The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Baltzer, Wilhelm Eduard

BALTZER, Wilhelm Eduard, a German clergyman and author, born at Hohenleine, Prussia, Oct. 24, 1814. He studied in Leipsic and Halle, became a tutor, and was chaplain of the hospital of Delitzsch from 1841 till the beginning of 1847, when he founded at Nordhausen a free religious community, after having failed to have his nomination to various dioceses confirmed by the authorities. In 1848 he was elected to the Frankfort preliminary parliament, and afterward to the Prussian national assembly. He continues to preside over the community at Nordhausen (1873), and has acquired great influence by his sermons and publications. In 1868 he founded a society and a journal for the promotion of vegetarianism; and he published in 1870 on the same subject Die sittliche Seite der naturgemässen Lebensweise. His writings include Das sogenannte Apostolische Glaubensbekenntniss (Leipsic, 1847); Allgemeine Religionsgeschichte (Nordhausen, 1854); Alte und neue Weltanschauung (1852-'9); Das Leben Jesu (2d ed., 1861); Von der Arbeit (1864); Das preussische Verfassungsbuchlein (4th ed., 1864); Gott, Welt und Mensch (1869); and Religionslehrbuch für Schule und Haus freier Gemeinden (1st part, containing Lehrbuch für den ersten Unterricht, 2d ed., 1870).