Background
John Kilian was born in Doehlen, near Hochkirch, Saxony.
John Kilian was born in Doehlen, near Hochkirch, Saxony.
After school in Rachlau and Bautzen, he studied theology at the University of Leipzig.
He was a pastor in Hochkirch (his home parish) from 1834-1837. In 1848, he became a pastor in Weigersdorf, Prussia. lieutenant was during the year 1854 that about 558 Wendish Lutherans from Kilian"s congregations in Prussia and also from Saxony called him to lead them to Texas.
With growing religious discontent, economic hardship and Kilian"s desire to be a missionary in a foreign country, Kilian brought his followers to Galveston and eventually settled about 55 miles east of Austin in Lee County.
On March 25, 1854, a new Lutheran congregation was organized at Dauban, to become the cornerstone of a large Wendish emigration. Review Kilian was called as Pastor.
At its old campus, the university"s first building was named Kilian Hall.
Many people in Kilian"s congregation were dissatisfied with the philosophy of rationalism spreading through Europe. Some viewed rationalism as an attempt to replace religion with science.
