The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany celebrated its 125th anniversary May 4 to 6.  At a ceremony in Soligen, mayor Ursula Feldhaus congratulated the Adventists on behalf of the city, commending their longstanding commitment to education.

The Adventist Church in Germany traces its beginnings to the work of Adventist pioneers Jakob Erzberger and John N. Andrews, who undertook lectures and mission trips in Europe in the 1870s. On January 8, 1876, Erzberger baptized eight people in an ice-covered pond in what is today part of Wuppertal, establishing the first Adventist congregation in Germany.

Dr. Niels-Erik Andreasen, president of Andrews University, an Adventist institution located in Michigan, United States, attended the celebration and said in his ceremonial address that “Reason and faith belong together,” a concept that was emphasized by Andrews. The Adventist School in Soligen has been renamed “Andrews Primary School,” in commemoration of this early pioneer of Adventist education.