Rev. F.W. Bindemann

An unconventional figure, in the person of the Rev. F.W. Bindemann, came into the early religious life of Waterloo County in 1834. Rev. Bindemann, a native of Koethen, Potsdam, Prussia, was a “free-thinker” and did not hesitate to express his independent opinions.

Rev. Bindemann organized the Lutherans of the area, forming several congregations, including St. Paul’s Church, Berlin, in 1835. He is said to have not been “Spiritually minded,” but by precept and example impressed on the people the value of the virtues of honesty and neighbourliness. His interesting remarks in his written records of births, marriages and deaths were often very amusing. He was known as the “marrying preacher.”

He died on November 29, 1865 and was buried in the Mennonite cemetery by a Swedenborgian minister.