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The Mormons in the Habsburg Lands, 1841–1914
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2009
Extract
Since its organization in 1830 the Mormon Church has been extremely active in proselytizing. Believing themselves representatives of a unique and chosen people—the bearers of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ—Mormon elders, encouraged both by the New Testament admonition “to teach all nations and baptize them” and by Joseph Smith's injunction that “the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel,” have proselytized indiscriminately among Christians and non-Christians. Their missionary zeal eventually prompted them to attempt to make converts in the Habsburg monarchy, which, with the exception of Spain, was the most loyal pro-Catholic power in Europe. In Austria, where the movement was usually branded either as an emigration scheme or as a contrivance to recruit women for “Mormon harems,” the elders were confronted with an apathetic public and a hostile government that denied them permission to preach. Harassed, imprisoned, and expelled, they faced one discouragement after another. No amount of discouragement and persecution, however, daunted the Mormons for long. Constant difficulties came to be expected and considered normal.
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- Copyright © Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota 1973
References
1 Matthew 28: 19–20; Joseph, Smith, History of the Church of Latter-Day Saints (1 vols., Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press, 1950), Vol. II, p. 478 Google Scholar. The official name of the Mormon Church is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,” a name which implies the restoration of the original Church of Jesus Christ (of early-day Saints). The Mormons do not believe that the original Church survived long after thedeath of the last apostle; nor do they feel that the Church was adequately reformed by the Protestants.
2 The main sources for this study are the very incomplete “manuscript histories” of the German Mission, the Swiss and German Mission, and the Austrian Mission in the Church Historian's Office Library in Salt Lake City. Mormon activities in the Austrian empire were supervised by the German Mission between 1841–1863 and 1893–1903 and by the Swiss and German Mission between 1863–1893 and 1904–1914.
3 Hyde, to Smith, Joseph, London, June 15, 1841, Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Vol. IV, pp. 372–379 Google Scholar; Hyde to Harley P. Pratt, editor of the Millennial Star (a Mormon journal published in England), Alexandria, November 22, 1841; and Trieste, January 1 and 18, 1842, ibid, pp. 454–459 and 490–499.
4 The Viennese apparently were able to read comparatively little about the Mormons before the first mission was opened in their capital. Between 1848 and 1864 only about fourteen items dealing with the Mormons had been published in the German language. Included among them were two novels, two articles, and six travel accounts, most of which were fair and unbiased presentations. Unfortunately, the most recent publication in 1865 was Heinrich Balduin Mollhausen's Das Mormonenmädchen (Jena: P. List, 1864), a six-volume popular novel depicting the Mormons as ruthless fanatics. This book surely must have been much more widely read and discussed than Zimmermann's, W. F. A. (pseudonym for Carl Gottfried Wilhelm Vollmer) very complimentary treatment of the Mormons in his Californien und das Goldfieber (Berlin: T. Thiele, 1863), pp. 144–250 Google Scholar. See Ashliman, D. L., “Mormonism and the Germans: An Annotated.Bibliography, 1848–1966,” Brigham Young University Studies, Vol. VIII (Autumn, 1967), pp. 73–94.Google Scholar
5 See letter dated February 2, 1864, Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the Austrian Mission. No fascicle or document identification numbers are given for the manuscripts in this library. Documents, are identified only by the title of the series (in this case, “Manuscript History of the Austrian Mission”)and the date on which the letter or particular document was written. Such religious freedom as existed for Lutherans, Calvinists, and Orthodox Christians was spelled out in Joseph II's Toleration Act of 1781, which was broadened somewhat in 1849.
6 William R. Riter to John W. Young, May 3, 1865, Vienna, ibid.
7 Millennial Star, 1866, pp. 409–411.
8 Joseph A. Oheim to editors of Der Stern (a Mormon journal published in Germany), Munich, n. d., Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the Austrian Mission, filed under the date of December 31, 1870.
9 This troublesome concept appeared in Mormon doctrine as early at 1831 and had been practiced since 1841, but it was not openly taught before 1852.
10 This crusade was no doubt inflamed by two sensational events in 1873—the publication of Mrs. Anna H. Leonowen's The Romance of the Harem (better known today as Anna and the King of Siam) and the divorce suit of Ann Eliza (Brigham Young's “twenty-seventh wife”) and her subsequent lecture tour denouncing the “evils of polygamy.”
11 Instruction of Evarts, William M. to Kasson, John A., Washington, D. C., August 9, 1879, National Archives (Washington, D. C.), Records of the Department of State, Diplomatic Instructions to United States Ministers in Austria, Vol. III, No. 130, pp. 59–64.Google Scholar
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 The above quotations from various United States newspapers have been taken from the Deseret News, August 9-September 26,1879. The Deseret News was the official Mormon newspaper in Salt Lake City.
15 That Catholic Austria would pay more attention to Evarts' circular than would Protestant England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany was predictable. The fact that Minister-President Count Eduard Taaffe was an ardent Catholic who favored the clericals in his “iron ring” political coalition may also have contributed to Austria's compliance with Evarts' letter.
16 See the quotations from the British press as printed in the Deseret News, August 9-September 26, 1879.
17 See National Archives (Washington, D. C.), Records of the Department of State, Dispatches from United States Ministers to Austria, Vol. XXVII, No. 213, pp. 3–4.
18 See John A. Kasson to Austro-Hungarian ministry of foreign affairs, Vienna, September 2, 1879, Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv (Vienna), Ministerium des Äussern, No 5047; order, governor of Bohemia to directors of the police, November 8,1879, Statni ustřední archiv (Prague), Presidium policejního ředitelslvi, No. 66,318.
19 See order, governor of Bohemia to directors of the police, November 8, 1879, Statni ustřední archiv (Prague), Presidium policejního ředitelstvi, No. 66,318.
20 Since the beginning of missionary work in Austria in 1865 thirty-three more items on the Mormons had appeared in German—sixteen newspaper accounts, short notices, and pamphlets; twelve articles; and five books. Along with some of the typical tirades, condemnations, and exposes of that day there were several fair and moderate accounts, such as Moritz, Busch's Geschichte der Mormonen (Leipzig: A. Abel, 1870)Google Scholar; “Utah und die Mormonen,” Allgemeine Zeitung (Augsburg), February 16–19, 1873; and Friedrich, Bodenstedt's “Ein Besuch bei den Mormonen,” in his Vom Atlantischen zum Stillen Ocean (Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1882)Google Scholar. These accounts, however, were probably overshadowed by such damning recitals as that of Heinrich Mollhausen in his Der Fanatiker (3 vols., Berlin: P. List, 1882)—a fictional account of Mormon proselytizing activities in Norway and their “tyrannical” rule in Utah.
21 Probably Ein Wort der Verteidigung and Das ursprüngliche Evangelium. They also handed out issues of a periodical, Der Stern (the German counterpart of the British Millennial Star, which is still being published).
22 Jenks, William A., Austria under the Iron Ring, 1879–1893 (Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 1965), p. 161.Google Scholar
23 The New York Times, February 11, 1884.
24 The entry is dated February 2, 1884. See Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the Austrian Mission, filed under date of February 2,1884.
25 Biessinger to editors of the Millennial Star, January 20, 1885, ibid., filed under date of January 20, 1885.
26 In addition to Biessinger's personal account of the trial, as found in ibid., and the accounts in the Národní Listy between March 31 and May 6, 1884, see report of the provincial criminal court to Prague police presidium, May 17,1884, Statni ustředni archiv (Prague), Polizei Presidium, Fasz. XVIII, PL 1, No. 922; and Francis, John M. to Frelinghuysen, Frederick T., September 24, 1884, National Archives (Washington, D.C.), Records of the Department of State, Dispatches from United States Ministers to Austria, Vol. XXXI, No. 8, no pages given.Google Scholar
27 Närodní, May 6, 1884.
28 Some reasons for the limited treatment of a story that otherwise might have been treated more sensationally were that at the time of Biessinger's arrest in Prague the ex-king of Naples and his wife were visiting there and, more important, Empress Maria Anna had died at the Prague castle. Most of the space given to Prague and Bohemia was devoted to these two events.
29 The New York Times, July 16, 1884.
30 See National Archives (Washington, D. C.), Records of the Department of State, Diplomatic Instructions of the Department of State—Austria, Vol. III, No. 89, pp. 285–286.
31 Alphonso Taft to Secretary of State Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Vienna, August 12, 1884, National Archives (Washington, D. C.), Records of the Department of State, Dispatches from United States Ministers to Austria, Vol. XXXI, No. 155, no pages given.
32 John M. Francis to Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Vienna, September 24, 1884, ibid., No. 8, no pages given.
33 The full story of the Huber family is given in Die Geschichte der Mormonen in Österreich 1865–1965, a centennial booklet published in Vienna by the Austrian Mission in 1965.
34 Biessinger to editor of the Millennial Star, Budapest, March 6, 1885, Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the Swiss and German Mission, filed under date of March 6,1885. Biessinger was using a traditional Mormon expression to suggest that people were not ready to accept the “Restoration.” Ephraim, a son of Joseph, ultimately became head of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. According to Mormon theology “today [since the time of Joseph Smith] is the day of the descendants of Ephraim as anciently the descendants of the Tribe of Judah were favored.” See also Die Geschichte der Mormonen in Österreich, pp. 18–21.
35 Biessinger to editor of the Millennial Star, Budapest, March 10, 1885, Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the Swiss and German Mission, filed under date of March 10, 1885.
36 Letter of June 16, 1885, ibid., filed under date of June 16, 1885.
37 Biessinger to headquarters of the Swiss-German Mission, n. d., ibid., filed under date of April 18, 1885. Although this report apparently was not written until sometime in September, it was inserted in the manuscript history under the date of April 18.
38 Ibid.
39 An office immediately below that of elder. See John U. Stucki to headquarters of the Swiss-German Mission, March 29, 1889, ibid., filed under date of March 29, 1889.
40 Since Reichenberg and Friedrichswald are not far from Hirschberg (where Elder Hammer visited with relatives in 1883), it is just possible that Dittrich and others had heard something about the Mormons through Hammer.
41 Elder Kaiser went to Liberec in 1889 but was soon banished. Later he returned, only to be imprisoned for eighty-seven days. See Gilbert, Schaffs, Mormonism in Germany (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1970), pp. 40–41 Google Scholar; and the annual statistical report of the Swiss-German Mission, dated August 21, 1890, Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the Swiss and German Mission, filed under date of August 21, 1890.
42 Born in the Hungarian comitat of Torontal of a Serbian father and Romanian mother, Mischa Markow (1854–1934) considered himself a Serb and was raised in the Orthodox faith. As a barber, he worked his trade in Jerusalem, Egypt, and Constantinople. In the last city he met some Mormon elders of the embryonic “Turkish Mission” and was baptized in February, 1887, when he was thirty-three years old. A year later he was ordained an elder and told to preach the gospel whenever he had the opportunity. In this capacity he went to Russia (where he apparently did very little), England, Belgium, Romania, and then to Utah. In December, 1898, he was sent to the Balkans and finally arrived in Temesvár. See “Life and History of Elder Mischa Markov,” Church Historian's Office Library at Salt Lake City, MS No. 483; and Cowan, Richard O., “Mischa Markow: Mormon Missionary in the Balkans,” Brigham Young University Studies, Vol. IX (Autumn, 1970), pp. 92–99.Google Scholar
43 Their expulsion was recorded in a report from the Hungarian ministry of interior to the ministry of foreign affairs in Vienna, dated December 23, 1909. See Haus-, Hof-und Staatsarchiv (Vienna), Ministerium des Äussern, Fasz. XXVIII, No. 1911/101,151. After his expulsion from Hungary Markow decided to resume his missionary activities in Russia. Twenty-eight days after arriving there he was summoned to court. A lawyer told him that he could not handle his case for it would be dangerous for him “to defend the Mormons. He asked him why he ever came” to Russia to preach Mormonism. “Don't you know,” he added, “that they will take you privately and send you to Siberia and nobody will know it then?” Apparently Markow was neither tried nor sentenced, for he left Riga on November 5 to join the Turkish Mission. He labored in Syria for about two years before returning to Utah. See “Life and History of Elder Mischa Markow,” Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), MS No. 483.
44 Rudger, Clawson to editor of the Millennial Star, Liège, March 10, 1913, Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the Swiss and German Mission, filed under date of March 10, 1913.Google Scholar
45 Correspondence with the city archives of Budapest and the Hungarian state archives has failed to turn up any further information about Spencer or Quinney. In the Archiv des Bundesministeriums für Unterricht, in Vienna, there is a curious batch of documents in French, German, and Magyar regarding a request from the Dutch government for information about Austro-Hungarian regulations against the Mormons. The original request was made in October, 1909. After the usual bureaucratic paper shuffling it was finally answered in July, 1911, to the effect that, although there had been some sporadic Mormon agitation around 1909, no recent action had been taken against Mormon agents.
46 See Weber, Elders Eugene and Barker, James L. to editor of the Millennial Star, Vienna, November 13, 1902, Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the German Mission, filed under date of November 13, 1902.Google Scholar
47 Elders James L. Barker and John A. Matthis to editor of the Millennial Star, Vienna, October 15, 1903, ibid., filed under date of October 15, 1903. Apparently none were baptized, for the December, 1903, annual mission report records no baptisms in the Vienna Conference for that year.
48 See Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv(Vienna), Justiz-Ministerium, Fasz. I R. 1/6, No. 19,938/9.
49 Attorney general's office to ministry of justice, Vienna, August 9, 1909, ibid., No. 23,880/9/148.
50 Attorney general's office to ministry of justice, Vienna, November 27,1909, ibid., No. 34,108/434.
51 “Mormonenmissionäre in den Alpenländern,” Deutsches Volksblatt (Vienna), December I, 1911.
52 Ministry of education and culture to provincial governors, Vienna, Archiv des Bundesministeriums für Unterricht (Vienna), No. 3159/1911.
53 Governor of Upper Austria to imperial-royal ministry of education and culture, Linz, February 16, 1912, ibid., No. 165/1912. Apparently elders from Vienna occasionally visited Haag and Wels, for the records show that a man was baptized in Wels in 1905 and that Rees baptized five of Huber's children in 1909.
54 Governor of Lower Austria to ministry of education and culture, Vienna, July 17, 1912, Archiv des Bundesministeriums für Unterricht (Vienna), 1910/1912, No. Pr. Z 408/3. The Mormons no doubt believed that they would be protected by a law permitting unauthorized groups of up to thirty persons to meet for “family worship” services.
55 Governor of Lower Austria to ministry of education and culture, Vienna, July 17, 1912, ibid. On the basis of this police report the ministry apparently ordered a complete investigation of Mormon activities in Vienna, for in October, 1912, the governor of Lower Austria was advised that the Mormons had in 1910 held services twice a week at Wind-mühlgasse 16, in Vienna IV, and that between twenty and thirty persons attended these services. Moreover, since February 11,1912, the Mormons had been holding Sunday and weekday services in Vienna VIII, with approximately eighty persons in regular attendance. See ministry of education and culture to governor of Lower Austria, Vienna, October 5, 1912, ibid., No. 2536/1912.
56 Ministry of education and culture to provincial governors, Vienna, July 25, 1912, ibid., No. 1943, 1967/1910; 1989/1912.
57 Church Historian's Office Library (Salt Lake City), Manuscript History of the Swiss and German Mission, filed under date of August 20, 1914.
58 Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Section 18, Verses 10–16.