Friedrich Börner
The Rev. Friedrich Börner (Berner) was born in Riga, Latvia, on November 21, 1803, and died in June 1868 in Ekaterinburg, Russia. He was the son of merchant Johann Gottfried Börner and Bertha Bartels. Friedrich studied at the theological seminary of the University of Dorpat from 1826 to 1829 (Dorpat is now Tartu, Estonia). Börner was ordained on March 16, 1830. Soon after his ordination, he traveled to Russia, where, in June 1830, he married Johanna Martha Eleonore Metzger in the Moravian Brethren settlement of Sarepta, Russia. She was born on November 10, 1806, to factory owner Johannes Metzger and his wife, Maria Salome Messerschmidt.
Portrait of Friedrich Börner. Source: Estonian Museums Web Portal.
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Biography of Friedrich Börner. Source: Estonian Museums Web Portal.
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Börner served the Norka parish from April 19, 1830, to November 1840. His wife died in Norka on October 13, 1838. From November 14, 1840, to 1850, he was pastor at Kamsko-Votkinsk and Izhevsk. He also served as a pastor vicar in Orenburg from 1840 to 1842. From July 12, 1850, to his death in 1868, he was a pastor in Ekaterinburg (now Yekaterinburg), located in the central Urals.
The Reformed and Lutheran denominations were unified during Rev. Börner's service in Norka. The liturgical differences were so inconsequential that by decree in 1832, the consistory was renamed and incorporated into the distant Moscow Lutheran Consistory (later called the National Church Council), which supervised congregations in various parts of the Russian empire.
The Reformed and Lutheran denominations were unified during Rev. Börner's service in Norka. The liturgical differences were so inconsequential that by decree in 1832, the consistory was renamed and incorporated into the distant Moscow Lutheran Consistory (later called the National Church Council), which supervised congregations in various parts of the Russian empire.
Sources
Amburger, Erik. Die Pastoren Der Evangelischen Kirchen Russlands Vom Ende Des 16. Jahrhunderts Bis 1937: Ein Biografisches Lexikon. Lüneburg: Inst. Nordostdt. Kulturwerk, 1998. p. 261. Print.
Dalton, Hermann. Geschichte der reformierten Kirche in Russland: kirchenhistorische Studie. Gotha: R. Besser, 1865. Print.
Schnurr, Joseph. Die Kirchen und das religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutschen. Stuttgart: AER-Verl., 1978. p. 127. Print.
Estonian Museum Web Portal
Dalton, Hermann. Geschichte der reformierten Kirche in Russland: kirchenhistorische Studie. Gotha: R. Besser, 1865. Print.
Schnurr, Joseph. Die Kirchen und das religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutschen. Stuttgart: AER-Verl., 1978. p. 127. Print.
Estonian Museum Web Portal
Last updated October 27, 2025