John Christopher Kunze

John Christopher Kunze

John Christopher Kunze (August 4, 1744 – July 24, 1807) was an American Lutheran minister, educator, author and theologian.

Kunze was born in Artern, a town in the Kyffhäuserkreis district of Prussian Saxony. In 1758, when his parents died, he began studying at the orphanage in Halle, Germany. He received his classical training in the gymnasia at Rossleben and Merseburg, and then attended the University of Leipzig where he studied history, philosophy and theology. He worked as a teacher and an orphanage inspector before becoming ordained as a Lutheran minister.

In 1770, Kunze emigrated to Colonial America to serve as second pastor at St. Michael's and Zion Lutheran churches in Philadelphia. In 1771 he married Margaretta Henrietta (1751–1831), daughter of Rev. Henry Muhlenberg . In 1779 he succeeded Muhlenberg as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, becoming the senior Lutheran minister in Philadelphia and an ex officio member of the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1780 he stepped down from the Board to become Professor of German and Hebrew languages. While teaching, he and fellow German Lutheran pastor, Justus Henry Christian Helmuth, tried unsuccessfully to establish a German language College within the University.

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