Bernhard Müller
| Bernhard Müller, or Count de Leon | |
|---|---|
Count de Leon
|
|
| Born |
March 21, 1788 Kostheim, Germany |
| Died | August 29, 1834 (aged 46) Grand Ecore Louisiana, United States |
| Residence |
Monaca, Beaver County Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Religious colonizer |
| Spouse(s) | Elisa Heuser Leon, or Countess Leon |
| Children | Johanna Schardt, Joseph Maximilian, and Anna Stahl Muller (or Leon) |
Bernhard Müller, known as Count de Leon (born March 21, 1788,Kostheim, Germany - died August 29, 1834, ), was a German Christian mystic and alchemist of uncertain origins.
Müller wrote to the Harmony Society (and other communes in the United States as well as numerous leaders in Europe) in 1829 proclaiming himself to be the "Lion of Judah" and a prophet in possession of the Philosopher's stone. As well as giving himself numerous fictitious names and titles, like Count de Leon, Archduke Maximilian von Este, and Proli, he claimed that he and his followers were the true Philadelphians and were ready to make a home for themselves with the Harmonites in Old Economy, Pennsylvania. The Harmonites, being religious searchers looking for a hopeful sign, and eager to justify their own religious prophesies, agreed to the visit, and in 1831, Müller arrived with his entourage of forty people (including a Dr. Göntgen.) Soon, Müller and the Harmony Society's leader, George Rapp, grew tired of each other and began to argue. Sensing the dissatisfaction that some Harmonites were feeling towards the Society's custom of celibacy, Müller was able to use that to his advantage and get about a third of the Harmonites to be on his side in the ensuing argument. However, the majority of the Society decided to keep George Rapp as their leader. In the end, a settlement was reached with the dissenters, and all who wished to leave the Harmony Society during the schism were given $105,000 as a group.
In 1832, after leaving Old Economy, Pennsylvania, with about 250 former Harmony Society members, Bernhard Müller and his followers started a new community in Phillipsburg (now Monaca, Pennsylvania) with the money they obtained in the compromise with the Harmony Society. Here they established the New Philadelphian Congregation of the New Philadelphia Society, having constructed a church, a hotel, and other buildings. They renamed this community Löwenburg (Lion City). However, the Harmony Society soon made legal claims against the New Philadelphia Society. Perhaps because of ongoing litigation, and other financial problems, Müller's group decided to sell their communal land in Pennsylvania in 1833. Some community members stayed in Monaca in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, while others followed Müller and his family down the Ohio River on a flatboat. Soon they started a new colony at Grand Ecore, Louisiana, twelve miles north of ; and there, in August, 1834, Müller died of yellow fever or cholera and was interred in Natchitoches Parish.
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