Theodor Erxlebens Moskaureise 1868

Zu Besuch im Sareptanischen Haus mit Aufenthalt in St. Petersburg

Abstract

The Moravian settlement of Sarepta on the Volga maintained branch houses in several Russian cities. These existed above all for trading purposes, but they also functioned as house churches. The most important of them were in St Petersburg und Moscow. The young Niesky teacher and future seminary director Theodor Erxleben (1840–1931) visited both with his father in the summer of 1868. His detailed report on his journey presents a vivid picture of life in these ‘Sareptan houses’. This article first sketches Erxleben’s life and then follows the structure of his report. It becomes clear that in St Petersburg branch, Asmus Simonsen & Co., a prestigious business with numerous employees, a more elevated lifestyle was cultivated than could be achieved in the significantly smaller Moscow branch, A. C. Sörensen. The development of each house is described in a brief excursus, without going into the history of the businesses in detail. They were maintained from 1766 to 1892, in connection with the development of Sarepta, and the buildings still exist in good condition today. The purpose of Erxleben’s journey was to visit the family of his sister Marie (1828–1899) and her husband Friedrich Clemens (1820–1899), the head of Sarepta’s business in Moscow; St Petersburg was merely a stop on the way. Personal problems that had piled up by 1868 were the reason for the visit. In order to understand them, the author looks back at Friedrich Clemens’ life and work. From his correspondence with Sarepta three burdensome factors can be identified: the strained relationship over decades with his predecessor, which had negative effects on the atmosphere both in the firm and within the family; the difficulties of working in what was experienced as a hostile environment; and, above all, the loss of four children in infancy. Theodor Erxleben’s description of the situation is shaped by information given by Clemens: in his evaluation of the impressions that he gained in Russia he remains true to his native values. A look forward to the later life of Friedrich and Marie Clemens (both died in 1899) rounds the article off.