The Confessional Lutheran Emigrations from Prussia and Saxony Around 1839

Abstract

Martin O. Westerhaus’s comprehensive study, The Confessional Lutheran Emigrations from Prussia and Saxony Around 1839 (1989), examines the historical, theological, and social forces behind two major 19th-century Lutheran migrations: the Prussian Old Lutherans and the Saxon Lutherans. The Prussian emigrations were precipitated by Frederick William III’s Prussian Union, which merged Lutheran and Reformed churches and imposed a new agenda, provoking confessional resistance. Leaders such as Johann Gottfried Scheibel, August Kavel, and Johann Grabau spearheaded efforts to preserve Lutheran doctrine and liturgy, leading to emigrations to Australia (1838–1847) and America (1839 onward). Westerhaus details Kavel’s settlement in South Australia, the formation of synods, and later controversies over church governance and millennialism. In America, Grabau and Heinrich von Rohr organized the Buffalo Synod, though internal disputes over pastoral authority and fellowship weakened its influence. The Saxon emigration (1838–1839), led by Martin Stephan, arose amid rationalism and growing liberalism in Saxony. Stephan’s followers, including C. F. W. Walther, sought religious freedom and emigrated to Missouri, where early governance crises and Stephan’s deposition plunged the colony into turmoil. Walther’s Altenburg Theses (1841) restored confidence by affirming the validity of the church and ministry, paving the way for the founding of the Missouri Synod in 1847. Westerhaus highlights the theological debates, organizational struggles, and enduring impact of these migrations on American Lutheranism, including their influence on the Wisconsin Synod and the Synodical Conference. The essay underscores the emigrants’ confessional fidelity, their sacrifices for religious liberty, and their lasting contributions to Lutheran identity in the New World. Abstract prepared by Microsoft Copilot (GPT‑4).