The Church in Germany
In 1843 newly baptized German Latter-day Saints began preaching in Germany, and the Book of Mormon was published in German in 1852. Local members began overseeing German branches in 1868, and the Church continued to grow over the next century amid devastating wars and a global depression. The first temple in Germany was dedicated in Freiberg in 1985.
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History of the Church in Germany
“There is a great work to be done in Germany,” wrote Elder Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1840. Over the next decade, however, Hyde and other missionaries found little success preaching on German soil. In 1851 Elder John Taylor, George P. Dykes, and George Viett organized a small branch in Hamburg, and the Book of Mormon, translated by Dykes and Viett, was published in 1852. For nearly two decades many converts, fleeing harassment, moved to the United States; few Saints remained in Germany by the 1860s. In 1868 Karl G. Maeser, a convert from Dresden, became president of the Swiss and German Mission. Maeser called local members as branch leaders, began publishing Der Stern (a newspaper for German-speaking Saints), and established a permanent Church presence in Germany.
In the 20th century, amid the ravages of two world wars and a devastating global depression, the Church flourished in Germany. Some German Saints, seeking economic opportunity elsewhere, established branches in Europe and South America while many others stayed, supported one another, and accepted calls to preach the gospel. Through World War II and the dividing of the nation into East and West, Saints continued to congregate. Stakes were established and buildings constructed in both West and East Germany. Temples were dedicated in both Freiberg in the east and Frankfurt in the west before German reunification in 1990. German Saints continue to reach out in love and service to their neighbors and contribute to the leadership and development of the Church throughout the world.
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Notes
- “Building Up the Church in Ireland,” Ireland, globalhistories.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
- Cologne Branch Relief Society minutes and records, 1928–1972, vol. 1, 1928–1930, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Davis, Garold N. and Norma S. Davis, eds. Behind the Iron Curtain: Recollections of Latter-day Saints in East Germany, 1945–1989. Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 2000.
- Dresden Branch, Germany Dresden Mission, Dresden Branch Relief Society minutes, 1926–1928, 1946–1949, 1963–1969, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Eichler, Margarete, Autobiography, trans. Lilly Love, 1999, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Ernst, Justus, “Highlights from the German-Speaking L.D.S. Mission Histories, 1836–1960,” Justus Ernst Papers, 1905–2009, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- “Here the Mormons Will Not Find Me,” Brazil, globalhistories.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
- Königsberg Branch, Swiss and German Mission, Königsberg Branch Relief Society minutes and records, 1913–1921, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Kosak, Henry W. and Elke Kosak, Interview, 20 April 2016, Cottbus, Germany, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- “Leading the Way in South America,” Argentina, globalhistories.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
- Maeser, Karl G. “How I Became a ‘Mormon.’” Improvement Era, vol. 3, no. 1 (1899): 23–26.
- Minert, Roger P. In Harm’s Way: East German Latter-day Saints in World War II. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 2009.
- Minert, Roger P. Under the Gun: West German and Austrian Latter-day Saints in World War II. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 2011.
- Minert, Roger P. and M. Ralf Bartsch. “Why and How Did Karl G. Maeser Leave Saxony?: New Documents Offer New Insights.” BYU Studies, vol. 55, no. 2 (2016): 74–98.
- Richards, A. LeGrand. Called to Teach: The Legacy of Karl G. Maeser. Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah: Deseret Book and Religious Studies Center, 2014.
- Richards, A. LeGrand. “The Political Climate of Saxony During the Conversion of Karl G. Maeser: With Special Reference to the Franklin D. Richards Letter to Brigham Young, November 1855.” BYU Studies, vol. 56, no. 3 (2017): 93–114.
- Scharffs, Gilbert W. “Das Buch Mormon: The German Translation of the Book of Mormon.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 11, no. 1 (2002): 35–39, 109.
- Scharffs, Gilbert W. Mormonism in Germany: A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Germany. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1970.
- “The Branch That Wouldn’t Die,” Poland, globalhistories.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
- “Two Beginnings,” Lithuania, globalhistories.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.