Buenger Family Collection

This collection contains the papers of two major families, namely the Buengers and the Loebers. The Loeber part of this collection should be researched in conjunction with the Institute’s Loeber Family Collection. A great deal of Loeber material is in the Buenger family collection because the two prominent clergy families intermarried (Theodor Ernst Buenger married Martha Loeber on 23 May 1848). Their grandson Theodor Arthur Buenger, a passionate genealogist, gathered the majority of the papers and donated them to Concordia Historical Institute. The collection is organized into the following series: Subject Files, Buenger Family and Loeber Family, Correspondence.

The Subject Files series is organized by topics in alphabetical order. The series includes numerous genealogies composed by several descendants of both the Buenger and the Fuellkruss families (f. 9-12).

The series contains an index list (f. 4) of all books that are part of the Buenger Family Collection. Several of these books were placed in the library of Concordia Historical Institute after their source was clearly identified. The books with personal inscriptions and/or marginalia remained as part of the collection.

This collection contains close to 100 photographs that are catalogued and in most cases, identified. The identification of the person shown in the picture is listed on the envelope in which the photo is placed.

In 1938/39 the centennial of the Saxon Immigration took place. Rev. Paul Burgdorf and Dr. Ludwig Fuerbringer, as well as Prof. Theodor Heinrich Carl Buenger, were heavily involved in the planning of this anniversary. The correspondence between these three men pertaining to the planning phase of this event remained separate from the correspondence file (f.26). There are also centennial programs, bulletins, and a historical sketch in this file.

The sermons (f.29-30) are organized by the Latin name of the church festivals. Various members of the Buenger and/or Loeber family wrote them. The researcher will have to identify the authorship of each by means of handwriting.

The Stephan material (f.33) includes several original sermons of Rev. Martin Stephan senior, an address about Stephan and a transcribed copy of a letter dated 9 February 1878 written by Martin Stephan Jr. There are also some transcriptions available such as Stephan’s Chiliasm, Stephan’s Verzicht, the Absetzungsurkunde Martin Stephan, etc. This material seems to have come from correspondence between Prof. Theodor Buenger and Rev. Paul Burgdorf, who did extensive research on the Saxon Immigration and ultimately published a chronology of the Saxon Immigration in the Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly 12:33ff.

The Walther material (f.34) includes six transcribed and translated Walther letters (edited and translated by Theodor Arthur Buenger). There is no indication of where the originals of those letters are located. This file also includes correspondence generated by Rev. Paul Walther and Emil Walther.

The Buenger Series contains information and papers generated by various members of the family. This series is organized in alphabetical order by the first name of the individual (the first name is underlined). More prominent members of the family, such as Johann Friedrich Buenger, have several folders in a subseries, again topically arranged. In order not to confuse the various family units, the wives’ material is filed under the husband’s subseries, i.e., Mrs. J. F. Buenger (nee Martha Loeber).

The Loeber Series is arranged as a subject file with the individual files as subseries in alphabetical order by first name. All identifiable material belonging to the same person was placed into consecutive folders and filed in alphabetical order. The series includes lecture notes (f.86-97) taken by Gotthold Heinrich Loeber durhng his student time in Jena, Germany, during 1816-1820. It also includes a Photostat copy (f.103) of an original Luther manuscript. There is no evidence as to its source or where the original is located.

The Correspondence Series spans from 1747 to 1957 and is arranged chronologically without regard for the name of the sender or recipient. A small portion of correspondence between Rev. Paul Burgdorf, Prof. Theodor Buenger and Dr. Ludwig Fuerbringer remains separate from the main correspondence and can be found in the Saxon Immigration Centennial file. A database of the entire correspondence file is available. It shows the date the letter was written, the sender, the recipient, and the number under with the letter was originally accessioned.