Eduard Baltzer

Wilhelm Eduard Baltzer was the founder of the first German vegetarian society, the German Natural Living Society, a supporter of the Revolution of 1848 in Germany and an early popularizer of science.

Biography

Born in the village of Hohenleina in the Prussian Province of Saxony, Baltzer was the son of an Evangelical clergyman. He was educated at the Universities of Leipzig and Halle where he chiefly studied theology. He became a tutor, and was chaplain of the hospital of Delitzsch from 1841 until the beginning of 1847, when he founded at Nordhausen a free religious community, after having failed to have his nomination to various dioceses confirmed by the authorities.
In 1848 Baltzer was elected to the Frankfurt preliminary parliament, and afterward to the Prussian National Assembly. In 1868 he founded a society and a journal for the promotion of vegetarianism. He continued to be a representative leader until 1881. He lived in retirement at Grotzingen for the last few years of his life, partly occupied in the promotion of vegetarianism.

Writings

Das sogenannte Apostolische Glaubensbekenntniss
Allgemeine Religionsgeschichte
Alte und neue Weltanschauung
Das Leben Jesu
Von der Arbeit
Das preussische Verfassungsbuchlein
Gott, Welt und Mensch
Religionslehrbuch für Schule und Haus freier Gemeinden
Die sittliche Seite der naturgemässen Lebensweise
''Vegetarisches Kochbuch''