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The Brethren Movement is one of the largest free-church movements in Germany (total membership: c. 40,000). However, as it is divided into several subgroups, some of them doing no public relations work at all, it doesn't play a very conspicuous role in the German church scene.

This website, founded in October 2003, is a private initiative trying to show the specific aims of the Brethren Movement and the roots of its various subgroups. It provides information about the movement's historical development as well as about its present-day situation, taking into account all relevant groups.

Most of the site is in German, but there are a number of English documents as well. They are listed below. You will also find many English entries on our international links and biography pages.

Please note that this website is a neutral resource of information and not an official site of any German Brethren group. If you want to respond to our site, please write us an e-mail message.

English Documents on bruederbewegung^.de (PDF files):

Anthony Norris Groves: Letter to John Nelson Darby (1836). Groves' famous "prophetic letter" warning about sectarian tendencies within the Brethren Movement [6 pages, 64 KB].

Henry Craik, Georg Müller et al.: The "Letter of the Ten" (1848). The first statement of the principles of "Open Brethren", issued by the leaders of Bethesda Chapel, Bristol [6 pages, 48 KB].

Anonymous: A Retrospect of Events that have taken Place amongst the Brethren (with Appendix, 1849). Contemporary report and comment on the splits at Plymouth (1845) and Bristol (1848), written by a well-informed outsider. In an appendix, excerpts from important documents are compiled [42 pages, 302 KB].

Francis William Newman: Strivings after a more Primitive Christianity (from: Phases of Faith, 1850). Newman sympathized with the early Brethren Movement and assisted Anthony Norris Groves with his missionary work in Bagdad, but later turned away from Christianity. In the second chapter of his religious autobiography Phases of Faith he describes the influence John Nelson Darby ("the Irish clergyman") had on him [13 pages, 122 KB].

John Nelson Darby: Early Beginnings (1853; from: The Christian's Library, 1901). Notes of a report on the beginnings of the Brethren Movement in France, Switzerland and Germany, given by Darby on 24 November 1853 [8 pages, 182 KB].

Henry Groves: Darbyism: Its Rise, Progress, and Development (third edition, c. 1880). The history of the "Exclusive Brethren" from 1845 to 1867, extensively commented from an "open" point of view [65 pages, 528 KB].

John Gifford Bellett et al.: Interesting Reminiscences of the Early History of "Brethren" (n.d.). Bellett's reminiscences of the beginnings of the Brethren Movement with supplements by Darby, Wigram, Cronin and Stoney as well as Bellett's last letter to Darby [12 pages, 114 KB].

William Collingwood: The "Brethren": A Historical Sketch (1899). A short survey of the history and principles of the Brethren from an "open" point of view [12 pages, 98 KB].

Edward Elihu Whitfield: Plymouth Brethren (from: The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1911). A fairly objective account of the history and teachings of the Brethren. The author was a member of the Stuart Brethren [8 pages, 82 KB].

Peter L. Embley: The Origins and Early Development of the Plymouth Brethren (1966). A thorough Th.D. thesis dealing with the first 20 years of the movement [149 pages, 1039 KB].

Arthur Carl Piepkorn: Plymouth Brethren (Christian Brethren) (from: Concordia Theological Monthly, 1970). An objective survey of the various Brethren groups in the United States [9 pages, 79 KB].

Peter J. Lineham: The Significance of J.G. Deck 1807-1884 (from: Christian Brethren Research Fellowship Journal [New Zealand], 1986). A pioneering article on the life of James George Deck, hymn-writer and father of the Brethren Movement in New Zealand [24 pages, 190 KB].

Max S. Weremchuk: You Ran Well ... Who Has Stopped You? (1989, revised 1996). A critical analysis of the situation among the KLC (Kelly-Lowe-Continental) assemblies, written by an insider [28 pages, 204 KB].

Max S. Weremchuk: Off Track and Stuck. Additional Thoughts to "You Ran Well" (1991, translated 1999). A sequel to the above, the first part dealing with the author's personal background [22 pages, 152 KB].

Max S. Weremchuk: Can We Recover the Brethren Legacy? (1998). An appeal to the KLC Brethren to develop a positive attitude towards variety and to learn from other Christian groups [16 pages, 109 KB].

Lake Geneva Conference Report (1999). The proceedings of a KLC conference in the United States trying to ascertain the principles of gathering from Scripture itself without referring to Brethren writings [60 pages, 258 KB].

Philip Nunn: Observations and Reflections of a Concerned Missionary (2002). Thoughts about current trends among the KLC Brethren. The author was working as a missionary in Armenia, Colombia [22 pages, 147 KB].

Philip Nunn: The Re-dividing of the Reunited Brethren (2003). An analysis of the causes of the current process of disintegration among the KLC Brethren [52 pages, 332 KB].