Berger, Albert (1865–1943)

By The Brazilian White Center – UNASP

The Brazilian White Center – UNASP is a team of teachers and students at the Brazilian Ellen G. White Research Center – UNASP at the Brazilian Adventist University, Campus Engenheiro, Coelho, SP. The team was supervised by Drs. Adolfo Semo Suárez, Renato Stencel, and Carlos Flávio Teixeira. Bruno Sales Gomes Ferreira provided technical support. The following names are of team members: Adriane Ferrari Silva, Álan Gracioto Alexandre, Allen Jair Urcia Santa Cruz, Camila Chede Amaral Lucena, Camilla Rodrigues Seixas, Daniel Fernandes Teodoro, Danillo Alfredo Rios Junior, Danilo Fauster de Souza, Débora Arana Mayer, Elvis Eli Martins Filho, Felipe Cardoso do Nascimento, Fernanda Nascimento Oliveira, Gabriel Pilon Galvani, Giovana de Castro Vaz, Guilherme Cardoso Ricardo Martins, Gustavo Costa Vieira Novaes, Ingrid Sthéfane Santos Andrade, Isabela Pimenta Gravina, Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Jhoseyr Davison Voos dos Santos, João Lucas Moraes Pereira, Kalline Meira Rocha Santos, Larissa Menegazzo Nunes, Letícia Miola Figueiredo, Luan Alves Cota Mól, Lucas Almeida dos Santos, Lucas Arteaga Aquino, Lucas Dias de Melo, Matheus Brabo Peres, Mayla Magaieski Graepp, Milena Guimarães Silva, Natália Padilha Corrêa, Rafaela Lima Gouvêa, Rogel Maio Nogueira Tavares Filho, Ryan Matheus do Ouro Medeiros, Samara Souza Santos, Sergio Henrique Micael Santos, Suelen Alves de Almeida, Talita Paim Veloso de Castro, Thais Cristina Benedetti, Thaís Caroline de Almeida Lima, Vanessa Stehling Belgd, Victor Alves Pereira, Vinicios Fernandes Alencar, Vinícius Pereira Nascimento, Vitória Regina Boita da Silva, William Edward Timm, Julio Cesar Ribeiro, Ellen Deó Bortolotte, Maria Júlia dos Santos Galvani, Giovana Souto Pereira, Victor Hugo Vaz Storch, and Dinely Luana Pereira.

First Published: January 29, 2020

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Albert Berger, canvasser and missionary, was born in Gutenberg, Germany,¹ on November 5, 1865.² On February 10, 1897, Albert married Lesley Klaus, with whom he had eight children. Lesley was born May 27, 1870, in the city of Teófilo Otoni, state of Minas Gerais. She died July 22, 1954, in the city of Ijuí, Rio Grande do Sul state.³

In 1895 Albert and his brother, J. Frederic Berger, who had been living in the United States, emigrated to Brazil. On August 6 of that year⁴ they arrived in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, coming from Walla Walla, Washington, United States.⁵ When they arrived, they briefly visited the missionary William Henry Thurston. Then Albert went to the state of Espírito Santo, where the canvasser A. B. Stauffer was working by himself and had already been asking for help for quite some time. Along with the canvasser Albert Bachmayer, Berger introduced the canvassing work in the district of Isabella, located 48 kilometers from the head office of the Adventist Church in Brazil, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

After two months working in that district, he canvassed with his brother for a period in the city of Rio Nova.⁶ Later he worked selling Adventist literature in German colonies located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. They did not work directly with Brazilians because of the non-existence of Adventist literature in Portuguese.⁷

In 1898 Albert and Frederic Berger began canvassing work in the state of Minas Gerais, selling books to German immigrants who lived in Vale do Mucuri. Because of their work, 30 people were baptized in the first baptism ever conducted in that state.⁸

In 1915 Albert and Frederic went canvassing once again in the state of Espírito Santo. As a result of their work in that state, some Adventist groups were formed. Among them were groups in Manteiga, Bananal, Ribeirão, Laranjinha, and Laranja da Terra.⁹

As an Adventist volunteer missionary, Berger also disseminated books in the state of Santa Catarina, Paraná, and São Paulo,¹⁰ traveling by horse or on foot.¹¹ Albert Berger died November 8, 1942, at the age of 77, in the city of Ijuí, state of Rio Grande do Sul,¹² where he had lived with his wife. His work as a missionary and a pioneer in the canvassing area in Brazil made a great contribution to the gospel preaching and the mission accomplishment of the Adventist Church.

Sources

“75 anos do Surgimento da Mensagem Adventista na União Este-Brasileira da IASD.” Revista Adventista, February 1973, 19. Accessed December 21, 2017. http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

“A Página Impressa no Brasil.” Revista Adventista, May 1966, 5. Accessed December 27, 2017, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Berger, Albert J. “In the Book Work.” The Missionary Magazine, vol. 11, no. 6, June 1899, 259-260. Accessed December 27, 2017, http://docs.adventistarchives.org//docs/TMM/TMM18990601-V11-06__B.pdf#view=fit

Boehm, John H. “Velhos Heróis.” Revista Adventista, year 34, March 1939, 13-14. Accessed December 26, 2017. http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Enéas, Jael. “Pioneirismo em MG.” Revista Adventista, year 99, no. 9, September 2004, 24. Accessed December 27, 2017, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Familienchronik. In: (Archive of the National Center of Adventist History/Ellen G. White Research Center: UNASP-EC). Rack 2. Shelf 13. Folder “Berger, Alberto.” Accessed December 26, 2017.

“General Conference Proceedings.” General Conference Bulletin. April 8, 1901, 121. Accessed December 27, 2017. http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/GCB/GCB1901-01ex05.pdf#view=fit.

Graf, H. F. “Travels in Rio Grande do Sul.” The Missionary Magazine, vol. 11, no. 6, June 1899, 238-239. Accessed December 27, 2017. http://docs.adventistarchives.org//docs/TMM/TMM18990601-V11-06__B.pdf#view=fit.

Hoffmann, S. “Leslie Berger,” Revista Adventista, year 49, no. 8, August 1954, 27. Accessed December 27, 2017. http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Ijuí. Certidão de Óbito. Cartório de Registro Civil, Ijuí, RS.

Mead, F. L. “Notes from the Canvassing Field.” ARH, vol. 72, no. 24, June 11, 1895, 380. Accessed December 27, 2017. http://docs.adventistarchives.org//docs/RH/RH18950611-V72-24__B.pdf#view=fit.

Otoni, Teófilo. Certidão de Casamento. Cartório de Registro Civil, Teófilo Otoni, MG.

Paverini, Héctor J., En las huellas de la Providencia. 1st edition, (Buenos Aires: Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana, 1988).

Scheffel, Rubem M. “Compensação de dois artigos, escritos em 1975 pelo Pastor Arnaldo B. Christianini, já falecido, acrescida de dados atualizados.” Revista Adventista, year 80, no. 12, December 1985, 9. Accessed December 26, 2017. http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Notes

Héctor J, Paverini, En las huellas de la Providencia (Buenos Aires: Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana. 1988), 46; Teófilo Otoni, Certidão de Casamento no. 12 (2000), Alberto Berger e Lesley Klaus, Cartório de Registro Civil, Teófilo Otoni, MG.↩
Familienchronik (Archive of the National Center of Adventist History/Ellen G. White Research Center: UNASP-EC, also known as New Brazil College, Engenheiro Coelho, SP).↩
S. Hoffmann, “Leslie Berger,” Revista Adventista, year 49, no. 8, August 1954, 27; Otoni, Certidão de Casamento no. 12 (2000); Ijuí, Certidão de Óbito no. 345 (2001), Alberto Berger, Cartório de Registro Civil, Ijuí, RS.↩
Rubem M. Scheffel, “Compensação de dois artigos, escritos em 1975 pelo Pastor Arnaldo B. Christianini, já falecido, acrescida de dados atualizados,” Revista Adventista, year 80, no. 12, December 1985, 9; John H. Boehm, “Velhos Heróis,” Revista Adventista, vol. 34, no. 3, March 1939, 13-14.↩
F. L. Mead, “Notes from the Canvassing Field,” ARH, vol. 72, no. 24, June 11, 1895, 380.↩
Albert J. Berger, “In the Book Work,” The Missionary Magazine, vol. 11, no. 6, June 1899, 259-260.↩
H. F. Graf, “Travels in Rio Grande do Sul,” The Missionary Magazine, vol. 11, no. 6, June 1899, 238-239; Scheffel, 9.↩
Jael Enéas, “Pioneirismo em MG,” Revista Adventista, year 99, no. 9, September 2004, 24.↩
“75 anos do Surgimento da Mensagem Adventista na União Este-Brasileira da IASD,” Revista Adventista, February 1973, 19.↩
“A Página Impressa no Brasil,” Revista Adventista, year 61, no. May 1966, 51.↩
Héctor J. Peverini, En las huellas de la Providencia (Buenos Aires: Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana. 1988), 46.↩
Hoffmann, “Leslie Berger,” Revista Adventista, year 49, no. 8, August 1954, 27; and Ijuí, Certidão de Óbito no. 345 (2001), Alberto Berger, Cartório de Registro Civil, Ijuí, RS.↩