Can a woman stand alongside Ludwig Richard Conradi, the patriarch of European Seventh-day Adventists? One woman did: Amalie Plass (English: Amelia Plass). Unfortunately, her name has been forgotten. Why is that, we might ask? Amalie Plass was born in Wiesbaden. She grew up in an educated, entrepreneurial family. Together with her mother and sister Elisabeth, she was baptized by Gerhard Perk in Wiesbaden in 1891 and joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her sister Elisabeth (*1872- +1934) married Heinrich Franz Schuberth in the same year she was baptized. When Amalie visited her sister and family in College View, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, in 1892, she stayed there and taught German. From 1894, she worked as a Bible worker in Germany. From 1897 to 1901 she worked for the Seventh-day Adventist publishing house. From 1901 she was editor of the magazine “Unser kleiner Freund” (Our Little Friend), and from 1908 to 1910 she returned to the USA to work as a teacher. In 1910, she took over as editor of Zions-Wächter, the German church paper, a position she held until the end of her life. To this day, she remains the only female editor-in-chief of a Seventh-day Adventist magazine in Germany. She was significantly involved in publications for children and young people. Her work coincided with the great upswing of the Seventh-day Adventists in Germany, as the number of members increased approximately twentyfold within about 15 years. Magazines and books contributed significantly to this.
In photographs from the Hamburg publishing office or group photos, you almost always see only one woman among men in dark suits. During this time, she worked alongside Ludwig Richard Conradi. Conradi himself wrote her obituary in the Zionswächter (1919, No. 5, page 45): "Thousands of readers, young and old, have felt the blessing of her work. Her works follow her. Her name is written in the book of life, and her true reward will soon be bestowed upon her when her Lord and Master appears.“ Unfortunately, Amalie Plass from Wiesbaden has been forgotten today. Perhaps we can commemorate her by being grateful for every publication for children and young people, because at the beginning of it all was Amalie Plass, a woman.
Stephan Laub
German Publishing House at the beginning of 20th Century
Advent-Verlag Hamburg
Women’s History Month 2026 #6 Amalie Plass
A Woman Editor in the Early Days of Adventism in Germany
Stephan Laub