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{{short description|German missionary}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
[[File:Hermann Friedrich Mögling.png|thumb|]]
'''Hermann Friedrich Mögling''' (1811–1881), also spelt '''Herrmann Friedrich Moegling''', was a German missionary from the [[Basel Mission]] who spent most of his career in the western regions of the state of [[Karnataka]], India. He is credited as the publisher of the first ever newspaper in the [[Kannada language]] called as ''[[Mangalooru Samachara]]'' in 1843.<ref name="herr">Hermann Mögling's contribution to the Kannada literature is mentioned by {{cite web |author=Shrinivas Havanur |url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/jan182004/artic6.asp |title=Herr Kannada |work=Online Edition of The Deccan Herald 18 January 2004 |publisher=1999 The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd. |accessdate=1 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/65ERAiQji?url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/jan182004/artic6.asp |archivedate=5 February 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was awarded a doctorate for his literary work in [[Kannada]] called as ''Bibliotheca Carnataca''. He also translated [[Kannada literature]] into German.<ref name="R1">{{cite book |last= Anderson|first= Gerald H. |title= Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|publisher= Herrmann Friedrich Moegling|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&q=Hermann+Friedrich+Moegling&pg=PA464|year= 1999 |page= 464|isbn= 0802846807}}</ref> Mögling is acknowledged by Kannada writers and linguists as the first modern Kannada writer, as he produced nearly 36 literary works, considered to be ground-breaking and exceptional Kannada literature, in a short period of 20 years.<ref name=Balasubramanyam>{{cite news|last1=Balasubramanyam|first1=A S|title=Miscellany - Early years of Kannada journalism|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/491818/miscellany-early-years-kannada-journalism.html|accessdate=7 August 2015|issue=Bangalore|publisher=Deccan Herald|date=28 July 2015}}</ref>

He was the founder-principal of BEM Theological Seminary, later renamed as [[Karnataka Theological College]]. He and his wife Pauline([[Name at birth|Nee]] Bacmeister) laid the foundations for the [[Evangelical]] parish and Anandapur, a village made out of jungle in the interior of Karnataka.<ref name="bem">{{cite web |url= http://www.daijiworld.com/news/printer.asp?nid=85232 |title= About Karnataka Theological College, Balmatta|quote= The Karnataka Theological College was established in 1847 by the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society which was then known as BEM Theological Seminary. Dr Hermann Moegling, a well- known missionary of the Basel Mission was its founder principal. |publisher= daijiworld.com |accessdate= 3 September 2012 }}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hermann-gundert-gesellschaft.de/en_foundation.html |title= Formation of the Gundert Kaundinya Moegling Foundation|quote= Herrmann Friedrich Moegling (born in Gueglingen in 1811, died in Esslingen in 1881) |publisher= hermann-gundert-gesellschaft.de |accessdate= 3 September 2012 }}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url= http://www.hindu.com/lf/2005/02/08/stories/2005020800720200.htm |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130125135415/http://www.hindu.com/lf/2005/02/08/stories/2005020800720200.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 25 January 2013 |title= The Gundert connection |date= 8 February 2005 |quote= missionary couple, Hermann Friedrich Moegling and Pauline, who worked in Karnataka around the same time as Gundert lived in Thalassery. The book Freedom has a Face: Anandapur narrates the couple's work done at Anandapur, a village that they literally made out of jungle in the interior of Karnataka.|work= [[The Hindu]] |accessdate= 3 September 2012 }}</ref>

==Early life==

Hermann Mögling was born in 1811 in the town of [[Brackenheim]] in the [[Kingdom of Württemberg]], Germany.<ref name="birth">The birth place and lifetime of Hermann Mögling is mentioned by {{cite web|url=http://www.hermann-gundert-gesellschaft.de/esslingen.htm|title=Short biographies of the missionaries honoured with a memorial place in Esslingen|work=Online webpage of Hermann-Gundert Society|publisher=Hermann-Gundert Society|accessdate=1 May 2007}}</ref> He studied theology at the [[University of Tübingen]] and joined the [[Basel Mission]]. He came to the city of [[Mangalore]] in Karnataka as a missionary of [[Basel Mission]] in 1836.<ref>{{cite news|title=Miscellany - Early years of Kannada journalism|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/491818/miscellany-early-years-kannada-journalism.html|accessdate=22 November 2016|publisher=[[Deccan Herald]]|date=28 July 2015}}</ref> In 7 years, in 1843, Mögling had mastered Kannada, and went on to start the first Kannada newspaper - Mangalura Samachara.<ref name=Fernandes>{{cite news|last1=Fernandes|first1=Ronald Anil|title=From another time and culture, a proselytiser and Kannada litterateur|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/164832/from-another-time-culture-proselytiser.html|accessdate=7 August 2015|issue=Mangalore|publisher=Deccan Herald|date=28 May 2011}}</ref><ref name=Nayak>{{cite news|last1=Nayak|first1=N Dinesh|title=Mogling and his days in Karnataka|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/mogling-and-his-days-in-karnataka/article2655231.ece|accessdate=7 August 2015|issue=Dharwad|work=The Hindu|date=24 November 2011}}</ref>

==Career==
Mögling, being a Christian missionary, was involved in missionary related work in [[Mangalore]] but he also learnt the native [[Kannada]] language and contributed significantly to Kannada literature. One of his pioneering works was the publication of the first [[Kannada]] newspaper, ''Mangalooru Samachara'' (meaning ''Mangalore News'').

===Newspaper publishing===
In the days of Mögling's career at [[Mangalore]], there was no simple way of communicating news and other items to the general public because of non-existence of a medium like radio and of a newspaper in the native language. He decided to publish a [[Kannada]] newspaper with the intention of spreading news items to the public. He decided to name it as ''[[Mangaluru Samachara|Mangaluura samaachaara]]'' and its first issue rolled out on 1 July 1843.<ref name="herr" /> Thereafter it was published fortnightly and contained 4 pages. The paper was printed using stone slabs.<ref name="pro">A history of Kannada newspapers is provided by {{cite web|author=M Ramesh|url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/jul12005/panorama1646452005630.asp|title=Eventful journey of a vibrant, active Kannada press|work=Online webpage of The Deccan Herald, dated 1 July 2005|publisher=2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd.}}</ref> Some of the news items covered were local Mangalore-related news, Indian population, news related to the [[British East India Company|East India Company]] and its laws and regulations. Even songs of [[Purandaradasa]] and moral stories were also printed.<ref name="herr" /> There are conflicting reports on whether this newspaper was used by Mögling as a tool for [[proselytisation]] or not.<ref name="herr" /><ref name="pro" /> The newspaper became popular and it was decided to shift its publication to the city of [[Bellary]] where it was renamed as ''Karnataka Samachara''. ''Karnataka Samachara'' was first released on 1 May 1844 and in fact it was the 15th issue of ''[[Mangaluru Samachara|Mangalooru Samachara]]''. ''Karnataka Samachara'' was the first Kannada newspaper to be printed using [[movable type]].<ref name="pro" /> Unfortunately, only three issues of ''Karnataka Samachara'' were released. Mögling is credited to be one of the visionaries for a [[Unification of Karnataka|unified Karnataka]]. In his times, not much communication used to happen between the north and south regions of present-day [[Karnataka]] though the people in these two regions spoke the same language, [[Kannada]]. In the last issue of ''Karnataka Samachara'', he talks of a ''Samagra Karnataka'' (''Unified Karnataka'') which is essentially a union of these different regions.<ref name="herr" />

===Proselytisation===
Mögling's main job as a missionary of Basel Mission was the spread of Christianity. One of his converts by name Anandaraya Kaundinya and his family have exchanged letters with Mögling which he has published under the title ''Iraaru patragalu'' (Twelve letters). This was the first collection of letters ever published in [[Kannada]].<ref name="herr" /> Even during his stay in [[Kodagu]] district during the years (1853–1858) he spent much of his time on [[proselytisation]]. He also published a German book titled ''Das Kurgland'' which mainly deals with his activities related to Christianity.<ref name="herr" />

===Literature===
In 1848, Mögling started dealing with [[Kannada]] literature by publishing a list of more than 3000 [[Kannada]] proverbs.<ref name="herr" /> He also composed about 20 poems (along with Weigle who was his cousin brother and a fellow Basel Missionary) in modern Kannada poetical form. This makes him a pioneer of modern Kannada poetry.<ref name="herr" /> But his most important contribution to the [[Kannada]] literature is regarded as the ''Bibliotheca Carnataca'', a six-volume collection of traditional Kannada literary texts, including the songs of [[Basava]]nna, an early [[Lingayatism|Lingayat]] poet;<ref name="R1"/> ''Bibliotheca Carnataca'' as a collection of [[Kannada]] classics was edited and published by him between the period 1848–1853.<ref name="herr" /> Mögling was helped in this venture by a philanthropist, ''J Casamajor'' who was a retired judge from [[Chennai]] and settled in [[Nilgiris district|Nilgiris]].<ref name="herr" /> With an exchange of letters, the two discussed on ways to collect [[Kannada]] manuscripts, select the important ones among them for publishing and identifying skilled people who would be needed to complete this activity. Casamajor agreed to bear all the expenses required for this venture and was very particular that his name should not be mentioned in any of the publications. A total of eight titles were brought out, the first one being the ''Ravana digvijaya – Yakshagana Prasanga'' (the victory of [[Ravana]], based on a scene from [[Yakshagana]]). The largest published title running 760 pages was the [[Basava Purana]] and the smallest one was [[Kanakadasa]]'s ''Haribhaktasara''.<ref name="herr" /> Other titles published as a part of ''Bibliotheca Carnataca'' were ''Dasara Padagalu'' (a collection of 170 [[Haridasa]] songs) and [[Lakshmisha]]'s ''Jaimini Bharata''. This venture met an abrupt end due to the sudden demise of Casamajor and Mögling's return to Germany.

During his stay in [[Kodagu]], Mögling also published the German book ''Das Kurgland'' and also a [[Kannada]] book titled ''Raajendranaame'' at the behest of the [[Kodagu]] king, Senior Virarajendra. The whole book ''Raajendraname'' was printed using a simpler orthographic form invented by Mögling himself.<ref name="herr" /> The [[Kannada]] language uses [[Digraph (orthography)#Double letters|double consonants]] frequently, which Mögling felt was difficult for children to learn easily and also to print (since a blank line between two print lines was necessitated to print the double consonant). Mögling devised a scheme of accommodating the double consonant in the same single line by breaking the double consonant into a half consonant wherever possible. After getting an approval for his scheme from the [[Madras]] Province's Education Department, Mögling published this entire book in his devised orthography.<ref name="herr" /> He also published a book called ''Coorg Memoirs'' which is supposedly one of the earliest history books on [[Karnataka]]. In this book, he has described the social life of [[Kodava people|Kodava]]s and their customs as well.

On his return to Germany, he translated 24 songs of [[Kanakadasa]] and [[Purandaradasa]] to the German language which were published by [[Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft]], an [[Oriental]] society in Germany. In 1870, he also translated the first two chapters (67 verses) of ''Bibliotheca Carnataca'''s ''Jaimini Bharata'' into German.

[[Pilgrims Progress]] was published in Kannada by Moegling and Weigle in 1848<ref>Wholeness in Christ: the legacy of the Basel Mission in India G. Shiri, Karnataka Theological Research Institute – 1985 – p358</ref>

===BEM Theological Seminary===
Hermann Moegling was the founder-principal of the BEM Theological Seminary, established in 1847 by the [[Basel Evangelical Missionary Society]]. This seminary was established to train Pastors for the [[Protestant]] churches in [[Karnataka]] and [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]] areas. In 1965, BEM Theological Seminary was merged with Union Kanarese Seminary at [[Tumkur]] and renamed as present [[Karnataka Theological College]].<ref name="bem"/>

===Mission in Coorg===
In 1852, Rev. Mögling was getting ready to go back to Germany, when he was met by Alamanda Somayya from [[Coorg]], who wanted to convert to Christianity and also invited him to Coorg, offering his land for construction of a church in Coorg. Rev. Mögling cancelled his plans to return to Germany, and instead moved to Coorg along with his junior Rev. Anand Rao Kaundinya in 1853. On 6 January 1853, Alamanda Somayya was baptised into Christianity, taking up the name of Stephanas Somayya. A modest church was built on Somayya's land. The then Chief Commissioner of Coorg,
Lt Col [[Mark Cubbon]], helped Rev. Mögling to set up Coorg's first Protestant church and a school in [[Madikeri|Mercara]] in 1855. Further in 1857, the British administration granted Rev. Mögling 97 acres land to establish a church and a coffee estate settlement.<ref name=Belliappa />

In spite of his busy schedule in Coorg, Rev. Mögling managed to write two books on Coorg. One in German, called Das Kurgland, detailing evangelical work in Coorg, and the other in English, called Coorg Memoirs, an in depth study of the history of Coorg. Rev. Mögling was very much fond of Coorg and used to call it his second home. He left Coorg in 1860, to be with his ailing wife in Germany.<ref name=Belliappa>{{cite news|last1=Belliappa|first1=C P|title=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/414012/german-kannadigas.html|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/414012/german-kannadigas.html|accessdate=19 January 2015|issue=Bangalore|publisher=Deccan Herald|date=17 June 2014}}</ref>

==Late years==
When his cousin [[Gottfried Weigle]] died in 1855, Mögling (at a late age of 45) married Weigle's wife Pauline. This marriage also gave Mögling four stepchildren from Pauline's earlier marriage. One last contribution to [[Kannada]] from him was his interest in coming up with a [[Kannada]] – English dictionary. He motivated the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] in this project and also suggested the name of [[Ferdinand Kittel]] as the ideal person to head the project. Mögling died in 1881 and his memorial is in [[Esslingen (district)|Esslingen]].<ref name="birth" />

==Recognition==
* At the recommendation of [[Rudolph Roth]] (a reputed [[Indologist]]), Mögling's alma mater; the University of Tübingen awarded Mögling an honorary doctorate in 1858 for his work, ''Bibliotheca Carnataca''.
* The Mögling Institute of German Language which is in [[Mangalore]] and affiliated to [[Mangalore University]] is named after him.<ref name="inst">Silver jubilee celebrations of the Mögling Institute of German Language is mentioned by {{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/29/stories/2004092911650300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041020021315/http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/29/stories/2004092911650300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 October 2004|title=German institute celebrates silver jubilee|accessdate=1 May 2007|location=Chennai, India|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=29 September 2004}}</ref>
* 1 July (the day when the first issue of ''Mangalooru Samachara'' was released) is celebrated as ''Kannada Press Day'' in [[Karnataka]].<ref name="day">Kannada press day events are mentioned by {{cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/Jul32006/state195126200672.asp|title=It was all video and less audio|work=The Deccan Herald|date= 3 July 2006|publisher=2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd|accessdate=1 May 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720160309/http://deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jul32006/state195126200672.asp |archivedate=2006-07-20}}</ref>
* Mögling's 200th birthday was celebrated in 2011, by unveiling his bust at the [[Karnataka Theological College]], [[Mangalore]]<ref name=Belliappa />

==See also==
* [[Ferdinand Kittel]]
* [[Mangaluru Samachara]]
* [[Thomas Hodson]]
* [[William Reeve (missionary)|William Reeve]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/article2576266.ece Hindu – Dr. Hermann Moegling was ahead of his time]
* [http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=120339 Article with pictures of Moegling's Kin Attending Bicentenary Birthday Celebration]
* [http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/german-missioners-200th-birthday-celebrated-in-mangalore/6785.htm German missioner's 200th birthday celebrated in Mangalore]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mogling, Hermann}}
[[Category:1811 births]]
[[Category:1881 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Brackenheim]]
[[Category:People from the Kingdom of Württemberg]]
[[Category:Kannada-language writers]]
[[Category:German Protestant missionaries]]
[[Category:History of Mangalore]]
[[Category:Christian clergy from Mangalore]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into Kannada]]
[[Category:19th-century translators]]
[[Category:Protestant missionaries in India]]
[[Category:German expatriates in India]]
[[Category:Missionary linguists]]

Hermann Mögling - Revision history

>Citation bot at 11:13, 1 May 2021