Barth, Christian Gottlieb

BARTH, bɑ̄rt, CHRISTIAN GOTTLIEB: Pastor and friend of missions; b. in Stuttgart July 13, 1799; d. at Calw (20 m. w. of Stuttgart) Nov. 12, 1862. He studied theology at Tübingen, became pastor of Möttlingen, near Calw, in 1824, but retired in 1838 to Calw, and devoted himself entirely to the missionary cause. He founded the missionary society of Württemberg, and brought it in active cooperation with Basel and all the great missionary societies of the Christian world. He wrote some of the best German missionary hymns. He edited the Calwer Missionsblatt and wrote a great number of works of practical Christianity, and stories for children and youth, some of which met with an almost unparalleled success. Several were translated into English, e.g., The Autobiography of Thomas Platter (London, 1839); Bible Stories for the Young (1845); Stories for Christian Children (2 series, 1851 and 1854).

Bibliography: K. Werner, C. G. Barth, nach seinem Leben und Wirken gezeichnet, 3 vols., Calw. 1865-69; G. Weitbrecht, Dr. Barth nach seinem Leben und Wirken, Stuttgart, 1875; W. Kopp, C. G. Barth’s Leben und Wirken, Calw, 1886.