Albert Maier
Encyclopedia
Albert Maier was the founder of the German Christadelphians
Christadelphians
Christadelphians is a Christian group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century...

.

As a young man he had travelled to America, where he was converted to the Christadelphian church and taught by A. H. Zilmer, a German-speaking Christadelphian of Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...

. Maier returned to Obertürkheim in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

 in the mid 1990s with the intention of preaching there, but found little interest so sold his house and prepared with his mother to emigrate permanently. He left two converts; 27 year old Friedrich Weber (30 April 1899) and, in Schmalkalden
Schmalkalden
- Notable people :*Christoph Cellarius, scholar, born 22 November 1638, died 4 June 1707 in Halle*Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach, colonel, born 16 April 1758, died 21 November 1827 at Białokosz...

 near Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

, Henriette Britzius, who with her husband emigrated to Birmingham, England and remained a bridge between British and German Christadelphians into her old age.

Following the death of his mother in the USA, Maier returned to Germany, carrying his own translations of booklets by John Thomas
John Thomas (Christadelphian)
Dr. John Thomas was the founder of the Christadelphian movement, a Restorationist religion with doctrines similar in part to some 16th century Antitrinitarian Rationalist Socinians and the 16th century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.-Early life:John Thomas M.D., born in Hoxton Square, Hackney,...

 and Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...

, and Thomas Williams
Thomas Williams (Christadelphian)
thumb|right||Thomas WilliamsThomas Williams was a Welsh Christadelphian who emigrated to America and became editor of the Advocate magazine of the Unamended Christadelphians.-Life:...

' book „Der Welt Erlösung” translated by A. H. Zilmer and Johann G. Miller.

With materials in German, and the help of Weber, Maier was more successful. He founded the first Urchristen Gemeinde in Kornwestheim
Kornwestheim
Kornwestheim is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about 10 km north of Stuttgart, and 5 km south of Ludwigsburg.-Entertainment:...

 and in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

-Gaisburg. After the First World War in 1922 Maier met Johannes Reich a preacher of the Neuapostolische Gemeinde, and Reich and most of his congregation were rebaptised. New Gemeinde appeared in Nufringen
Nufringen
Nufringen is a municipality in the district of Böblingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :Nufringen is situated in the Gäu region, of Herrenberg and of Böblingen at the Bundesstraße 14 and at the Gäubahn.- History :...

, Reutlingen
Reutlingen
Reutlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of April 2008, it has a population of 109,828....

, Pfullingen
Pfullingen
Pfullingen is a town in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 3 km southeast of Reutlingen at the foot of the Swabian Alb....

, Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...

 und Kirchheim am Neckar
Kirchheim am Neckar
Kirchheim is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....

.

At the same time Ludwig von Gerdtell
Ludwig von Gerdtell
Friedrich Siegfried Heinrich Ludwig von Gerdtell was a German theologian associated with the Disciples of Christ movement....

, who had made direct contact with Professor Thomas Turner
Thomas Turner (metallurgist)
thumb|right|Thomas Turner, A.R.S.MThomas Turner Sc., A.R.S.M., F.R.I.C. was the first Professor of Metallurgy in Britain, at the University of Birmingham. The University was created in 1900 and the department founded in 1902. He retired in 1926. He was also a leading member of the Christadelphian...

 of the English Fraternal Visitor magazine, was leading a Gemeinde in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 with the Christadelphian Ludwig Knupfer. Gerdtell was originally with the Baptists, and for a time would be with the Christadelphians, though following his outspoken engagement in politics - and the reporting of a statement made in a local grocer's shop in 1934 that "Hitler is synonymous with war", he had to flee via Spain to America.

Maier was more circumspect. Although the Christadelphians were suspect for their pacifism, and pro-Jewish interpretations of prophecy, Maier maintained a "strangers and pilgrims" attitude to Germany's politics, with the result that most of the Christadelphians avoided arrest until war broke out and conscription was introduced; several were imprisoned and Albert Merz
Albert Merz
Albert Merz was a German Christadelphian who was executed for refusing to bear arms in the Second World War.The Merz family were leading members of what was then known as the Urchristen movement in Berlin started by Albert Maier, a German who had converted to the Christadelphian church in America...

 was executed in April 1941.

Maier died peacefully on 3 April 1944.

Legacy

After the war the Gemeinde started by Maier in Baden-Württemberg‎ recovered and built a new Gemeindehaus in Esslingen am Neckar
Esslingen am Neckar
Esslingen am Neckar is a city in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, capital of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest city in the district....

.
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