THE DAWN in German

 Guest post by Soren

 In a text I am preparing for an upcoming book regarding the creation of the first volume of the ”Millennial Dawn” series (originally in English), I also examine how it came to be published in several other languages, including German. Below is the text concerning the German edition of ”Millennial Dawn” (translated into English via Google).

If any readers have comments regarding this information, I would be pleased to hear from them. I am particularly interested in a scan or photo of Zech’s edition of the book: the front cover, the title page, and the final page(s) containing information about any other publications. Zech’s edition of the second volume would also be of interest. The question is whether any copies of Zech’s editions actually exist.

(Please leave comments in the comment trail. I can forward them if necessary – Jerome)

”Millennial Dawn” in German

The first volume of ”Millennial Dawn” appeared in German as early as 1888; this was because a German-born individual with a theological background was present in the Allegheny congregation. This was Otto Ulrich Karl von Zech (1845–1908), who had served as a German pastor in a Lutheran church in Allegheny until he became a Bible Student in late 1885. A group left the Lutheran church along with him, and some of the Bible Students' meetings in Allegheny were conducted in German.

 

From his obituary in the Pittsburgh Press for March 10, 1908

With Charles Taze Russell’s approval, Zech translated and published several eight-page editions of ”Zion’s Watch Tower” between 1886 and approximately 1891. ”Zion’s Wacht-Turm” was not published on a regular schedule but was intended as a tool for preaching to the German-speaking population, who were not yet familiar with English; it could also be sent to relatives back in Europe.

Otto von Zech undertook the translation of the first volume of ”Millennial Dawn”—titled ”Millennium Tages-Anbruch: Der Plan der Zeitalter”—which was ready in the spring of 1888. That same year, the second volume in the series was released in English under the title ”The Time Is at Hand”; Otto von Zech translated and published it in 1890 with the title ”Millennium Tages-Anbruch: Die Zeit ist herbeigekommen”.

However, as the account later reveals, Otto von Zech became a prominent participant in a failed coup attempt against Charles Taze Russell in April 1894. This led to his departure from the Bible Students, and his role in the German work was handed over to the German-born Otto Albert Koetitz (1873–1916).

Otto Koetitz

From the German historical archive Archiv-Vegelahn

Otto Albert Koetitz had become a Bible Student in 1892, and Charles Taze Russell sent him to Germany to begin preaching there. However, in 1895, he was recalled to Allegheny to handle the German translation work. In addition to translating the third volume of the book series—which had been published in English in 1891 under the title ”Thy Kingdom Come”—he was also tasked with re-translating the first two volumes of ”Millennial Dawn”, which Otto von Zech had previously translated.

There was likely nothing wrong with the translations themselves; however, they had been translated and published by Otto von Zech’s private company, Huether & Co. Although Charles Taze Russell held the copyright to the books, reprinting them could theoretically have caused complications. Consequently, it was deemed best to start over. When Charles Taze Russell began regular publication of ”Zion’s Watch Tower” in German in the spring of 1897, Otto Albert Koetitz served as co-editor.