Eberhard Arnold

Arnold was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany, the third child of Carl Franklin and Elizabeth (Voight) Arnold. His father was a doctor of theology and philosophy, and his paternal grandfather was a pastor and missionary of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. Eberhard Arnold's life as a youth was unconventional. In 1899 at age 16, Arnold experienced an inner change, which he acknowledged as God's acceptance and the forgiveness of sins, and felt a calling to "go and witness to my truth."

After he finished school, Arnold studied education, philosophy, and theology in Breslau, Halle, and Erlangen. He engaged in Christian youth work and in evangelism among the poor through the Salvation Army. While in Halle, he became part of the German Student Christian Movement, and its General Secretary. In 1907 he and his wife von Hollander seceded from the Evangelical State Church, or Evangelische Kirche. His work with the Salvation Army increased his sympathy for the oppressed classes of people and strengthened his stand for preaching conversion and salvation. Here in Halle, he also met Emmy von Hollander and married her in 1909.

Arnold was a sought-after speaker in early 20th-century Germany. He became troubled by the church's connection to the state, and in 1908, at age 25, Arnold was baptized and left the Protestant state church. He began to thoroughly investigate Anabaptist history, which apparently influenced his taking his life and ministry in a radical direction. In 1915 he became editor of Die Furche (The Furrow), the periodical of the Student Christian Movement, and editor of the Das Neue Werk (New Venture) Publishing House in Schlüchtern, Germany, in 1919.

Eberhard Arnold married his wife Emmy (1884–1980), née von Hollander, 20 December 1910. She outlived her husband by 45 years, following the Bruderhof to England, Paraguay, and eventually the United States. The couple had five children: Emi-Margret, born 1911, Eberhard-Heinrich, called Hardy, born 1912, Johann Heinrich, called Heini, born 1913, Hans-Hermann, born 1916 and Monika, born 1918.