Ludwig Keller

Ludwig Keller was born 28 March 1849 at Fritzlar, northern Hesse, Germany, a small medieval town in the architecture of which the transition from Catholicism to Protestantism was apparent. He attended school at the gymnasium in Rinteln, the ancient university of which had been suppressed under the Bonaparte regime in 1810. He then studied classical philology at the universities of Leipzig (the second oldest university in Germany) and Marburg, and developing an interest and specialization in archives. It was a rapidly expanding area after 1866, in particular, with an interest in 'origins' growing with the influence of Bismarck’s Prussia and of the 'Prussian school' of historians following Ranke's 'turn the sources'. In 1874 Keller began his work the Prussian archives, and until 1895 he was state archivist in Münster. Intensive study of the archives here led to the publication in 1885-1887 of Die Gegenreformation in Westfalen und dem Niederrhein (see also his articles, "Zur Geschichte der Wiedertäufer nach dem Untergang des Münsterischen Königreichs," (Westdeutsche Zeitschrift 1 (1882): 429-468); and "Zur Kirchengeschichte Nordwestdeutschlands im 16. Jahrhundert," Zeitschrift des bergischen Geschichtsvereins XV (1879): 106-142). His access to sources led to the realization that the religious brotherhoods had largely been overlooked or marginalized in the dominant narrative of the more institutional churches.

Keller's work re-situated Anabaptism in the centre of the German ecclesial narrative, publishing in rapid succession Geschichte der Wiedertäufer und ihres Reiches zu Münster appeared (1880); Ein Apostel der Wiedertäufer (Hans Denck) (1882); and Die Reformation und die älteren Reformparteien (1885). In the midst of this work he grew convinced of organic, but repressed connections between the Waldensians and the brotherhoods - resulting in his works Die Waldenser und die deutschen Bibelübersetzungen (1886); Zur Geschichte der altevangelischen Gemeinden (a lecture given in Berlin on 20 April 1887); and Johann von Staupitz und die Anfänge der Reformation (1888). In addition to these he wrote a series of articles for the Mennonitische Blätter (1883, 1885-1890); for the Gemeindeblatt (1885-1889); and in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Keller shared the 'spiritual church' interpretation of Milner, and drew a direct connection between the Waldenses and the Anabaptists (Gemeindeblatt der Mennoniten, 1886: 70). Their principles, doctrines, and institutions, he claimed, continued to live in the Christian church from its beginnings through the centuries in brotherhoods which he named "altevangelische Brüdergemeinden" (see also Mennonitische Blätter, 1890: 113; Gemeindeblatt, 1890: 85).

Keller was heavily criticized for his assumptions, but continued to hold to his view, which (as Neff notes)

led him to a far-reaching syncretism. He had a vision of an ideal Christian brotherhood of humanity above the dogmatic ecclesiastical or materialistic, naturalistic view of the world. To bring about this brotherhood he won friends for it among the Baptists and Mennonites and other extra-church groups, including the Free Masons. (Neff 1957)

In 1892 Keller founded the Comenius-Gesellschaft, which published the Monatshefte der Comenius-Gesellschaft, which published a series of valuable informative articles and treatises from the past and present of Anabaptism. In 1897 Keller became a Mason, and though disappointed in its ability to provide allies for his causes, he remained faithful to it. His later books, the Die geistigen Grundlagen der Freimaurerei und das öffentliche Leben (1911), and Die Freimaurerei (1914) in the Teubner Collection, Aus Natur und Geisteswelt, sold well and received some acclaim.

Among the historians influenced by Keller were the Mennonites John Horsch, Christian Neff, and Christian Hege, but also non-Mennonites such as Karl Rembert and Friedrich Thudichum. J.H. Kurtz pays the following tribute to Keller in his widely used Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte (14th ed., 1906, Vol. II, 55): "It is Keller's achievement to have brought out into the forefront of scholarly consideration the great significance of Anabaptism in the history of the Christian spirit in the 16th century, and to have called emphatic attention to the rich religious literature and remarkable organizational activity of the Anabaptists as well as the primitive Christian elements in their movement." In seeking for data to explain the course of 'communist' development in European history, Karl Kautsky also drew on Keller's work to explain (due what he saw as the pacific nature of the beghards and the Swiss-Italian Waldensian communities) the relatively non-revolutionary nature of Swiss and other communist movements outside of Saxony. (Kautsky 1920)

Keller died in Berlin in 1915.

Sources

• Bruebach, N. (2003). 'Archival Science in Germany – Traditions, Developments and Perspectives'. Archival Science 3: 379–399.

• Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1903): 151-163; (1911): 98-100.

• "Geisteskultur." Monatshefte der Comeniusgesellschaft. (1913): 78-86.

• Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 480.

• Kautsky, Karl, Vorläufer des neueren Sozialismus. Zweiter Band Der Kommunismus in der deutschen Reformation, Stuttgart: J. H. W. Dietz, 1920.

• Keller, Amalie. "Ludwig Keller—Scholar with a Mission." Mennonite Life 8 (October 1953): 159 f., 192

• Neff, Christian. "Keller, Ludwig (1849-1915)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 22 Apr 2021. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Keller,_Ludwig_(1849-1915)&oldid=146528.