Conrad C. Binkele (December 3, 1867, Eppingen Germany – October 29, 1942, in Los Angeles)

Personal Life

Born in Eppingen Germany, Conrad married Married Carolina Walter (1856-1909) in 1891. In 1895, he was ordained a Minister in the Tremont Church. In 1906 he was ordained in Tremont as one of the first 4 ACCN Elders. At this time or shortly after, he moved to Tremonton Utah to support the small church there. Sometime after 1909, he moved to the Los Angeles area from Tremonton . After his first wife Carolina’s death, he married Hannah Rusterholz (1872-1949) between 1910 and 1916

Interesting Facts

Records show that he traveled to Kansas to help paint a church in 1904.

Leaving the Froelich Legacy

Conrad left for the Jehovah's Witnesses at some point after 1909. In 1916, Charles Taze Russell appointed him as the director of the European Watch Tower offices, giving him full control of the society's assets there. In 1928, he left that position over theological differences with JW leader, Rutherford. At that point, Binkele founded the Free Bible Students Association (FBV) in Germany and published a magazine (The Pilgrim). In November 1933, the Free Bible Students Association was banned. Arrests were made in Berlin, Hamburg, Bavaria, and Alsace. The Gestapo raided Binkele's apartment and his office in Mulhouse, but Binkele and his wife Hanna avoided arrest because they were American citizens. The Free Bible Students' literature was banned under Hitler's regime. In 1940, the Binkeles returned to the United States. In 1942 Conrad Binkele died of chronic illness.