
Branches:	ETG
Date Founded:	1800's
Attendance 2024:
Website:	ETG-Neuhuetten.de
	Youtube
Other Local Froelich Churches:
Neuhütten(GAC)

History

The history of the Neuhütten Evangelical Baptist Church can be traced back to the work of the journeymen Johannes Aupperle from Rettersburg and Wilhelm Schlipf from Dauernberg (both in the Rems-Murr district).

They worked in Switzerland, where they came into contact with "Fröhlichian communities" and were baptized. Back home, they began to hold meetings in their homes. In Wilhelm Schlipf's case, this must have been before 1847. Johannes Aupperle probably only returned from Switzerland in 1855. The "roots" of today's communities of Neuhütten, Scheppach and Oppelsbohm probably go back to him. One day, Aupperle visited the Schmidgall family in the Plapphof near Neuhütten. This family joined the new movement and held "parlor meetings" in their house. Later, these meetings were held at the home of Christian and Christine Sinn, née Müller, in Neuhütten.

The catchment area of this new community was very large, so that visitors usually had to endure long walks. They came from Eichelberg, Löwenstein, Brettach, Weinsberg, Bretzfeld and from the nearby towns of Finsterrot, Maienfels and Wüstenrot. The believers were baptized in a lake near Neuhütten. At the registry offices they were referred to as "Baptists" or "Mennonites".

Since marriages were normally performed by the priest, but the newly founded religious community was not entitled to do so, the marriage of Christian and Christine Sinn, for example, was performed in the district court in Weinsberg. The “Anabaptists” were officially mentioned for the first time in a church register entry from 1852.

Unfortunately, there were also problems in the community. In 1904, a split occurred. The reason was the view on wearing beards. The opponents saw moustaches as militarism and pride. They did not want to identify with them under any circumstances, as this would have meant putting themselves on an equal footing with the "world". After long discussions, many communities split between 1902 and 1909, including the community in Neuhütten (1904). Of the two "Evangelical Anabaptist" communities, those without beards met in Dauernberg, the others continued to meet in Neuhütten. The remaining community decided to build its own community center. On August 28, 1911, a building plot was bought from the Sinn family in Neuhütten, today Gartenstrasse 25. The first community center was built on this site, probably with an apartment for the Sinn couple, as they lived there until their deaths. The community was already registered in the land register as a "registered association".

The second split was due to the influence of a doctrine which calculated that 1925 would be the year of the return of Christ. This doctrine had also gained influence in Neuhütten. So it came about that one Sunday Christian Laidig from Berg stood up and asked all who did not accept this doctrine to also stand up and join him. This group went to Berg together and from there on met every two weeks in Berg at the Laidig family's or in Stollenhof at the Müller family's. Our current congregation grew out of this group. The desire to build our own community center grew. Therefore, on January 6, 1928, an association was founded and a board was elected. On December 1, 1928, the property at Waldesruh 19 in Neuhütten was bought from Friedrich and Karoline Schmidgall and a community center was built on it. In 1931, the building was completed and the congregation was able to "move in".

During the Second World War, the worship room in the parish hall was confiscated by the Öhringen district office and used as a warehouse for armaments and sewing machines. The congregation was allowed to meet in the dining room of the building. However, this meant that there was no room for the children, and so the children's hour was cancelled during this time. After the war, many devout refugees from Yugoslavia joined the congregation. At this time, when they were in very difficult financial circumstances, the congregation members were supported with relief supplies from Christians from Switzerland. There was no longer enough space in the parish hall. Due to the significant increase in the number of visitors, it became necessary to enlarge the meeting room in 1957/58.

The smaller part of the community that had continued to meet in the house at Gartenstrasse 25 after the separation in 1924 became smaller and smaller due to deaths and other circumstances and over time joined the larger part of the community. As a result, the community house at Gartenstrasse 25 became common property again. This building was sold and the proceeds used for the extension.

The community continued to grow, so that in 1970 another extension became necessary.

Many members came from the local community of Bretzfeld and the surrounding area. Due to the constant growth of the community and also due to differing views on theological questions, in the 1980s some families, mainly from the Bretzfeld/Scheppach/Adolzfurt area, decided to found another independent community; this was located in Öhringen.

The worship room in the parish hall was still very full on Sundays. The congregation decided to found an independent congregation in Scheppach and to build a new parish hall for it. The building was constructed and financed jointly in 1996/1997 and inaugurated on February 2, 1997. With God's gracious help, the congregation is growing rapidly, which also shows that the needs were not overlooked.

Due to an increase in membership and changes in church life, we were faced with the same situation again: our church building was too small. We prayed for a long time about this and planned what the building should look like in which the church would be at home in the future. Above all, it was our particular concern to build according to God's will and to erect a building that would serve the church well for a long time.

"The Ark" In November 2007, the groundbreaking ceremony for a larger building took place. After a construction period of around 18 months, we moved into the new building "Die Arche" on August 2, 2009.

We celebrated the inauguration on 26+27 September 2009

Haus Waldruh An important part of the history of the ETG Neuhütten is undoubtedly the "Haus Waldruh". Due to the war, many elderly people who were expelled - mostly from Yugoslavia - had lost their homes and their relatives. Giving them a dignified retirement in the company of like-minded people was the original idea that led to the construction of the Waldruh retirement home.

Construction began in 1955 and took almost two years to build the original house, the now renovated “old building”, and was inaugurated on Pentecost 1957. At that time, 32 people found help and a new home in the nursing home.

The administration and commercial management of the house was carried out on a voluntary basis from the beginning up until 1997. Even today, there are always helpers who volunteer in all areas. The connection between residents and the community, especially the church service, is very important to us. That is why there is a video transmission of the church services to Haus Waldruh. Morning devotions are offered three days a week. The meetings of the senior citizens' group also take place in Haus Waldruh.

Due to the change in the law, the house was structurally converted to "assisted living". This change required a new building and a complete renovation of the original house between 1999 and 2001. Through God's guidance, a house was created that enjoys an excellent reputation far beyond our region and is highly valued by residents and visitors.