The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Krummacher, Friedrich Adolf

KRUMMACHER. I. Friedrich Adolf, a German theologian, born at Tecklenburg, Westphalia, July 13, 1768, died in Bremen, April 14, 1845. His first appointment was to the professorship of theology in the university of Duisburg. He next became pastor of the Reformed church at Crefeld, and afterward exchanged that cure for the rural living of Kettwich. In 1819 he was called to Bernburg, where he became councillor of the consistory and chief pastor, and in 1824 became pastor of St. Anschaire in Bremen. He was a voluminous writer, both in prose and poetry. His principal works are: “Cornelius the Centurion,” “Life of St. John” (both translated into English, Edinburgh, 1840); “The Sufferings, Death, and Resurrection of Christ;” Die Kinderwelt, a series of sacred poems for the young; and “On the Spirit and Form of Evangelical History in its Historical and Æsthetical Relations.” He is best known, however, by his fables or Parabeln, which appeared in 1805, and passed through many editions. They have been translated into English, and added in 1858 to Bohn's “Illustrated Library,” with 40 illustrations. His life has been written by Möller (Friedrich Adolf Krummacher und seine Freunde, 2 vols., Bonn, 1849). II. Gottfried Daniel, brother of the preceding, born in Tecklenburg, April 1, 1774, died in Elberfeld, Jan. 30, 1837. He was educated at Duisburg, and afterward became a popular preacher at Bärth and Wolfrath. In 1816 he was made pastor of the Reformed church at Elberfeld, and was recognized as the head of the pietists in that district. Among his most important works are Die evangelische Heiligung (Elberfeld, 1832), and Tagliches Manna, or “Daily Manna” (1838). III. Friedrich Wilhelm, son of Friedrich Adolf, born in Duisburg in 1796, died in Potsdam, Dec. 10, 1868. He was a minister of the Reformed church, but a strenuous opponent of the rationalistic school of theologians. In 1843 he declined an invitation to a theological professorship at Mercersburg, Pa. In 1853 he was appointed chaplain of the Prussian court at Potsdam. He was regarded as one of the most eloquent preachers in Germany. Among his numerous works, most of which have been translated into English, are “Elijah the Tishbite,” “The Last Days of Elisha,” “Solomon and the Shulamite,” “Sermons on the Canticles,” and “Glimpses into the Kingdom of Grace.” In 1856 appeared in Berlin his Bunsen und Stahl. Among his later devotional works are Gottes Wort (Berlin, 1865), and David der König von Israel (1866; English translation, 1870). His sermons were collected and published in Berlin in 1868. Soon after his death his daughter edited and published his autobiography, which has been translated into English (2d ed., London, 1871).