Adventist Historical Archives in Europe Appoint New Director

Bernd Müller has been appointed as the new director of the Historical Archive of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Europe. The archive is affiliated with Friedensau Adventist University (FAU) near Magdeburg, Germany, and has its headquarters there.

Müller was born in 1981 in Brasov, Romania, graduated from the Adventist Upper Secondary School Schloss Bogenhofen in St. Peter am Hart, Austria, in 1999, and then gained his first insights into theology at the Theological Seminary in Bogenhofen (2000 to 2002). At the University of Erlangen (2002 to 2003) he learned biblical Hebrew and graduated with Hebrew, according to a press release by Andrea Cramer, press and public relations officer at FAU.

This was followed by a move to the University of Vienna, where he studied history, social studies, and political education and German (2003 to 2005) and completed the first part of his studies. Following his theological and pedagogical passion, he continued his theological studies at the Schloss Bogenhofen Seminary in 2005 and graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in theology.

Müller then continued his teaching training studies at the University of Vienna from 2007 to 2012, being awarded a master’s degree “with distinction.” Müller took up a doctorate in Advanced Theological Studies and wrote his dissertation on the topic of “Understanding Education and Upbringing in the Context of Adventist Educational Institutions in Austria.”

Since 2006 he has been working as a history teacher in Bogenhofen (2006 to 2007), as a teacher and educator at the De La Salle School in Vienna’s Strebersdorf district, and at the Adventist private school “Noah’s Ark” in Vienna (2008 to 2011). After successfully completing his studies as a pastoral assistant in the districts of Gleisdorf, Fürstenfeld, and Oberwart in Austria, he was called to the Schloss Bogenhofen Seminary in 2012 as head of the language school (until 2014) and as a teacher at the Oberstufenrealgymnasium (until 2018).

From 2016 to 2022, Müller held the position of Head of Department for Education of the Austrian Union of Seventh-day Adventists. In 2018 he was ordained as a pastor and in 2020 he took over the pastoral care of the Adventist churches in Wiener Neustadt, Mödling, and Baden. During his time as head of the department, he was involved in important decisions, such as the document “Adventist Understanding of Education.”

When asked about this diversity in education, Müller says, “In my academic career, I have followed my passions of theology and teaching and have also been able to gain practical experience in both areas as a pastor and teacher.”

In addition to researching Adventist history in Europe, his work as head of the Historical Archive will lead him into the vastness of the digitization of the collections. In doing so, he wants to make Adventist history more widely accessible and strengthen the Adventist identity. Müller is married to Victoria, and the couple has three children.

About the Adventist Historical Archive

The Historical Archive of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Europe has around 3,500 archived files, consisting of original documents or photocopies of documents, as well as film and photographic material. In its collection, the archive focuses on the history and mission of the Adventists in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, and some countries in the Far East.

Müller succeeds Daniel Heinz, who has retired. Heinz headed the Historical Archive of Seventh-day Adventists in Europe for 26 years. He taught the history of the Adventists at FAU and published several documentaries about the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany, especially in relation to other denominations and the relationship to the Jews under National Socialism.

The original version of this story was posted on Adventistischer Pressedienst.