A New Fellow Publisher

Some of those early publishers spoke to friends and relatives. Others distributed tracts outside churches. A few were colporteurs (full-time preachers). Among them was Carl Lüttichau, who in the summer of 1899 traveled several weeks throughout Sjælland, placing book after book in several towns, including Roskilde and Holbæk.

Lüttichau had just returned from South Africa, where he had an accident and sustained a serious injury. Determined that if he survived, he would use his life in God’s service, he stuck to his promise and soon began working with Sophus Winter. Starting in 1900, they jointly published Zion’s Watch Tower under the Danish name Zions Vagt-Taarn.

However, Sophus Winter began drifting from the truth. He ceased publishing Zions Vagt-Taarn in the fall of 1901, and in the course of 1902-3, he fell into the darkness of false religion.

So in 1903, Carl Lüttichau took the lead. He had been born in Jutland at Vingegaard, which belonged to the estate of Tjele owned by his father, who had been minister of finance in the Danish government for some years. He completed school with top grades, graduated in philosophy, and went on to study at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, until he left for South Africa in 1896. With this background and his cultured manner, he was well liked and was qualified for the work that lay ahead.

The first major event that took place after he took charge of the work was the visit of Charles Taze Russell in April 1903. During this visit several meetings were held, the largest with an attendance of 200. In October, Carl took the initiative to publish the Watch Tower in Danish again, and from July 1904 it was issued regularly each month.

Carl Lüttichau followed through and called on this family to teach them the Bible. After some long discussions, John began attending meetings at Ole Suhrs Gade, the Society’s Danish headquarters office. After every meeting he would rush home and tell his wife about the wonderful things he had heard. Although bedridden for several years, as soon as her strength came back, she eagerly hobbled on crutches to the meetings.