Bernhard Müller
Encyclopedia
Bernhard Müller, known as Count de Leon (born March 21, 1788, Kostheim
, Germany - died August 29, 1834, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
), was a German Christian mystic and alchemist
of uncertain origins.
Müller wrote to the Harmony Society
(and other communes
in the United States as well as numerous leaders in Europe) in 1829 proclaiming himself to be the "Lion of Judah" and a prophet
in possession of the Philosopher's stone
. As well as giving himself numerous fictitious names and titles, like Count de Leon, Archduke Maximilian von Este, and Proli, he claimed that he and his followers were the true Philadelphians and were ready to make a home for themselves with the Harmonites in Old Economy, Pennsylvania
. The Harmonites, being religious searchers looking for a hopeful sign, and eager to justify their own religious prophesies, agreed to the visit, and in 1831, Müller arrived with his entourage of forty people (including a Dr. Göntgen.) Soon, Müller and the Harmony Society's leader, George Rapp
, grew tired of each other and began to argue. Sensing the dissatisfaction that some Harmonites were feeling towards the Society's custom of celibacy
, Müller was able to use that to his advantage and get about a third of the Harmonites to be on his side in the ensuing argument. However, the majority of the Society decided to keep George Rapp
as their leader. In the end, a settlement was reached with the dissenters, and all who wished to leave the Harmony Society during the schism were given $105,000 as a group.
In 1832, after leaving Old Economy, Pennsylvania, with about 250 former Harmony Society members, Bernhard Müller and his followers started a new community in Phillipsburg (now Monaca, Pennsylvania
) with the money they obtained in the compromise with the Harmony Society. Here they established the New Philadelphian Congregation of the New Philadelphia Society, having constructed a church, a hotel, and other buildings. They renamed this community Löwenburg (Lion City). However, the Harmony Society soon made legal claims against the New Philadelphia Society. Perhaps because of ongoing litigation, and other financial problems, Müller's group decided to sell their communal land in Pennsylvania in 1833. Some community members stayed in Monaca in Beaver County
, Pennsylvania, while others followed Müller and his family down the Ohio River
on a flatboat
. Soon they started a new colony at Grand Ecore, Louisiana
, twelve miles north of Natchitoches
; and there, in August, 1834, Müller died of yellow fever
or cholera
and was interred in Natchitoches Parish.
A number of his followers remained in Louisiana and practiced communal living for some years after that. When Müller died, a congressman successfully proposed a bill donating a tract of land to his followers, and Germantown Colony, was formed.
In 1835, the remaining group, led by Müller's widow, Countess Leon
, moved from Grand Ecore to a place that is now called Germantown, which is located seven miles (11 km) northeast of Minden
, in what was then Claiborne Parish
. Here, all property was owned in common and observance of religious principles was required. Though the colony was not very large, only about thirty-five people, it worked together and prospered.
The Civil War
led to the end of the Germantown Colony, partially because of their disapproval of the war and the financial losses they suffered as a small pacifistic
community during wartime, and because of the economic hardships of the war era in general. The colony disbanded in 1871, after nearly four decades of operating on a communal basis, and then Webster Parish
was created from Claiborne Parish. The Countess then moved to Hot Springs
in Garland County, Arkansas, where she died in 1881. The preservation of the Louisiana settlement is maintained by the Germantown Colony and Museum
, now operated by the State of Louisiana.
Not long after Müller and his closest followers left Monaca, Pennsylvania, in 1833, a new religious speaker named William Keil
showed up in that area in the early 1840s. Keil was able to attract some followers who were former Harmony Society and New Philadelphia Society members, and his group eventually moved away and settled the communal town of Bethel, Missouri
, in 1844. By 1850, Bethel had a population of 650. However, the construction of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad
threatened Keil's theocracy
. From 1853 to 1856, Keil led his followers westward over the Oregon Trail
, and eventually settled the town of Aurora, Oregon
. Keil died in 1877, and his community was dissolved in 1883.
The Harmony Society, on the other hand, in Old Economy Village, Pennsylvania, lasted until 1905. It was dissolved in 1906.
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Germany - died August 29, 1834, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Natchitoches Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Natchitoches. As of 2000, the population was 39,080. This is the heart of the Cane River Louisiana Creole community...
), was a German Christian mystic and alchemist
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
of uncertain origins.
Müller wrote to the Harmony Society
Harmony Society
The Harmony Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist society founded in Iptingen, Germany, in 1785. Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Württemberg, the Harmony Society moved to the United States on October 7, 1803, initially purchasing of land in Butler...
(and other communes
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
in the United States as well as numerous leaders in Europe) in 1829 proclaiming himself to be the "Lion of Judah" and a prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
in possession of the Philosopher's stone
Philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone is a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal...
. As well as giving himself numerous fictitious names and titles, like Count de Leon, Archduke Maximilian von Este, and Proli, he claimed that he and his followers were the true Philadelphians and were ready to make a home for themselves with the Harmonites in Old Economy, Pennsylvania
Old Economy Village
Old Economy Village is a historic settlement in Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, it lies on the banks of the Ohio River and is surrounded by downtown Ambridge...
. The Harmonites, being religious searchers looking for a hopeful sign, and eager to justify their own religious prophesies, agreed to the visit, and in 1831, Müller arrived with his entourage of forty people (including a Dr. Göntgen.) Soon, Müller and the Harmony Society's leader, George Rapp
George Rapp
Johann Georg Rapp was the founder of the religious sect called Harmonists, Harmonites, Rappites, or the Harmony Society....
, grew tired of each other and began to argue. Sensing the dissatisfaction that some Harmonites were feeling towards the Society's custom of celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
, Müller was able to use that to his advantage and get about a third of the Harmonites to be on his side in the ensuing argument. However, the majority of the Society decided to keep George Rapp
George Rapp
Johann Georg Rapp was the founder of the religious sect called Harmonists, Harmonites, Rappites, or the Harmony Society....
as their leader. In the end, a settlement was reached with the dissenters, and all who wished to leave the Harmony Society during the schism were given $105,000 as a group.
In 1832, after leaving Old Economy, Pennsylvania, with about 250 former Harmony Society members, Bernhard Müller and his followers started a new community in Phillipsburg (now Monaca, Pennsylvania
Monaca, Pennsylvania
Monaca is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States along the Ohio River, northwest of Pittsburgh. Monaca was first incorporated as Phillipsburg in 1840, and had been known by that name since the 1820s. In 1892, the name of the borough was changed to Monaca in honor of the Native...
) with the money they obtained in the compromise with the Harmony Society. Here they established the New Philadelphian Congregation of the New Philadelphia Society, having constructed a church, a hotel, and other buildings. They renamed this community Löwenburg (Lion City). However, the Harmony Society soon made legal claims against the New Philadelphia Society. Perhaps because of ongoing litigation, and other financial problems, Müller's group decided to sell their communal land in Pennsylvania in 1833. Some community members stayed in Monaca in Beaver County
Beaver County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 181,412 people, 72,576 households, and 50,512 families residing in the county. The population density was 418 people per square mile . There were 77,765 housing units at an average density of 179 per square mile...
, Pennsylvania, while others followed Müller and his family down the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
on a flatboat
Flatboat
Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with Fil1800flatboat.jpgA flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with (mostlyNOTE: "(parenthesized)" wordings in the quote below are notes added to...
. Soon they started a new colony at Grand Ecore, Louisiana
Grand Ecore, Louisiana
Grand Ecore is an unincorporated community on the Red River in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located approximately eight miles north of Natchitoches and west of Clarence....
, twelve miles north of Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
; and there, in August, 1834, Müller died of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
or cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
and was interred in Natchitoches Parish.
A number of his followers remained in Louisiana and practiced communal living for some years after that. When Müller died, a congressman successfully proposed a bill donating a tract of land to his followers, and Germantown Colony, was formed.
In 1835, the remaining group, led by Müller's widow, Countess Leon
Countess Leon
Countess Leon, or Elisa Heuser Leon , was a founder and leader of the communal Germantown Colony established in 1835 north of Minden in the U.S. state of Louisiana....
, moved from Grand Ecore to a place that is now called Germantown, which is located seven miles (11 km) northeast of Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, in what was then Claiborne Parish
Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Claiborne Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Homer and as of 2000, the population is 16,851.-History:The parish is named for the first Louisiana governor, William C. C. Claiborne....
. Here, all property was owned in common and observance of religious principles was required. Though the colony was not very large, only about thirty-five people, it worked together and prospered.
The Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
led to the end of the Germantown Colony, partially because of their disapproval of the war and the financial losses they suffered as a small pacifistic
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
community during wartime, and because of the economic hardships of the war era in general. The colony disbanded in 1871, after nearly four decades of operating on a communal basis, and then Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....
was created from Claiborne Parish. The Countess then moved to Hot Springs
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
in Garland County, Arkansas, where she died in 1881. The preservation of the Louisiana settlement is maintained by the Germantown Colony and Museum
Germantown Colony and Museum
Germantown Colony and Museum is an historical preservation project north of Minden in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, USA. It was among three sites in Louisiana founded by former members of the Utopian Movement called the Harmony Society in the early 19th century...
, now operated by the State of Louisiana.
Not long after Müller and his closest followers left Monaca, Pennsylvania, in 1833, a new religious speaker named William Keil
William Keil
William Keil was the founder of communal religious societies in Bethel, Missouri, and Aurora, Oregon, that he established and led in the nineteenth century....
showed up in that area in the early 1840s. Keil was able to attract some followers who were former Harmony Society and New Philadelphia Society members, and his group eventually moved away and settled the communal town of Bethel, Missouri
Bethel, Missouri
Bethel is a village in Shelby County, Missouri, United States. The population was 121 at the 2000 census.-History:Bethel was founded in 1844 by Dr William Keil , a Prussian-born preacher who had been a member of the Methodist church. By 1850, Bethel had a population of 650. However, the...
, in 1844. By 1850, Bethel had a population of 650. However, the construction of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad
The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was the first railroad to cross Missouri starting in Hannibal in the northeast and going to St. Joseph, Missouri, in the northwest...
threatened Keil's theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
. From 1853 to 1856, Keil led his followers westward over the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
, and eventually settled the town of Aurora, Oregon
Aurora, Oregon
Aurora is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It was founded as a religious commune in 1856 by Dr. William Keil who named the settlement after his daughter. The population was 918 at the 2010 census...
. Keil died in 1877, and his community was dissolved in 1883.
The Harmony Society, on the other hand, in Old Economy Village, Pennsylvania, lasted until 1905. It was dissolved in 1906.
See also
- Ambridge, PennsylvaniaAmbridge, PennsylvaniaAmbridge is a borough in Beaver County in Western Pennsylvania, incorporated in 1905 and named after the American Bridge Company. Ambridge is located 16 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, alongside the Ohio River. In 1910, 5,205 people lived in Ambridge; in 1920, 12,730 people lived there, and in...
- Beaver County, PennsylvaniaBeaver County, Pennsylvania-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 181,412 people, 72,576 households, and 50,512 families residing in the county. The population density was 418 people per square mile . There were 77,765 housing units at an average density of 179 per square mile...
- Harmony, PennsylvaniaHarmony, PennsylvaniaHarmony is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 937 at the 2000 census. It is located about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Geography:...
- New Harmony, IndianaNew Harmony, IndianaNew Harmony is a historic town on the Wabash River in Harmony Township, Posey County, Indiana, United States. It lies north of Mount Vernon, the county seat. The population was 916 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Evansville metropolitan area. Many of the old Harmonist buildings still stand...
- Germantown Colony and MuseumGermantown Colony and MuseumGermantown Colony and Museum is an historical preservation project north of Minden in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, USA. It was among three sites in Louisiana founded by former members of the Utopian Movement called the Harmony Society in the early 19th century...