Background
He was born into a peasant family on 2 February 1758, at Altorf near Stuttgart. From that time on he attended Pietist meetings, despite his father"s opposition which drove him from his home.
He was born into a peasant family on 2 February 1758, at Altorf near Stuttgart. From that time on he attended Pietist meetings, despite his father"s opposition which drove him from his home.
His alleged forename Johann does not appear on his birth certificate. At the age of seventeen he claimed to have had a vision lasting for three hours. He became a preacher, living on the estate of Duchess Frances at Sindlingen near Herrenberg in Württemberg, where he died on 20 January.