Johann Jakob Wirz Explained

Johann Jakob Wirz (1778 in Basel  - 1858) was a Swiss silkweaver who became known a Theosophist prophet and started a group called the Nazarenes, or in German Nazarener. His divine inspiration began around the end of 1823, and he soon gathered a small group, called the Nazarenes around him.^[1]

His works were published after his death as Jacob Wirz, Ein Zeugnis der Nazarener-Gemeinde von der Entwickelung des Reiches Gottes auf Erden (Barmen, 1862); this was followed by Briefe, letters in three volumes, (Barmen, 1863/1873).^[2]

It is not clear if this group has a direct connection to Samuel Heinrich Fröhlich (1803 - 1857) who was one of the founders of the German Nazarener movement which survives today only as the Nazarene Church in Romania with around 1,000 members.^{[3] [4]} One theory has it that when the nineteen-year-old blacksmith Lajos Hencsey (1814–1844) came to Switzerland he met the disciples of Wirz and adopted their name instead of other numerous names circulating for Fröhlich's followers.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Arthur Versluis Magic and mysticism: an introduction to Western esotericism 2007 - Page 112 "... but there are some noteworthy others, including Johann Jakob Wirz (1778-1858), one of the most accessible and charming ... His divine inspiration began around the end of 1 823, and he soon gathered a small group, called the Nazarene "
2. Ernst Staehlin, Der Baster Seidenweber Johann Jacob Wirz als Hellseher und ...
3. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck - 1910 "For Nazarene as applied to Jesus Christ and his disciples see Nazareth. 1. Adherents of Jacob Wirz, a silk-weaver ... with Frohlich and his adherents in Thurgau or near Strasburg, brought this type of Christianity to their native land."
4. Kirchen und Sekten: Führer durch die religiösen Gruppen der Gegenwart Fritz Blanke - 1959 "Neutäufer (Gemeinschaft evangelisch Taufgesinnter, Fröhlichianer, Nazarener, nicht mit den Nazarenern des J.J. Wirz zu verwechseln) Von dem aargauischen Pfarrer Samuel Heinrich Fröhlich-Brunn- schweiler 1830 gegründet."
5. Religious dissent between the modern and the national: Nazarenes p55 Bojan Aleksov - 2006 "According to this theory, when Hencsey came to Switzerland he met the disciples of Wirz and adopted their name instead of other numerous names circulating for Frohlich's followers."