Correspondence with Adam Rechenberg 1686-1704. Volume 2: 1690-1691

Philipp Jakob Spener was the founder of the Lutheran pietistic movement; his letters are an essential source for research into the Early Modern Age, not only in terms of church history, but also regarding cultural history and the history of ideas.
The correspondence between Spener (1635-1705) and Adam Rechenberg (1642-1721) makes up the most extensive part of the preserved letters, which up to now were only available as original manuscripts. The rich corpus offers comprehensive insights into Spener’s life, thinking, work, and networks that portray many areas of contemporary spiritual and societal life outside of religious circles.
The second volume contains 173 letters from the years 1690-1691. The correspondence shows a detailed picture of the pietistic disturbances in Leipzig and the growing hostility of leading Saxon theologians against Spener. Furthermore, his quarrels with the elector of Saxony and the efforts to call him to Berlin are illustrated precisely.

The volume is available now:

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/isbn/?9783161644160

Philipp Jakob Spener
Briefwechsel mit Adam Rechenberg 1686–1704
Vol. 2: 1690-1691
Edited by Udo Sträter in collaboration with Claudia Neumann
2025. XXXV, 708 pages
(Published in German)

Letters from the Berlin period 1691-1705. Vol. 1: 1691-1693

Philipp Jakob Spener was the founder of the Lutheran pietistic movement; his letters are an essential source for research into the Early Modern Age, not only in terms of church history, but also regarding cultural history and the history of ideas.
The edited ‘Letters from the Berlin period 1691-1705’ shed light on Spener’s period as provost at the Church St. Nikolai in Berlin. Letters from the same period are published in ‘Briefwechsel mit Adam Rechenberg’ from volume 3 and in ‘Briefwechsel mit August Hermann Francke’.
Volume 1 contains 190 letters from the years 1691-1693, in which Spener described the circumstances of his change from the position as the court preacher in Dresden to Berlin as Lutheran provost under reformed sovereignty. The consequences of the pietistic disturbances in Leipzig and the horrors of the War of the Palatinate Succession (Nine Years’ War) are reflected in his letters. The Wolfenbüttel Edict against Pietism renewed the accusation of the emergence of a new sect. Chiliastic positions and the phenomenon of new revelations were categorised and commented by Spener. Important literary debates began.

The volume is available now:

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/isbn/?9783161644177

Philipp Jakob Spener
Letters from the Berlin Period 1691-1705. Volume 1: 1691-1693
Edited by Udo Sträter in collaboration with Marcus Heydecke
2025. LIV, 1024 pages.
(Published in German.)

Letters from the Frankfurt period 1666-1686. Volume 8: 1686 with an Appendix of Letters from His Time in Strasbourg

Philipp Jakob Spener’s name is closely connected with the beginning of the Pietist movement within the Lutheran church in Germany. His letters are very important sources for the research of the early modern period in general. Volume 8 includes letters from 1686 and those which were undated or unknown until now, all written in Frankfurt, and letters he wrote as a student and preacher in Strasbourg (1653-1666).

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/isbn/?9783161619793

Philipp Jakob Spener
Letters from the Frankfurt Period 1666-1686.
Volume 8: 1686 with an Appendix of Letters from His Time in Strasbourg
Edited by Udo Sträter and Johannes Wallmann in collaboration with Klaus vom Orde
2022. XXXIV, 754 pages.
(Published in German)

Letters from the Frankfurt period 1666-1686. Volume 7: 1684-1685

Philipp Jakob Spener’s name is closely associated with the beginnings of the pietistic movement in the German Lutheran church. His letters are not only a very important source for research of the early Modern Age, but in the fields of church history, social history, and the history of ideas, too. The 148 letters written in 1684 and 1685 that this volume features are, however, not well known and as yet little researched. They reveal how Spener interacted with friends who split from the church, while the violent repression of the westerly Rhine regions by the French king Louis XIV and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes is also reflected in many letters. And with Spener suffering from a persistent illness at this time, 1685 could thus be seen as a year of crises for him.

The band is available now.

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/briefe-aus-der-frankfurter-zeit-1666-1685-9783161591150
Philipp Jakob Spener
Briefe aus der Frankfurter Zeit 1666–1686
Volume 7: 1684–1685
Ed. by Udo Sträter & Johannes Wallmann in coop. w. Klaus vom Orde
2019. XXXV, 716 Pages
ISBN 978-3-16-159115-0

Letters from the Frankfurt period 1666-1686. Volume 6: 1682-1683

The letters of Philipp Jakob Spener, the founder of Pietism, are sources of first-class importance for church and cultural history. They provide insight into the emergence and spread of the Pietistic movement and are also of unique information value for many areas of spiritual and social life outside the religious-ecclesiastical space.
The 202 letters Speners in the present volume come from the years 1682/83. For the history of Pietist piety, they show details of the now open-ended separation of some of Spener’s friends in Frankfurt and his reaction to the accusation that he had fueled this development. The political situation is particularly evident in Spener’s reports and comments on the growing influence of France on the left bank of the German Reich, including Alsace.

The band is available now.

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/briefe-aus-der-frankfurter-zeit-1666-1686-9783161566790
Philipp Jakob Spener
Briefe aus der Frankfurter Zeit 1666–1686
Volume 6: 1682–1683
Ed. by Udo Sträter & Johannes Wallmann in coop. w. Claudia Drese & Klaus vom Orde
2019. XXXIII, 924 Pages.