The Zionites were a religious sect in the eighteenth century at

Ronsdorf Ronsdorf is a district of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal. It has a population of about 22,500. Ronsdorf was first mentioned in 1494, and in 1745 it received its town charter. It was founded a few years earlier by Elias Eller when he relocated ...

(

Duchy of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a member state of the Holy Roman Emp ...

, Germany).

History

Elberfeld

The sect was created by members of the

Philadelphian Society The Philadelphians, or the Philadelphian Society, were a 17th-century English dissenter group. They were organized around John Pordage (1607–1681), an Anglican priest from Bradfield, Berkshire, who had been ejected from his parish in 1655 bec ...

, who were a group of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

dissenters A dissenter (from the Latin , 'to disagree') is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Dissent may include political opposition to decrees, ideas or doctrines and it may include opposition to those things or the fiat of ...

and

mystics A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Books and comics * Ms. Mystic, comic book superheroine * ''Mystic'' (c ...

based in England. The Zionites were founded at

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1726 by Elias Eller and the pastor Daniel Schleiermacher. Eller was the foreman of a factory owned by his wife, a rich widow. He had read the writings of ancient and modern visionaries and then formed an apocalyptic,

millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious organization, religious, social, or political party, political group or Social movement, movement in a coming fundamental Social transformation, transformation of society, after which ...

system of his own. Schleiermacher, grandfather of the celebrated theologian

Friedrich Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; ; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed Church, Reformed theology, theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Age o ...

, was also influenced by Eller. The group had a prophetess named Anna Catharina vom Büchel, who was a baker's daughter. Vom Büchel had "dreams and visions, and saw apparitions". After the death of Eller's wife, vom Büchel and Eller became a married couple. The newlyweds were known as "the mother and father of

Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...

" and prophesied that Anna would bear the male saviour of the world. The couple's first child was a daughter, but Eller was able to console the society with Scriptural texts. A son was conceived in 1733, but passed away two years later. The theology became centralised around Eller, and the "Christian morality" which the Zionites were founded upon was replaced by the craving for coarse and sensual pleasures.

Ronsdorf

In 1737, the sect left Elberfeld and founded the settlement of

which soon prospered. Through Eller's influence, Ronsdorf was raised by the State in 1745 to the rank of a city. Eller then received the office of burgomaster and lived in prosperity, reported as a 'tyrannical ruler'. When Anna passed away unexpectedly in 1744, doubts arose in the mind of Schleiermacher, who was pastor at Ronsdorf. He confessed his mistake and sought to change Eller's mind, but Eller managed to maintain himself until death. Schleiermacher left the group and moved to the Netherlands. The sect was carried on by the pastors who took Schleiermacher's place, including Eller's stepson, Blockhaus. A new pastor was chosen in 1768 and he and his successors brought the inhabitants of Ronsdorf back to Protestantism. Catholic.Com website
/ref> The after-effects of the movement could be traced into the nineteenth century.

References

---- * {{CE1913, wstitle= Zionites , volume= 15 , last= Löffler , first= Klemens , short=1 Former Christian denominations Religious organizations established in 1726 1726 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire