Gustav Ernst Anton Wilhelm Ewald von Below (18 July 1790 – 19 November 1843) was the son of Livonian born

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

hauptmann () is an officer rank in the armies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is usually translated as ''captain''. Background While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literall ...

Karl Gustav von Below (1759–1840Genealogisches Handbuch der baltischen Ritterschaften, Teil 2, Estland, 1930, p.354
family trees of the Baltic Noble Corporations in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

) and Charlotte Wilhelmine von Woedtke (1757–1798), one of three brothers and two sisters. The family owned several estates in

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

, including Gatz, where Gustav was born, and Reddentin where he died. Like most male members of his family and class, he joined the Prussian Army. However, led by figures such as Ernst von Senfft-Pilsach, many of the military aristocracy from Pomerania reacted against the luxuriousness of court life in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

after the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

and became deeply religious, under the influence of

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

, which was especially strong in this part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. In 1817 Gustav began to have intense, charismatic religious experiences, including

glossolalia Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid voc ...

(speaking in tongues). His brothers Karl and Heinrich began to have similar experiences, and they jointly devoted their estate at Reddentin to charismatic prayer meetings, open to noble and commoner alike. The movement spread over Pomerania and, via immigration, to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where it developed into what is now the

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

movement. Many Prussian officials of high importance were drawn to these meetings at Reddentin or elsewhere, including the young

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

, and the von Gerlach brothers, one of whom was the king's closest friend. The

Evangelical Church in Prussia The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in P ...

was somewhat suspicious of these phenomena, and the charismatics were temporarily separated from the main church until an Evangelical investigatory commission found them to be "of God." The religious atmosphere may also have influenced other military figures such as Gustav's nephew, Field-Marshal

Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal Karl Konstantin Albrecht Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal (30 July 1810 – 21 December 1900) was an officer of the Prussian Army and field marshal of the Imperial German Army, chiefly remembered for his decisive intervention at the Battle of König ...

who grew up in the Below household.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Below, Gustav von 1790 births 1843 deaths People from Słupsk County People from the Province of Pomerania

Gustav Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

German untitled nobility German Pentecostals