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Münchehagen Branch
Roger P. Minert, “Münchehagen Branch, Bielefeld District,” in Under the Gun: West German and Austrian Latter-day Saints in World War II (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 59–60.
The town of Münchehagen had only 1,596 residents in 1939, of whom barely a dozen were Latter-day Saints. [1] Located at the northeastern edge of the state of Westphalia, Münchehagen was seven miles directly north of its sister branch in Stadthagen and thirty-five miles northeast of the city of Bielefeld in the district of the same name.
| Münchhagen Branch [2] | 1939 |
| Elders | 0 |
| Priests | 2 |
| Teachers | 2 |
| Deacons | 0 |
| Other Adult Males | 3 |
| Adult Females | 7 |
| Male Children | 0 |
| Female Children | 1 |
| Total | 15 |
No eyewitness stories of the Münchehagen Branch can be located as of this writing, but the directory of the West German Mission shows the name of Friedrich Möller as branch president with Ernst Wesemann as his first counselor. The only other name appearing in that directory is that of Ernst’s wife, Frieda, who was serving as the secretary of the Sunday School. [3] According to the statistical report of the branch filed just months after the German invasion of Poland, Möller and Wesemann were holders of the Aaronic Priesthood.
Branch meetings were held in the Wesemann home, with the address identified simply as Münchehagen 268.[4] Sunday school took place at 2:00 p.m. and was followed by sacrament meeting at 3:30. No meetings were held during the week; the membership was too small to support auxiliary organizations.
The British army invaded the town without incident in April 1945. The only thing known about the fate of this branch is that Ernst Wesemann lost his life while serving in the Wehrmacht in Russia. It is very possible that the branch organization ceased to exist by 1945 and that the surviving members joined with the Saints in Stadthagen.
In Memoriam
At least one member of the Münchehagen Branch did not survive World War II:
Fritz Ernest Wilhelm Wesemann b. Münchehagen, Hannover, 18 May 1910; son of Heinrich Wesemann and Karoline Waltemath; bp. 2 Aug 1929; conf. 2 Aug 1929; ord. deacon 6 Apr 1930; lance corporal; d. in field hospital 6/
Notes
[1] Münchehagen city archive.
[2] West German Mission manuscript history, CHL MS 10045 2.
[3] Smaller towns in Germany had no street names in those days. Addresses consisted solely of house numbers.West German Mission manuscript history, CHL MS 10045 2.
[4] Presiding Bishopric, “Financial, Statistical, and Historical Reports of Wards, Stakes, and Missions, 1884–1955,” 257, CHL CR 4 12.Smaller towns in Germany had no street names in those days. Addresses consisted solely of house numbers.
