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FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticPetermann, Gerd Alfred
Title, AnalyticFriends of Light ('Lichtfreunde'): Friedrich Muench, Paul Follenius, and the Rise of German-American Rationalism on the Missouri Frontier
Journal TitleYearbook of German-American Studies
Date of Publication1988
Volume ID23
Location in Work119-139
AbstractFriedrich Muench, a German-American publicist and politician in Missouri, emerged as one of the leading German-American rationalists in a series of theological and religious controversies which lasted to the pre-Civil War years. In 1833, dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Germany, he and his friend Paul Follenius founded the Giessen Emigration Society. They arrived in the U.S. in 1834 and settled in Missouri. In 1841 Muench wrote an article for the Anzeiger des Westens under the pseudonym "Photophilos" (Friend of Light). The Licht-Freund, a semi-monthly journal first published in Cincinnati and then Missouri, alluded to the "Lichtfreunde" movement in Germany, which was closely watched by German-American rationalists. This article describes the Lichtfreunde movement and details the roles of Muench and Follenius in it.
Call NumberMKI Periodicals
MKI Terms19th century/ German Americans -- Missouri/ Religion/ Politics/ Muench, Friedrich, 1799-1881