The E. Theodore Bachmann Manuscript Collection

Dr. E. Theodore Bachmann (1912-1995) was a Lutheran historian, pastor, and educator who devoted six decades to promoting the unity of the church and mission work. He had an international career as a teacher, pastor, writer, and administrator. A native to Philadelphia, Dr. Bachmann attended Quaker schools in his youth before receiving degrees from Haverford College and the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He then earned a masters degree from Harvard University and a doctorate in church history from the University of Chicago.

After World War II, Dr, Bachmann was active in Europe, first with the World Council of Churches and then as a liaison with the German Evangelical Church for the American military government. For five years he was on the staff of the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, Switzerland as editor for their quarterly “Lutheran World,” and for its German edition, “Lutherische Rundschau.” In the 1960s, Dr. Bachmann served the newly merged Lutheran Church in America as an executive in areas of college education, church vocation, and theological education. He also taught at Lutheran seminaries in Chicago, St. Paul, Berkeley, and Sao Paulo, and served as an adjunct professor and a visiting scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Dr. Bachmann is perhaps best known for his book “Lutheran Churches in the World: A Handbook” (Augsburg Fortress, 1989), which he and his wife Mercia Brenne Bachmann complied at the behest of the Lutheran World Federation. He also translated from German a biography of Martin Luther written by Heinrich Bornkamm, which was published in 1983 in association with the commemoration of Luther’s 500th birthday.

Dr. Bachmann passed in December 1995 in New Brunswick, NJ at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife of 54 years, along with his son, Frederick B., his daughter, Mary L., and two granddaughters.