Bruegglers

Bruegglers, a sect of enthusiasts founded in the village of Brueggle, canton of Bern, Switzerland, in 1746, by two brothers, Christian and Jerome Koler. These impostors, while yet mere boys, succeeded in gaining many adherents among the country people. They prophesied the coming of the last day for Christmas, 1748, and then claimed to have obtained its postponement by their prayers. The disorders they occasioned by their teachings led to their being banished, and Jerome having been caught, underwent capital punishment at Bern in 1753. His followers awaited his resurrection on the third day, and the sect disappeared soon after, to be reproduced in the Buchanites (q.v.) and Millerites (q.v.) of later times.