Impact of J. H. Lindermann's Work

About 30 years before, J. H. Lindermann, as the result of his own investigation of the Bible, came to believe that Christ would return to the earth in the near future. In 1867 he had advanced in his studies to the place where he saw the seventh day as the true Sabbath. Not only did he preach his views but he published these doctrines in pamphlets. Little companies then sprang up from the seed planted at Vohwinkel, Solingen, Gladbach, and Rhedt.EGWE 282.5

News of Lindermann's Sabbathkeepers became known to Seventh-day Adventists in Switzerland as the result of a providential contact with an itinerant beggar. A Swiss believer had befriended that beggar. If he had not done so the word might not have reached them at all!EGWE 283.1

James Erzberger wrote to Lindermann, and he received in reply an invitation to come and visit the group at Elberfeld in the Wuppertal area. Erzberger brought J. N. Andrews with him, and they were delighted to find a company of about 50 expectant people ready to listen to the precious truth they had to bring.EGWE 283.2

It was from among Lindermann's followers that the nucleus for the Vohwinkel church was formed, one of the first Seventh-day Adventist German churches in the world, and members of Lindermann's immediate family were among those who became Seventh-day Adventists.EGWE 283.3

On January 8, 1876, James Erzberger baptized eight persons at Solingen, a city famous for its fine steel cutlery. It was the first Seventh-day Adventist baptism in Germany, and the little group was organized and became the first Seventh-day Adventist church in the country, with 25 members. The believers at Vohwinkel were organized at about the same time.EGWE 283.4

The Germans maintained the work of God without financial assistance from Switzerland. However, in 1884 the churches at Solingen and Vohwinkel joined the newly organized Swiss Conference.EGWE 283.5