Adam Wilhelm Brahts (1789–1821) und seine „Pädagogik nach Grundsätzen des idealen Herrnhutianismus“

Abstract

Adam Wilhelm Brahts was a gifted theologian of the Moravian Church who taught at its theological seminary in Niesky from 1814 to 1820. He mainly taught church and Moravian history but also gave a lecture on Moravian education. As Brahts, like his friend Johannes Stengard, enthusiastically adopted the philosophy of Jakob Friedrich Fries (1773–1845), who had been a Moravian schoolboy, there were fears at the Unity Synod of 1818, not only from Germany but also from England and the USA, that his thinking could gain too much influence over the young ministers and educators. In 1820 Brahts was therefore transferred to Königsfeld as joint head of the boys’ school there. Disappointment about this transfer and the harsh climate of Königsfeld so weakened his health that he died in 1821. Appended to the article is the preface to his biography of Zinzendorf, which is preserved as a manuscript in two volumes (up to 1727) in the Unity Archives. As a further appendix an excerpt from his lecture on education is added, as it is an interesting example of an educational theory inspired by ‘ideal Moravianism’. Under this title Brahts and his circle of friends believed that they could bring about a renewal of the Moravian Church, building on the early years of Moravian history, which they regarded as an ‘ideal’ and a model to be imitated. In the Statutes and in the celebration of Holy Communion on 13 August 1727 he recognized the source of a ‘congregation of God in the Spirit’, such as Zinzendorf had hoped to be able to bring into being in America.