaide on business with some of them – where the slanderous story was,
of course, also known, and after manifold interrogations, conversations and replies was goaded into not letting the matter lie – and decided not to let himself be hindered by my postponed promise in order to lay bare the libel. – Following this a defence with help and advice from Adelaide, was cobbled together and sent off. … Apart from the self-defence of Joh. Zwahr, a suitable expose of the lie written in Adelaide by Consul Meier from Bremen appeared there.” In view of the new situation, Schondorf requested that his defence not be published.
The affair finally closed with two written pieces from the Royal Hannoverian Consul, C.L. Meyer, in Adelaide: a reply to a query from the town magistrate in Rachlau, Johann Albert, and the following public explanation mentioned above. Both judged the accusations made against Ebenezer as defamation.
The episode with Ebenezer should be seen as part of the decades-long strife within the Lutheran Church in Australia.
Schondorf as Liaison in Lusatia
Due to their close connection to the headquarters in Herrnhut, the settlements of the Brethren congregations were excellently suited to the fostering of contact to Upper Lusatia. This was to the benefit of the Wends of Ebenzer and surrounds, in that they made enthusiastic use of the Schondorf’s willingness to intermediate. Georg Döcke, resident in Steinthal near Bethel, particularly frequently called upon his services for transfers of money to the teacher Förster in Wurschen. Döcke, who until his emigration in 1855 had been the owner of the Riegel mill in Nechern, made Förster his confidant whose task it was to distribute the remitted money and fill Döcke’s orders. From time to time each year Förster appeared in Herrnhut to collect the transferred money which included sums as considerable as 330 and 342 Thaler. The repeated transfers to Förster prompted Schondorf’s ironic remark that the “well-known teacher Förster apparently comes from the needy town Wurschen.” Michael Albinus and Michael Döcke, among others, also made use of the possibility of sending money via Schondorf – Herrnhut – Förster.
Motivated by reports of poverty in Germany, Maria Pannach, wife of Andreas Pannach, sent Thaler via Schondorf to town magistrate Albert in Rachlau, who was to share the money among the poor and needy.
In accord with the deepest sense of their church life, the Wends of Ebenezer did not fail to undertake collections for church purposes, even during the difficult first years. On 20.4.1857 Schondorf informed Herrnhut: “The Wendish congregation here in Eben Ezer, has given me 25 pounds Sterling for the mission to forward with this instruction and request: half of it ( so, 12½ pounds Sterling) for the mission of the Brethren congregations and the other half ( so, also 12½ pounds Sterling) to the Lutheran missions, to be transferred to the administration and committee of the same in Leipzig.”
Further contributions to missions from the congregation of Ebenezer to the Herrnhut Brethren to the sum of 17 or 16 pounds Sterling are verifiable for the years 1861 and 1863, but it is to be supposed that donations were sent to Herrnhut in other years too. For transfers to the Leipzig Mission Society, with which Johann Zwahr in particular fostered active communication, alternative means were found, so that the intermediary function of Herrnhut became superfluous.
Furthermore, by request of Andreas Urban from Gnadenthal in Victoria 200 Thaler donated by the congregation in Ebenezer found its way to the Old Lutheran congregation of Weigersdorf/Klitten via Schondorf. The sum was collected from Herrnhut by Pastor Gumlich at the beginning of the year 1858, and the stipulation that it should go to the support of poor congregational members who had not been able to raise their share towards repayment of the debt brought about by church and school construction was honoured.
Transactions in the opposite direction – from Lusatia via Herrnhut to Australia – were also possible. In 1855 Johann Brühl informed relatives in Lusatia: “If money is to arrive in Australia in a reliable and secure manner, it can be sent in the mail or as a draft to Consul Arnsber in Adelaide or, better still, it can be sent via the Herrnhut Brethren. I know a Herrnhut preacher in South Australia, Mr. Schondorf in Lightpaß, who is willing to disburse any sum of money which is paid into the mailing department in Herrnhut, upon recommendation or receipt from the Director, Mr. C.W. Just in Herrnhut.”
Transfers of money from Lusatia to Australia are not known, which is probably due to the fact that the Lusatian Wends had little occasion to pay any financial benefits to their mostly much better off Australian relatives. It is nonetheless verifiable that orders placed by Australian Wends were filled via Herrnhut. On 20.5.1861 Georg Döcke informed the teacher Förster in Wurschen: “I have received the medications and Wendish books for you which I ordered, everything arrived undamaged at the home of our pastor, on the 25th November of last year.” Through Schondorf the congregation ordered “some volumes of mission reports, etc. from Leipzig.” In case the Leipzig Mission Society was unable to find “a suitable opportunity for transporting the same’” Schondorf offered that the periodicals be sent to him at Bethel via the Herrnhut branch at Gnadau.
Certainly, these examples represent only some of the actually successful transactions, but do prove adequately Schondorf’s importance as a liaison to Lusatia.
Summary
It has been investigated whether the statement of the Wendish emigrant, Johann Brühl, in the year 1855 that the Herrnhut pastor, Schondorf, in Lights Pass would preach in Wendish, corresponds with the facts and, furthermore, what significance Schondorf should be accorded for the Wends in South Australia.
From 1854 to 1859 Schondorf served the Wendish Lutheran congregation of Ebenezer as a filial of his Brethren congregation at Lights Pass, and to some degree, Bethel. It was proved that he used the Wendish language in his pastoral work. It could not be proved that he held sermons in Wendish, but this is still within the realms of possibility given his knowledge of the Wendish language. When the congregation in Ebenezer was the victim of serious public defamation, he became a defender of those who had been attacked. During his term of office in Ebenezer he furthermore performed liaison services between the Wends in South Australia and Lusatia owing to his contact with Herrnhut.
Schondorf’s work for the Wendish congregational members reflects the years- long efforts of Ebenezer to find a Wendish pastor. Since such intensive efforts to obtain care in the mother-tongue did not take place in any other Wendish congregation in Australia, the special status of Ebenezer in its striving to maintain the Wendish language in Australia was undermined.
© Original German – Trudla Malinkowa
© English Translation – Chris Greenthaner
Christoph Samuel Daniel Schondorf – Pastor to the Wendish Migrants to South Australia
By Trudla Malinkowa – Bautzen, Germany.
Translated into English from the original German publication by Christine Greenthaner, Melbourne, Australia.
The significance of Wendish pastors for the Wendish emigration to Australia
Among other issues such as the small numbers of Wends, the scattered settlements and the shortage of schooling in the mother tongue, the lack of Wendish-speaking pastors is held responsible for the quick loss of the language and identity of the Wends in Australia.
Only one Wendish clergyman, Andreas Kappler (1802 – 1877), who was the pastor in Weißenberg from 1835 to the time of his emigration in 1848, emigrated to Australia. His willingness to take over a rectorate with his Wendish compatriots was not honoured due to theological differences with the same. Decried as a liberal and a ‘unionist’ by orthodox Lutherans, Kappler lived as an outsider in Australia and served various congregations in the area around Adelaide until he took over the parish of the German congregation in Mount Gambier in 1860.
The Wendish groups of migrants at the end of the 1840s and the beginning of the 1850’s, who migrated partly for religious reasons, were determined to establish autocratic communities, both in economic and religious terms. Among them were important leaders of the Lutheran movement and fellow-founders of the Serbske luterske towarstwa, who were keen to find Wendish pastors. [In particular: Johann Zwahr from Drehsa, initiator and leader of the SLT; Andreas Pannach from Rachlau, acting head of the Rachlau SLT; Johann Preusske from Blösa, secretary of the Rachlau SLT; Peter Döcke from Großbrösern, acting head of the Siebitz SLT; Andreas Urban from Weigersdorf, joint initiatior of the Old Lutheran Separation Movement in Prussian Lutheran Upper Lusatia and head of the Old Lutheran congregation in Weigersdorf. ]
The group, which emigrated on the Pribislaw in 1849, had called Andreas Penzig (1808 – 1849) from Ebendörfel as its pastor. In order to take on the position, Penzig, who had not been able to get a parish in Lusatia, was ordained on 8.6.1849 in Krischa. Spiritually confused he died on 4.8.1849 while he was travelling to Hamburg from Berlin. Noteworthy efforts to obtain a Wendish pastor were made by the biggest Wendish emigration group on the Helena, in particular by its leader, Johann Zwahr. He strived in vain to get Korla Awgust Jenč (1828 – 1895); passing through Leipzig on the journey to Hamburg, he sought out his house and, since he did not find Jenč at home, he left a written greeting: hacž ßò saß newolodamo [“Until we see each other again.”]. After the founding of Ebenezer in the year 1852 the hope of attracting a Wendish pastor remained strong. The call went to Jan Kilian (1811 – 1884), but arrived too late; Kilian was already on the journey to Texas with his big congregation.
In 1851, and again in 1852, when Herrnhut was petitioned for a preacher by members of the Brethren in South Australia, the Unitätsdirektion decided to send Schondorf. After his ordination to the diaconate in Kleinwelka on 13.10.1853 he embarked up on the journey to Adelaide from Hamburg via Liverpool, arriving on 19.3.1854. He was brought to his new place of work, Lights Pass.
In order to facilitate the communal settlement of the scattered members of the Brethren, an area of land of 1912 acres had been acquired, on which Bethel, the first Herrnhut congregation in South Australia, was established in 1856. With the founding of Bethel, Lights Pass was given up as a preaching place for the Herrnhut congregation.
After twice failing to have Herrnhut send a wife to him from Europe, Schondorf Marie Rosine Kornetzky on 6.9.1858. The marriage produced several children.
After the arrival of his successor Jacobi, who was sent from Herrnhut, Schondorf retired on 1.1.1877 and settled on his private land in Bethel. Because of years of tension between him and the congregational members – to which were added conflict with Jacobi because Schondorf had been ministering to a group of separatists from Bethel – Schondorf was excommunicated from the congregations. Embittered, he died in the year 1898.
After the turn of the century Bethel separated from Herrnhut and joined the Lutheran Church.
As a result there was no Wendish pastor to minister to the Wends in Australia. Nevertheless many authors mention that the Herrnhut preacher, Christoph Samuel Daniel Schondorf (1814 – 1898), had preached in Wendish. The source on which these authors have drawn – in part via the intermediate stage of a note by Ota Wićaz – is the letter of 10.8.1885, of the Wendish emigrant Johann Brühl from the Lyndoch Valley in South Australia, in which he writes of Schondorf: wón prjeduje w jendźelskej, njemskej, sserbskej a papuaskej rycźi. [ “he preaches in English, German, Sorb and Papuan languages.”]
Since none of the authors have any closer information to give regarding Schondorf’s activities with the Wends, the importance of the matter for the history of the Wendish emigration remains unclear, despite the repeated references. A re-examination proves to be necessary, however, because Schondorf was not a Wend, did not belong to any of the Wendish migrant groups, nor was he ever called to Australia by one of them to be a Wendish pastor.
The object of this essay is to test how far Brühl’s statement corresponds to the facts, and what significance Schondorf should be accorded for the Wends in South Australia.
Biographical Information about Schondorf
Ch. S. D.Schondorf was born on 6.9.1814 in Schwerin, the son of the tanner and cobbler, Johann Gottlieb Schondorf and his wife Caroline nee Stapelfeld. Strongly impressed by his first encounter with the Moravian Brethren in Rathenow, he undertook a journey to the most important centres of pietistic Lutheranism during his younger years, and established an intimate connection to the Brethren community in Berlin after he moved there.
In 1837 Schondorf was called to Kleinwelka and was appointed as bookkeeper in the leather business. On the 13.8.1839 he was accepted into the Brethren community. From 1845 to 1850 he worked as a tutor with Moravian Brethren in Polish Pabianice and then was deployed to work among the Diaspora in Zürich. Having been replaced in 1852 because of an illness he was left without duties and lived in Pabianice, Gnadenfeld and Warsaw.
In 1851, and again in 1852, when Herrnhut was petitioned for a preacher by members of the Brethren in South Australia, the Unitätsdirektion decided to send Schondorf. After his ordination to the diaconate in Kleinwelka on 13.10.1853 he embarked up on the journey to Adelaide from Hamburg via Liverpool, arriving on 19.3.1854. He was brought to his new place of work, Lights Pass.
In order to facilitate the communal settlement of the scattered members of the Brethren, an area of land of 1912 acres had been acquired, on which Bethel, the first Herrnhut congregation in South Australia, was established in 1856. With the founding of Bethel, Lights Pass was given up as a preaching place for the Herrnhut congregation.
After twice failing to have Herrnhut send a wife to him from Europe, Schondorf Marie Rosine Kornetzky on 6.9.1858. The marriage produced several children.
After the arrival of his successor Jacobi, who was sent from Herrnhut, Schondorf retired on 1.1.1877 and settled on his private land in Bethel. Because of years of tension between him and the congregational members – to which were added conflict with Jacobi because Schondorf had been ministering to a group of separatists from Bethel – Schondorf was excommunicated from the congregations. Embittered, he died in the year 1898.
After the turn of the century Bethel separated from Herrnhut and joined the Lutheran Church.
Schondorf as Pastor to the Wends
Schondorf held his first sermon at Lights Pass on 9.4.1854. A little while later Wends from the neighbouring Ebenezer were also to be found among the worshippers. “When I was first here they attended the services without comment, but after a few weeks they came to me and begged me to take them on and to serve them …”
“Wendish men as a deputation from Ebenezer” explained their situation to Schondorf: “they … were still at the very beginning of their strenuous economic development and had, until that time, neither church nor school, but let themselves be served from time to time by Pastor Meier in Bethany. To join Pastor Meier’s congregation completely did not appeal to them because Bethany lay somewhat distant from Eben Ezer (Bethany lies 2 hours to the south of Lightspass, therefore 3½ hours from Eben Ezer); they mainly hoped, when they were better established, to call a Wendish preacher, in order to remain a Wendish Lutheran congregation here as they had been in their old homeland.”
The Wends, under Johann Zwahr, understood themselves as a community: Evangeliskich Lutherskich Sserbskich Bratro [Evangelical Lutheran Wendish Brethren] and were strongly motivated to remain true to the religious and national origins. “It was of the utmost concern to them to preserve the Wendish nationality and language”, declares Schondorf. The deputation begged Schondorf to temporarily take over the care of Ebenzer, “until they could get a Wendish preacher (a believer), about which they had already corresponded a few times.” There were barely any theological reservations, since the pietistic Wendish Lutherans in Lusatia already had close relations with the Herrnhut Brethren.
Schondorf dismissed the delegation with the request for time for consideration and searched out Pastor Meier in Bethany, who explained to him, “he had always hoped that these people would in the end join his congregation; he would now have to see and accept that they could not be comfortable with this for this reason – their language – and advised me to take it over if I cared to.” Due to theological but also certainly material considerations, Meier surrendered Ebenezer to the Herrnhut preacher unwillingly.
Schondorf now decided “that they would be seen as a filial congregation to this church for as long as I am nearby or until they have their own preacher. They are very pleased about this, and I can say that they bring me joy since most of them are very awakened people with many experiences, but also there are some with somewhat Wendish peculiarities. – Mostly they come here for the service on Sunday and every three Sundays I cancel the children’s instruction here and drive to Eben Ezer in the afternoon to hold a devotion there.”
Through Schondorf the Wends of Ebenezer were able to enjoy being cared for in their mother tongue: “And now my 8 year residence in Kleinwelke would come to serve me well, in that I had not only learned the peculiarities of the Wends in my service there, but can also still understood enough of their language to make myself understood by those, namely the women, who cannot speak German let alone English.”
With this statement of Schondorf, which next to Brühl’s assertion is the only evidence of his Wendish language abilities, it may be held as valid that Schondorf exercised the Wendish language in his pastoral work. Conclusions as to whether he only used Wendish to communicate or whether he also used it as church language remain hypothetical. It would be conceivable that he might occasionally celebrate Holy Communion in Wendish due to the monolingualism of a section of the population of Ebenezer, just as he also did in the English language. Baptisms, marriages and burials might also have been celebrated partly in Wendish. Less likely would be Wendish sermons since these would presume strong knowledge of the language. Thus Brühl’s statement that Schondorf would have preached in Wendish could be seen as a popularly inaccurate description of Schondorf’s other Wendish parish work.
Schondorf immediately intensified his care for Ebenezer: “For Eben Ezer I now decided to preach fortnightly on Sunday afternoons at 3 o’clock and in such cases to also hold baptisms and Holy Communion; further on every third Feast Day to officiate at Eben Ezer in the mornings (because we only held two Feast Days in Lightspaß) as well as on the so-called Marientagen [Marientage : Marian Feast Days. Feast days to mark events in the life of Mary which were celebrated in some protestant areas of Germany.] – such as 2nd February; 25th March; 24th June; 29 September; and also the 31st October to officiate at Eben Ezer in the mornings.” At times Schondorf’s presence was more frequently required, as shown by his appointment calendar for Easter 1855. “I visited” Ebenezer “often and began to establish a school there.” In cases of sickness Schondorf was called for advice because he had brought a medicine chest with him to Australia for private use. In the year 1855 he reported the following about an epidemic illness: “… in my Wendish congregation Eben Ezer there was no house in which at least one person was not sick and in four houses the husband and wife and several children were laid low. As a result of this I had to travel daily to Eben Ezer straight after confirmation lessons, from whence I usually returned only late in the evening. On the following morning at 8 o’clock a messenger always came to me to collect medicine for the sick which I had often had to prepare during the night.”
In return for this extensive service the inhabitants of Ebenezer proved to be very generous. Provisions were delivered to his housekeeper “… namely from the Wends in Eben Ezer not insignificant pieces of slaughtered beef, veal and pork, live hens, baskets of eggs, bowls of butter, crocks with pickled cabbage, sacks of potatoes and the like.”
The increasing intensity of the relationship between Schondorf and Ebenezer gave rise to demonstrations of resentment from the side of a number of members of the Brethren congregation, who were afraid that they would lose their pastor. Ebenezer reacted to this by suggesting to Schondorf that he move his residence from Lights Pass to Ebenezer until the Brethren community settlement had been founded. Behind this was probably the wish – later repeatedly stated – to win Schondorf as permanent pastor for Ebenezer. He nevertheless refused, since the founding of Bethel was within sight.
On 18.5.1856 Schondorf held his last worship service in Lights Pass and thereafter moved to the newly obtained land in order to devote himself to the establishment of Bethel. He continued to serve Ebenezer, despite the 30 kilometre distance: “As a result to continuing requests and the promise I made, I will continue to serve the Wendish Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Eben Ezer until they have own pastor. — Pastor Meier in Bethany has been very pointed, since my leaving of Lightspaß, to keep the congregation in Eben Ezer by any means – but you see my Wends unanimously want to be served and built-up not by Meier-Bethany, but rather as Lutherans, and they would not be refused even though I gave the difficulties of the distance between the settlements as grounds for handing it over.”
The worship services in Ebenezer were now suddenly reduced to once a month. Schondorf was able to undertake the journey to Ebenezer with his “own equipage [Carriage and horses] (which my Wends in Eben Ezer were very helpful in obtaining –)… They have also helped me with hard work in the development of Bethel.” In return Schondorf let the inhabitants of Ebenezer take part in important events in Bethel; he personally invited the leaders of the congregation to his engagement and wedding. The dedication of the church in Ebenezer followed on 13.2.1859, also under Pastor Schondorf.
After Schondorf suffered a bad accident on 19.10.1859 it was no longer possible for him to sustain his service in Ebenezer. “The Wends in Ebenezer, of whom I had grown very fond, pleaded with me not to leave them, to send for some help – for which they would also have happily paid travel expenses.” Nevertheless Schondorf refused and handed over the Ebenezer congregation “in the end with its approval – to my friend and successor at Lightspaß, P. Kavel.”
In the following years “visitors from Tanunda, Bethany and in particular from Lightspaß and Eben Ezer often came out here [to Bethel] for edification, away from the Lutheranism practised there.”
In 1867 Schondorf wrote in reference to his former congregational members from Ebenezer, that he was “friends with them to this day, and there is intercommunication between us to this day.” Moreover, Wendish families who had settled in the region around Bethel, stayed with his Brethren congregation, so that he continued to have “Germans, English and Wends” to serve.
A Defender of his Wendish Congregation
The Wends of Ebenzer did not all turn to Schondorf’s Brethren congregation; a small number remained with Pastor Meier and, together with the Germans who settled nearby, founded the Neukirch congregation. From this split in the church, tensions resulted which finally led to open attacks on Schondorf’s Wendish congregation.
In the spring of the year 1855 the Serbske Nowiny [Newspaper in Bautzen, Germany], leaning on letters from Australia, published the news that a new congregation had been founded in Ebenezer which had fallen away from the Lutheran Church, taught chiliasm, and had elected Johann Zwahr to be its minister. One year later a letter appeared in both the Wendish and English press, undersigned by seven Wends, in which monstrous accusations were made: Johann Zwahr had founded the congregation called “Eben-Ezer, Wendish Israel”, in which he held the office of High Priest and Andreas Pannach the office of Chief Justice; the laws of the congregation envisaged cicumcision as in the Judaic manner; Andreas Schmidt from Cortnitz who had opposed this rite, had been sentenced to death by stoning; due to his escape in the night before the day of his execution the processes had become public, whereupon a court case ensued which sentenced Pannach and Zwahr to high fines and imprisonment respectively.
Schondorf saw the background of this attack in the struggle between the churches to have influence over the residents of Ebenezer. This “lying report … came out of the Meier-Bethany-ultra-Lutheran clergy here, out of anger that the honest Wends in Ebenezer did not want to be ruled or entrapped by a Meier-Bethany church.
Forced by his conscience, as well as having been exhorted to do so many times by Ebenezer, Schondorf recorded a written defence:
“The in every way mendacious report in the Bautzen German and Wendish Weekly of 28 May 1856, etc, etc, concerning the honest Christian-minded Wends here in Eben Ezer – has been written and sent to Saxony by a Wendish tailor by the name of Lehmann who came here from Kreis Bautzen around six years ago, most probably out of anger that his presumptuous efforts to swap his mending and tailoring for a position as teacher in Eben Ezer had not succeeded; in that the honest Wends in Eben Ezer who, with their simple yet healthy appreciation for schooling and education – (even though he, at the same time, presented himself as being commendable, and also respectable ) – would not and could not trust their children to such a rascal. But not only did this Lehmann lie in every word in this very tidy document, but also all the signatures (in the Wendish newspaper) were made up by him – and, as if quite naturally, forgot his own name: Lehmann from Plotzen near Bautzen – and for good reason.”
Bewildered, Schondorf commented on the fact that such obvious false reports had even been published in Bautzen with no regard for the relatives of the accused who had stayed behind in Lusatia, “among whom there might be a few of the opinion that if one could read something in print, then it must be true.” Schondorf made himself available, with his “name and official position to be on call” to provide “illumination of this false report.”
Schondorf enjoined the leaders of the Brethren-Union [Brüder-Unität] in Herrnhut “to write a few encouraging lines to Eben Ezer, which would be nice not only of itself, but would also motivate others to have sympathy, (since in Leipzig one will surely also do so –). So I strongly request that you would sympathetically acknowledge my article pursuant to the false report in the Bautzener Wochenblatt of 28 May of the year, (in regard to Eben Ezer) in a few words. Although the people in Eben Ezer generally identify themselves as Lutheran in confession, which I am also quite happy for them to do, (which is, however, contested by the ultra-Lutheran communities here, and particularly by Bethany-Meier, because behind my back he always says – out of vexation: a people which has a Herrnhut Pastor, may not call itself Lutheran, but should rather call itself ‘Herrnhutan’) but still, under their number there are many brave brothers, whom one could set before many a true Brethren member as a role model.”
Johann Zwahr – not knowing that Schondorf had kept his promise to write a defence – had, in the meantime set about defending himself. “He had been in Adelaide on business with some of them – where the slanderous story was,
of course, also known, and after manifold interrogations, conversations and replies was goaded into not letting the matter lie – and decided not to let himself be hindered by my postponed promise in order to lay bare the libel. – Following this a defence with help and advice from Adelaide, was cobbled together and sent off. … Apart from the self-defence of Joh. Zwahr, a suitable expose of the lie written in Adelaide by Consul Meier from Bremen appeared there.” In view of the new situation, Schondorf requested that his defence not be published.
The affair finally closed with two written pieces from the Royal Hannoverian Consul, C.L. Meyer, in Adelaide: a reply to a query from the town magistrate in Rachlau, Johann Albert, and the following public explanation mentioned above. Both judged the accusations made against Ebenezer as defamation.
The episode with Ebenezer should be seen as part of the decades-long strife within the Lutheran Church in Australia.
Schondorf as Liaison in Lusatia
Due to their close connection to the headquarters in Herrnhut, the settlements of the Brethren congregations were excellently suited to the fostering of contact to Upper Lusatia. This was to the benefit of the Wends of Ebenzer and surrounds, in that they made enthusiastic use of the Schondorf’s willingness to intermediate. Georg Döcke, resident in Steinthal near Bethel, particularly frequently called upon his services for transfers of money to the teacher Förster in Wurschen. Döcke, who until his emigration in 1855 had been the owner of the Riegel mill in Nechern, made Förster his confidant whose task it was to distribute the remitted money and fill Döcke’s orders. From time to time each year Förster appeared in Herrnhut to collect the transferred money which included sums as considerable as 330 and 342 Thaler. The repeated transfers to Förster prompted Schondorf’s ironic remark that the “well-known teacher Förster apparently comes from the needy town Wurschen.” Michael Albinus and Michael Döcke, among others, also made use of the possibility of sending money via Schondorf – Herrnhut – Förster.
Motivated by reports of poverty in Germany, Maria Pannach, wife of Andreas Pannach, sent Thaler via Schondorf to town magistrate Albert in Rachlau, who was to share the money among the poor and needy.
In accord with the deepest sense of their church life, the Wends of Ebenezer did not fail to undertake collections for church purposes, even during the difficult first years. On 20.4.1857 Schondorf informed Herrnhut: “The Wendish congregation here in Eben Ezer, has given me 25 pounds Sterling for the mission to forward with this instruction and request: half of it ( so, 12½ pounds Sterling) for the mission of the Brethren congregations and the other half ( so, also 12½ pounds Sterling) to the Lutheran missions, to be transferred to the administration and committee of the same in Leipzig.”
Further contributions to missions from the congregation of Ebenezer to the Herrnhut Brethren to the sum of 17 or 16 pounds Sterling are verifiable for the years 1861 and 1863, but it is to be supposed that donations were sent to Herrnhut in other years too. For transfers to the Leipzig Mission Society, with which Johann Zwahr in particular fostered active communication, alternative means were found, so that the intermediary function of Herrnhut became superfluous.
Furthermore, by request of Andreas Urban from Gnadenthal in Victoria 200 Thaler donated by the congregation in Ebenezer found its way to the Old Lutheran congregation of Weigersdorf/Klitten via Schondorf. The sum was collected from Herrnhut by Pastor Gumlich at the beginning of the year 1858, and the stipulation that it should go to the support of poor congregational members who had not been able to raise their share towards repayment of the debt brought about by church and school construction was honoured.
Transactions in the opposite direction – from Lusatia via Herrnhut to Australia – were also possible. In 1855 Johann Brühl informed relatives in Lusatia: “If money is to arrive in Australia in a reliable and secure manner, it can be sent in the mail or as a draft to Consul Arnsber in Adelaide or, better still, it can be sent via the Herrnhut Brethren. I know a Herrnhut preacher in South Australia, Mr. Schondorf in Lightpaß, who is willing to disburse any sum of money which is paid into the mailing department in Herrnhut, upon recommendation or receipt from the Director, Mr. C.W. Just in Herrnhut.”
Transfers of money from Lusatia to Australia are not known, which is probably due to the fact that the Lusatian Wends had little occasion to pay any financial benefits to their mostly much better off Australian relatives. It is nonetheless verifiable that orders placed by Australian Wends were filled via Herrnhut. On 20.5.1861 Georg Döcke informed the teacher Förster in Wurschen: “I have received the medications and Wendish books for you which I ordered, everything arrived undamaged at the home of our pastor, on the 25th November of last year.” Through Schondorf the congregation ordered “some volumes of mission reports, etc. from Leipzig.” In case the Leipzig Mission Society was unable to find “a suitable opportunity for transporting the same’” Schondorf offered that the periodicals be sent to him at Bethel via the Herrnhut branch at Gnadau.
Certainly, these examples represent only some of the actually successful transactions, but do prove adequately Schondorf’s importance as a liaison to Lusatia.
Summary
It has been investigated whether the statement of the Wendish emigrant, Johann Brühl, in the year 1855 that the Herrnhut pastor, Schondorf, in Lights Pass would preach in Wendish, corresponds with the facts and, furthermore, what significance Schondorf should be accorded for the Wends in South Australia.
From 1854 to 1859 Schondorf served the Wendish Lutheran congregation of Ebenezer as a filial of his Brethren congregation at Lights Pass, and to some degree, Bethel. It was proved that he used the Wendish language in his pastoral work. It could not be proved that he held sermons in Wendish, but this is still within the realms of possibility given his knowledge of the Wendish language. When the congregation in Ebenezer was the victim of serious public defamation, he became a defender of those who had been attacked. During his term of office in Ebenezer he furthermore performed liaison services between the Wends in South Australia and Lusatia owing to his contact with Herrnhut.
Schondorf’s work for the Wendish congregational members reflects the years- long efforts of Ebenezer to find a Wendish pastor. Since such intensive efforts to obtain care in the mother-tongue did not take place in any other Wendish congregation in Australia, the special status of Ebenezer in its striving to maintain the Wendish language in Australia was undermined.
© Original German – Trudla Malinkowa
© English Translation – Chris Greenthaner