Based on the Forward, "Thus it Began," by Robert W. Shaw; in Faith in Pratice: Studies in the Book of Acts, a Festschrift in Honor of Earl and OttieMearl Stuckenbruck; ed. David A. Fiensy and William D. Howden. Atlanta: European Evangelistic Society, 1995.
The history of this work in Tübingen traces back before WWII. Early in
his studies, German professor Ludwig von Gerdtell, a Prussian nobleman and New
Testament scholar had come to some conclusions about reforming the church according
to the New Testament. He came in contact with the Disciples of Christ in America,
and his advocacy of New Testament Christianity impressed those who heard him
speak. Within a year a group of ministers and teachers met in the home of Dean
E. Walker and formed an association for the purpose of endorsing von Gerdtell's
efforts. Just prior to the war, when von Gerdtell had to flee Germany, Dean
E. Walker was able to arrange his passage to America and a teaching post at
Butler School of Religion in Indianapolis.
After the war, the European Evangelistic Society was formed from the original association organized by Walker and others. Prof. Walker became the president of the EES, and in this capacity recruited Butler graduates Earl and OttieMearl Stuckenbruck to come to Germany. After a period of study in England and of exploration of possible sites on the Continent, in the fall of 1949 the Stuckenbrucks moved to Tübingen.
Not only were the Stuckenbrucks instrumental in starting the Christliche Gemeinde, or Christian Church, but Earl also planned to begin a study institute to concentrate on Christian origins. The current facility was obtained in 1962, and has housed both the Gemeinde and the Institute since then. Modeled on the college system in England and the semi-independent institutes associated with German Universities, the Institut zur Erforschung des Urchristentums was launched in 1963, and became the first theological institute in Germany founded and maintained from America. Earl Stuckenbruck served as director of the Institute until the family's return to the United States in 1968.
The Institute program was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s under the leadership of Scott Bartchy and Fred Norris. The Ausländer Kolloquium, a series of lectures by Tübingen faculty for foreign students, became a popular opportunity for foreign doctoral students to meet the faculty in an intimate setting, something that was not otherwise possible in those heady days of high enrollment. The Kolloquium für Graduierte, the most enduring part of our program, continues to be a positive forum for doctoral students and visiting professors to present "work in progress" for critique by peers. Prof. Dr. Otto Betz sponsored the Kolloquium für Graduierte until his retirement in 2001, at the age of 85. Upon Prof. Betz's retirement, Prof. Dr. Hermann Lichtenberger, chair of the New Testament Department of the Protestant Faculty of Theology, took on the responsibility of sponsoring the Kolloquium.