Religions of the Rosentreter Family

Originally

It would be pure speculation to even guess what religion the earliest families were, apart from Pagan.  In fact, it is becoming more than a theory that the family originated in the Norse countries, meaning that the earliest religion may have been that of the Vikings, the Old Norse religion.

From of the 1400’s onward, it is known that some families were Roman Catholic, and some of the family become Evangelisch (Lutheran) in the early 1500’s.

Evangelisch (Predominantly Lutheran)

St Jacobi Lutheran Church in 2011

Most of the documented Rosentreters I have found were Evangelisch (Lutheran), and apart from Dietrich, and Georg & Agnes’ family, documented in the Catholic section below, continued to be largely from the Evangelistic faiths (Protestant, Lutheran, etc.) even until the present day.

The Lutheran Church was formed by Martin Luther around 1525 in the Electorate of Saxony in Germany.

While the faith bears his name Martin always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from εὐαγγέλιον euangelion, a Greek word meaning “good news”, i.e. “Gospel”.

The church in the photo – St Jacobi in Bramstedt in Lower Saxony – has seen over 100 Rosentreter christenings, marriages and funerals. Another Lutheran church some 5 km’s away in Sandstedt has seen a similar number.

There is also mention of a Lutheran ‘court preacher’, Rudolph Rosentreter [I2190], born before 1720 who lived in Königs Wusterhausen, Brandenburg, Germany.

Further reading: Lutherans of Russia by Thomas K Edlund

Catholic

Lichnowy Catholic Church in 1915

Canon Dietrich Rosentreter [I4813] is the earliest recorded Roman Catholic and was a Priest (Canon) in Magdeburg and Stendal, Saxony Anhalt between 1425 & 1488. He was a lawyer and writer of Canonical Law.

The next Catholic family we have found is that of George Rosentreter [I0409] and Agnes [I0410] married in Lichnowy. They had eight children who all went on to ‘prosper and multiply’.

Their descendants now number over 510 persons and a large majority of them live in the USA, with some remaining in Poland and Germany.

The most famous Catholic Rosentreter is Augustinus Johann Rosentreter [I0572] Bishop of Kulm.

So, if you are a Catholic Rosentreter your research should focus on the family of Martin, born before 1635 [I0411].

Jewish

Adolph Rosentreter

I have heard many stories of Jewish Rosentreter’s, but one the few families I have been able to fully document is that of Rabbi Adolph A Rosentreter [I2853], born 27 Dec 1878 and died 14 Apr 1940.

Rabbi Rosentreter served Congregation B’nai Amoona, St. Louis, Missouri for over 20 years (1885-1912). He also served as rabbi at Brith Sholom for 20 years (1910-1930). He is listed along with other rabbis who served St. Louis congregations.

See here for more Jewish families and their stories.

New Apostolic

Arthur Henry Rosentreter

About a third of the Australian Rosentreters belong to the New Apostolic Church which was founded in 1863 in Hamburg, Germany.

My uncle, District Apostle Arthur Henry Rosentreter [I0226] was the leader of the the church for the Australian & New Zealand district for many years.

Other

Other religions I have discovered in my research have included: Church of England, Russian Orthodox, Baptist, Anabaptist, Mennonite, Pentecostal Christians, Apostolic and Methodist. There are probably many more…

Are there any family members who are of another religion not mentioned? Buddist? Satanist? Shintoist? Hindu? 🙂

Rog

(Last Update – 16 January 2021) This is a work in progress and more information will be added as it is discovered. If you have additional information, please email us.