Karl John Richard Arndt collection of Bernhard Muller and the Harmony Society
Scope and Contents
The collection documents Karl Arndt's research on the Harmony Society in the United States, 1805-1905, (including its leaders Johann George Rapp and Frederick Reichert Rapp) and the settlements founded by Bernhard Muller, also known as Count Leon (including the New Philadalphia Congregation, 1832-1833 and the settlement of Germantown, Louisiana, 1833-1871). Material includes Arndt's collection of primary sources, his research files, including photocopies of other documentation, and the draft of his three-volume work Des Messias Wiederkehr.
Dates
- 1721 - 1984
Creator
Language of Materials
In German and English.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Karl John Richard Arndt Collection of Bernhard Muller and the Harmony Society is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Chapel Hill Rare Books on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 1993.
Arrangement
Organized into three series: I. Primary material, 1721-1937. II. Secondary Material, 1775-1984. III. Writings of Karl John Richard Arndt, undated.
Extent
10.08 Linear Feet (12 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The papers document Karl Arndt's research on the Harmony Society in the United States, 1805-1905, (including its leaders Johann George Rapp and Frederick Reichert Rapp) and the settlements founded by Bernhard Muller, also known as Count Leon (including the New Philadalphia Congregation, 1832-1833 and the settlement of Germantown, Louisiana, 1833-1871). Material includes Arndt's collection of primary sources, his research files, including photocopies of other documentation, and the draft of his three-volume work Des Messias Wiederkehr. Also included in the collection are books from Johann Georg Goentgen's library
Arndt, Karl John Richard, 1903-1991
Karl Arndt, born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1903, was a scholar of German-American history specializing in utopian societies. He was a professor at Louisiana State University from 1935 until 1947, and at Clark University, where he was head of the German Department from 1950 to 1969. He served in the United States Military Government in Germany, in the Office of Church-State Relations, from 1945 to 1950. Arndt wrote several volumes of history on the Harmony Society, including George Rapp's Harmony Society, 1785-1847 (Rutherford, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1972).
Muller, Bernhard (Count Leon), 1788-1834
Bernhard Muller, also known as Count Leon, Proli, and Archduke Maximilian von Este, was born near Frankfurt, Germany in 1788 and as a young man gave sermons predicting the onset of the millennium, which created conflict with Church and State officials. He immigrated to the United States in 1831, first living in the Harmony Society in Butler County, Pennsylvania, and later founding the separatist New Philadelphia Congregation (in present-day Monaca, Pennsylvania) and, in 1833, the settlement of Germantown, in Grand Ecore, Lousiana. Muller died of yellow fever in Germantown in 1834.
Processing Information
Collection are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing at the time of acquisition and in 2011, including rehousing and minimal organization. Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
- Arndt, Karl John Richard
- Butler County (Pa.) -- Religious life and customs
- German Americans -- Louisiana -- Religious life
- German Americans -- Pennsylvania -- Religious life
- Goentgen, Johan Georg
- Harmony Society
- Louisiana -- Religious life and customs
- Muller, Bernhard, -1832
- Natchitoches Parish (La.) -- Religious life and customs
- New Philadelphia Society
- Pennsylvania -- Religious life and customs
- Rapp, Frederick, 1775-1834
- Rapp, George, 1757-1847
- Utopias -- United States
- Title
- Guide to the Karl John Richard Arndt Collection of Bernhard Muller and the Harmony Society
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- by Lisa Conathan
- Date
- 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.