Johannes Waldner (1749 near

Villach Villach (; ; ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 61,887. Together wit ...

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

– 24 December 1824 in Radichev,

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) was a

Hutterite Hutterites (; ), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century and have formed intent ...

leader and author of the Hutterite chronicle ''Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brüder.''. Waldner was born into a Crypto-Protestant family near Villach in Carinthia. In 1755 the Waldners and other Carinthian Protestants, so-called Landler, were forced by the Austrian government to emigrate to

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, because they were not

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. There, part of the group joined the Hutterian Brethren, an

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

group, which led to a revival of this community. Johannes' parents also joined the Brethren in 1763. Johannes Waldner himself was baptized into the Brotherhood on 17 April 1767 in Deutsch-Kreuz, today Romanian ''Criț''. In the same year he fled with most of the Hutterites to

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

, because of renewed persecution by the Habsburg authorities. The hopes for a new beginning of Hutterite church life in Wallachia were not fulfilled. After a typhus epidemic and several riots as a result of the Russian-Turkish War, the remaining Hutterites moved to Wischenka and later to Radichev in the

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, where Waldner was elected preacher in 1782 preacher and bishop of the entire brotherhood in 1794. Waldner saw his task mainly in a revival of the Hutterite community ideal. Therefore, in the internal conflict that broke out in 1818 about the future of the religious community, he intensively campaigned for a continuation of the community of goods. Waldner also collected earlier Hutterite sermons and issued his own sermon books. In 1793 he began to write a Hutterite chronicle, that became known as ''Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brüder'', which was a continuation of the ''(Groß)-Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brüder''. Both history books today form an invaluable legacy in the history of the Hutterite religious community. Johannes Waldner was married twice. With his first wife, Maria Naegeler, whom he married in 1773, he had nine children. After Maria's death he married the widow Elisabeth Hofer. Johannes Waldner died in December 1824 at the age of 75 years.

External links

Waldner, Johannes (1749-1824)
in the ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Waldner, Johannes 1749 births 1824 deaths 18th-century Austrian people 19th-century Austrian people Hutterite people Hutterites in Austria Austrian Anabaptists Austrian religious leaders Founders of religions 18th-century Anabaptist ministers 19th-century Anabaptist ministers