Ernst H. Gebhardt

GEBHARDT, Ernst Heinrich. b. Ludwigsburg, Württemberg, 12 July 1832; d. Ludwigsburg, 9 June 1899. He was educated at Ludwigsburg, where he was inspired by some of his teachers with the ideals of the 1848 revolutions in Europe, with their separation of church and state. On leaving school he became an apprentice chemist, but gave it up to study land management and forestry at Hohenheim, near Stuttgart. In pursuit of this career he worked in Chile (1848-52), returning to Germany where he found his wife. Meanwhile his mother had linked up with the Methodist community in Ludwigsburg (his father had died before the voyage to Chile), and Ernst did the same, following a deep religious experience at...