Rev. Wilhelm Stärkel
The Rev. Wilhelm Stärkel (until 1859 Störkel) was born in Norka on December 13, 1839. He is the son of colonists Heinrich S. Stärkel and Amalie Knippel. Wilhelm Stärkel's grandfather is Christoph Stärkel and his great grandfather is Johann Wilhelm Stärkel, one of the original colonists arriving in Norka in 1767. Johann Wilhelm Stärkel was captured by Emelian Pugachev's rebel band during the insurrection of 1773.
The great grandfather of Rev. Stärkel, Johann Willhelm Störckell, (Stärkel) was baptized in Bönstadt, a town in the Principality of Isenburg (located in modern day Hessen), on 10 March 1744. His parents were Daniel Störckell and Anna Elisabeth. This information is listed on page 28 of the Bönstadt baptism register from LDS film # 1195346. Provided courtesy of Ruth Schultz.
The lists of colonists arriving in Russia in 1766, reported by Ivan Kuhlberg and published by Dr. Igor Pleve in 2010, show Johann Wilhelm Stärkel, a tailor from Isenburg, and his wife Maria Catharina (document 5167) arriving from Luebeck as public colonists on the ship "Apollo" on 29 August 1766.
The 1767 census revision shows Johann Willhelm Stärkel as a farmer of the Reformed faith from Isenburg. He and his wife, Maria Katharina, arrived in Norka on 15 August 1767.
From 1855 to 1858, Wilhelm Stärkel served as the colony clerk in Bangert, part of the Kukkus parish at that time.
Stärkel began his theological study at the pietistic Evangelical Mission Society in Basel, Switzerland, on September 9, 1859 and was ordained on July 17, 1864 in Ravensburg, Württemberg (Germany) by Deacon Eggle.
Registration of Reverend Wilhelm Stärkel from the Basler Missionhaus
In October 1864, Rev. Stärkel sailed from Bremen to North America. From 1864 to 1867, he served a parish in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Sometime in 1867 he began serving in Burlington, Wisconsin and remained there until 1868.
According to the records of the Evangelical Mission Society, Rev. Stärkel sailed from New York on April 28, 1868 and arrived in Hamburg on May 13, 1868. From Hamburg he returned to his home in Norka and became Assistant Dean of the Bergseite.
Rev. Stärkel was married in Norka on July 4, 1868 to Beate Bonwetsch, the daughter of Probst (a ruling clergyman similar to a bishop) Christoph Heinrich Bonwetsch, who was serving in Norka at the time, and Beate Christiana Friederich.
Rev. Stärkel wrote two letters to the Evangelical Mission Society on August 1, 1868 and another written over two dates (June 27 and July 9 of 1869) describing his upcoming move from Norka to serve a parish on the Wiesenseite (the plains or Steppe side) of the Volga River.
Rev. Stärkel was elected as the pastor of the Eckheim parish (Province of Samara) in early 1869 and received confirmation from the Minister in June of that year. The Eckheim parish was made up of an area comprising ten daughter colonies that were established in the 1850s and composed of settlers from the over populated mother colonies. Rev. Stärkel had to ride nearly 40 miles to cover one end of the diocese to the other. Though most individual congregations were small, there were over 4,000 parishioners in Eckheim from 1869 to 1877.
Rev. Stärkel was a leader in pietistic movement in Russia that began to gain strength in the late 1860s. In 1871, under Stärkel's personal guidance, a Brotherhood Conference was held in Brunnental by leaders of this movement. Rev. Stärkel was by all accounts a brilliant organizer and inspiring preacher who had himself been converted at a revival meeting on the Volga. According to George Eisenach in his book "Pietism and the Russian Germans", "An important step taken at the Conference was the passage of a resolution that the Brotherhood members should retain their church membership. Stärkel pointed out that the privilege would be to their decided advantage in that they would otherwise be unanchored and consequently exposed to the "found winds of sectarian influence". The Conference in 1871 was the mother organization of 23 daughter conferences, the first of which was held in Norka on New Year's Day in 1872. The conferences began on Saturday afternoon and ended Monday afternoon. Rev. Stärkel frequently assisted in moderating the conferences.
The two principal leaders of the Brotherhood movement amongst the Volga colonists were Rev. Stärkel and Rev. Ehlers and both were ardent Millennialists. Eisenach charterizes them as "fanatic in their support of this doctrine." Both of them took an active role in the Zionist movement of their day. lecturing on its behalf and supporting it financially. In 1887, Rev. Stärkel wrote a book on "Der Schluessel zur Offenbarung Johannes", which represents the thinking of the Brethren on the Millennium.
Rev. Wilhelm Stärkel
On June 4, 1871, a Ukase was promulgated by the Council of Ministers. This decress repealed all privileges originally granted to the colonists in Catherine's 1763 Manifesto "for eternal time". Grievances to authorities were not successful and Tsar Alexander II remarked that "a hundred years is an eternity!". The trend toward Russification of the colonists, evidenced by the Ukase and other subsequent legislation, stirred thoughts among many about emigration from Russia. In addition, there was antagonism being directed against the pietistic Brethren in many Volga German colonies.
Given his experience and knowledge of the farming conditions in the United States and the Homestead Act of 1862, Rev. Stärkel was instrumental in encouraging colonists on the Volga to consider starting a new life in America.
In the Spring of 1874, large meetings to discuss emigration were held in the colonies of Herzog (Catholics) and Balzer (Protestants) and fourteen scouts (6 Catholics and 8 Protestants) were sent to explore potential areas of settlement in the United States. Two of the scouts saling from Hamburg on July 1, 1874 aboard the S.S. Schiller, Johannes Krieger and Johannes Nolde, were from Norka.
A Parochial certificate from the colony of Norka for Georg and Peter Schreiber. The certificate was signed by Rev. Stärkel in the lower right hand corner on 25 April 1907, near the end of his time serving the Norka parish. According to Reuben A. Bauer, author of the book "One of Many," the parochial certificate was “an honorable discharge or release from the family’s home church to be carried forward to the next or receiving pastor and congregation. This information was very important as it provided the receiving pastor and congregation with information about the status of the incoming family and official documentation concerning their legalized marriage, births, baptisms, confirmation, etc."
In 1877, Rev. Stärkel became pastor of his home parish of Norka where he served there until 1908. He retired in Norka and continued to live in the parsonage.
Under the leadership of Rev. Stärkel, construction of the third (and last) church in Norka was begun in 1880 between 8th and 9th streets. The cornerstone for the third church was laid on June 24, 1880 during a worship service attended by former Norka pastor Rev. Gottlieb Bonwetsch, the Rev. Jordan from neighboring Balzer and Rev. Stärkel. In 1882, the new church building was dedicated. Joseph Schnurr, in his book titled Die Kirchen und das religioese Leben der Russlanddeutschen, states that the church seated 2,500 people.
In 1884, a wildfire threatened Norka and a remarkable story is told about Rev. Stärkel's role in saving the fields and granaries.
The personnel records of the Evangelical Mission Society shows the last information from Rev. Stärkel in a letter dated Jan 23, 1898 which was sent from Norka. From this letter he tells that he underwent a serious operation in Germany and expresses gratitude for his stay as a guest in the Mission House where he likely recuperated.
According to Joseph Schnurr, by 1906, the parish of Norka (which also included the colonies of Huck and Neu-Messer) numbered 23,179 members. Of these, only 385 were Lutherans; the remaining 22,794 were of the Reformed faith.
Photo of Rev. Stärkel from the book "Die Kirchen und das religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutschen: Evangelischer Teil" by Joseph Schnurr
David Weigum served as the pastor in Norka for three years, 1910-1913. Rev. Stärkel was living in retirement in the Norka parsonage. According to Dr. Walter Weigum, the Weigum children were fond of the old man: "he had himself become somewhat childish and was obviously a good playmate."
Rev. Stärkel died in Norka on July 10, 1915. The story below tells of the circumstances leading up to his death.
Excerpt from Memories of Norka by Conrad Brill:
"The preachers we had that I know of from family discussions start with Reverend Bonwetsch, who watched Wilhelm Rev. Stärkel as a youth playing the game of that day called Gausa. A game where you tossed barnockels (chestnuts) taken off the legs of dead horses, and played somewhat like marbles in later years. He took Staerkel and had him schooled to be a preacher, and Staerkel later married Beate Bonwetsch. When Reverend Staerkel became senile they put in Reverend Weigum and semi-retired Staerkel. When Weigum left we got a young Reverend Wacker. My grandfather used to tell me how good Staerkel was at playing Gausa, and how Reverend Bonwetsch always remarked that Willie would make a good preacher for Norka. Reverend Staerkel had come to the United States in the 1860's, as well as Jerusalem. He was instrumental in villagers leaving Russia to come to America, as well as organizing the Brethren of the Versammlung. While I was in the army, he became lost in a snowstorm between Huck and Norka, when he wandered off toward Huck, rather than go to the church in Norka to assist Reverend Weigum with communion. He hadn't shown up at the church and when they sent for him, his daughter said he had left hours ago. They found him and he survived, but died of natural causes before I got home from Turkey."