{{Short description|German missionary (1838–1892)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}{{Infobox person | image = F.J.C. Knothe.jpg | caption = Fürchtegott Johannes Carl Knothe | birth_date = {{birth date|1838|12|6|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Tomaszów]], [[Poland]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1892|9|10|1838|12|6|df=y}} | death_place = Mphome, [[Limpopo|Northern Transvaal]], [[South Africa]] | occupation = Missionary | spouse = Anna Magdalena Winter, sister of [[Johannes August Winter|J.A. Winter]] | children = 5 }}
'''Fürchtegott Johannes Carl Knothe''' (6 December 1838 – 10 September 1892)<ref>{{cite web |title=South Africa, Transvaal, Probate Records from the Master of the Supreme Court, 1869-1961 |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPHQ-HQD8 |website=FamilySearch |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=14 February 2026}}</ref> was a German [[Lutheran]] [[missionary]] for the [[Berlin Missionary Society]] (BMS) who became a pioneering figure in South Africa at the turn of the 19th century, against a backdrop of competing political and economic power struggles between British, Afrikaner and native tribal interests. He is best remembered for his educational reforms, the establishment of several mission stations, and his translation of the [[New Testament]] into the [[Northern Sotho language|Northern Sotho (Pedi)]] language.<ref name=Zollner>{{cite book |last1=Zöllner |first1=Linda |last2=Heese |first2=J.A. |title=The Berlin Missionaries in South Africa and their Descendants |date=1984 |publisher=Human Sciences Research Council, Institute for Historial Research |location=Pretoria |isbn=0796900108 |page=194 }}</ref>
== Early life and education == Born as the second eldest son of a garment manufacturer, Knothe moved with his family to [[Görlitz]] on the [[Neisse River]] at the age of five. After completing primary school, he attended a [[Gymnasium (Germany)|gymnasium]] with the intention of studying for the ministry. However, following the death of his father in 1857,<ref>{{cite web |title=South Africa, Transvaal, Probate Records from the Master of the Supreme Court, 1869-1961 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/sources/GSBT-LRN |website=FamilySearch |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=14 February 2026}}</ref> he was forced to abandon his formal academic studies. In 1859, through the mediation of a friend, Knothe moved to [[Berlin]], where he enrolled at the Berlin Missionary Institute, completing his missionary training there 1863.<ref name = Zollner />
==Missionary career in South Africa== Knothe’s career in South Africa began in December 1863 as an assistant missionary at Kchalatlolu, a station founded by [[Alexander Merensky]] in [[Sekhukhuneland]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pakendorf |first1=Gunther |title=Reminiscences of Mission Life in the Transvaal, 1859–1882 by Alexander Merensky (Second Edition, Berlin, December 1899) |journal=South African Journal of Cultural History |date=1 December 2024 |volume=38 |issue=2.2 |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.54272/sach.2024.v38n2.2a3 |access-date=14 February 2026}}</ref> His tenure there was cut short in early 1866 due to the hostile attitude of the Pedi King [[Sekhukhune]] toward the mission.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=K.W. |title=The Fall of the Bapedi of the North-Eastern Transvaal |journal=The Journal of African History |date=1969 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=237 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/179513}}</ref>[[File:LL1882 pg008 SIKUKUNI.jpg|thumb|alt=A photo of Sekhukhune I.|Sekhukhune I.]]
Following his departure, Knothe attempted to establish a station among the Bapo people in the [[Waterberg District Municipality|Waterberg]] region of the Transvaal. Despite three months of persistence, the local chief, Bapo, remained hostile and threatened Knothe’s life, forcing him to flee.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lebaka |first1=M.E.K. |title=Resistance to Lutheran missionary activities through antagonism, traditional beliefs, customs and practices: The case of the Bapedi tribe in Limpopo province, South Africa |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |date=2020 |volume=76 |issue=1 |page=a5619 |doi=10.4102/hts.v76i1.5619 |url=https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5619/14907 |access-date=14 February 2026 |ref=Lebaka|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref> He was subsequently ordained as a missionary at the Gamatlale mission station.<ref name = Zollner />
==Establishment of BMS mission stations== Knothe was instrumental in founding several key missions: * On August 4, 1866, with the assistance of fellow missionary Sachse, he started a mission station in [[Pretoria]]. * He established an outpost at Wallmannsthal, which he expanded into a full-fledged station by 1869. * In 1878, after being appointed Superintendent of the Northern Transvaal synodal region, he moved to Mphome in the ''Houtboschberge'' region to establish the station where he worked until his death. * In October 1881, after visiting the famous Rain Queen [[Rain Queen|Modjadji]], he oversaw the founding of the Medingin station. * Later, between 1888 and 1889, he traveled to [[Mashonaland]] (modern-day [[Zimbabwe]]) with [[Paul Erdmann Schwellnus]], leading to the establishment of the [[Gutu District|Gutu]] and Zimuto stations in 1892.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Westphal |first1=E. |title=Obituary: Dr. P. E. Schwellnus |journal=African Studies |date=1946 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=140-141 |doi=10.1080/00020184608706708 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00020184608706708|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Educational and literary work== Knothe was a pioneer in the education of Black South Africans. His focus on training indigenous teachers was a primary reason for his promotion to Superintendent. His most enduring legacy is his linguistic work. He completed a translation of the [[New Testament]] into Pedi in late 1886 and assisted with its printing in Germany in 1890. He also authored several teacher textbooks and a Sotho [[hymnal]].<ref name = Zollner />
== Personal life == Knothe married Anna Winter, the sister of fellow Berlin missionary [[Johannes August Winter]], in 1867. He died at the age of 53 on 10 September 1892 on his farm in Mphome, Northern Transvaal.
==Notes and references== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Knothe, Carl}} [[Category:1838 births]] [[Category:1892 deaths]] [[Category:German Lutheran missionaries]] [[Category:People of the First Boer War]] [[Category:Lutheran missionaries in South Africa]] [[Category:19th-century Lutherans]] [[Category:German missionaries in South Africa]]