Edition project of the National Library in Riga and the Francke Foundations honored
Science
On February 18, 2025, the Latvian Academy of Sciences awarded a prize to the edition project of the biography of Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß (1697-1756), which resulted from a cooperation between the National Library (Riga) and the Francke Foundations (Halle).
On February 18, 2025, the Latvian-German edition project of the biography of Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß (1697-1756) was honored by the Latvian Academy of Sciences as an outstanding research project 2024 in the history category at a festive award ceremony in Riga. “The award recognizes the close and fruitful cooperation of the Francke Foundations with scientific and cultural institutions in the CEE (Central/Eastern Europe) countries and strengthens this previously under-researched field of research >Baltic< within international Pietism research,” says Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Bahlke, Director of the Francke Foundations, delighted with the award.
Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß received his education at the Latin School of the Halle Orphanage in today's Francke Foundations. As secretary to August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), he was involved in Pietist networks from an early age. The wealthy von Hallart family in the Baltic region employed him as a house preacher from 1726. Blaufuß was never to leave Livonia, and thus the Baltic region, for the rest of his life. Here he came into contact with Herrnhut Pietism, founded by Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760), whose beliefs and teachings he became increasingly close to.
The curriculum vitae from 1752 preserved in the Unitätsarchiv in Herrnhut is an extraordinary testimony to the search for meaning and truth of Blaufuß, a man who moved between the various pietistic movements. At the same time, it is an extraordinary source of social history. This important testimony for Latvian history and international Pietism research provides a deep insight into the thoughts of a clergyman who, in retrospect, struggled to justify his life's journey between the poles of Halle and Herrnhut. It is a fascinating testimony from the 18th century.
The curriculum vitae edited by Dr. Beata Paškevica (Head of Research at the Latvian National Library in Riga) in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Holger Zaunstöck (Head of the Research Department of the Francke Foundations) and Dr. Thomas Grunewald (research assistant at the Research Department) makes the transformation of the Halle Pietist Blaufuß into a Herrnhuter impressively comprehensible. It convinced the jury not least because of its integration into international Pietism
Frīdrihs Bernhards Blaufūss. Dzīvesgājums = Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß.
Lebenslauf. In Latvian and German languages, with summary in English.
Edited and translated by Beata Paškevica in cooperation with Holger Zaunstöck and Thomas Grunewald. Rīga: Latvian National Library 2023.
247 pp. ISBN 9789934610486.
To purchase online.
