Edition of the letters of Johann Ernst Bergmann (1755-1824) awarded
The English-language edition of Johann Ernst Bergmann's letters, produced in a cooperative project between the Francke Foundations, the Georgia Salzburger Society and Prof. Russell C. Kleckley, Minneapolis (Minnesota), was awarded a prize by the Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis, Missouri, on 14 November 2024.
The Concordia Historical Institute is the official archival and historical institution of the Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod, the second largest Lutheran church in the United States. The award certificate states: ‘This 500+ page edition of the letters of a German pastor in Georgia is a true labour of love. It involved transcribing dozens of long letters in German handwriting and translating them into English. In addition, it was necessary to write an extensive introduction and a detailed commentary. The result is a first-rate compilation that details the critique of American life and culture by a German Lutheran pastor sent from Halle to minister to a fractious and fragmented community of German immigrants. The pastor Johann Ernst Bergmann had to deal with the internal tensions between the various immigrant groups, the hardships of life in a colonial outpost in the New World, the American Revolution (and the question of loyalty to Great Britain), the founding of the American Republic, the acceptance and expansion of slavery, relations with the Native Americans and, last but not least, the question of American freedom.’ The award recognises the publication as a ‘significant contribution to literature and research in the field of Lutheran archives and history in North America’.
A German version of the edition was published by the Francke Foundations in 2024. Bergmann's letters, which are kept in the Francke Foundations' archives, can also be accessed in the Digitalen Sammlungen (Digital Collections).
