Hermann Friedrich Mögling (1811–1881), also spelt Herrmann Friedrich Moegling, was a German missionary from the Basel Mission who spent most of his career in the western regions of the state of Karnataka, India. He is credited as the publisher of the first ever newspaper in the Kannada language called as Mangalooru Samachara in 1843. He was awarded a doctorate for his literary work in Kannada called as Bibliotheca Carnataca. He also translated Kannada literature into German. Mögling is acknowledged by Kannada writers and linguists as the first modern Kannada writer, as he produced nearly 36 literary works, considered to be ground-breaking and exceptional Kannada literature, in a short period of 20 years.
He was the founder-principal of BEM Theological Seminary, later renamed as Karnataka Theological College. He and his wife Pauline(Nee Bacmeister) laid the foundations for the Evangelical parish and Anandapur, a village made out of jungle in the interior of Karnataka.
Early life
Hermann Mögling was born in 1811 in the town of Brackenheim in the Kingdom of Württemberg, Germany. He studied theology at the University of Tübingen and joined the Basel Mission. He came to the city of Mangalore in Karnataka as a missionary of Basel Mission in 1836. In 7 years, in 1843, Mögling had mastered Kannada, and went on to start the first Kannada newspaper - Mangalura Samachara.
Career
Mögling, being a Christian missionary, was involved in missionary related work in Mangalore but he also learnt the native Kannada language and contributed significantly to Kannada literature. One of his pioneering works was the publication of the first Kannada newspaper, Mangalooru Samachara (meaning Mangalore News).
Newspaper publishing
In the days of Mögling's career at Mangalore, there was no simple way of communicating news and other items to the general public because of non-existence of a medium like radio and of a newspaper in the native language. He decided to publish a Kannada newspaper with the intention of spreading news items to the public. He decided to name it as Mangaluura samaachaara and its first issue rolled out on 1 July 1843. Thereafter it was published fortnightly and contained 4 pages. The paper was printed using stone slabs. Some of the news items covered were local Mangalore-related news, Indian population, news related to the East India Company and its laws and regulations. Even songs of Purandaradasa and moral stories were also printed. There are conflicting reports on whether this newspaper was used by Mögling as a tool for proselytisation or not. The newspaper became popular and it was decided to shift its publication to the city of Bellary where it was renamed as Karnataka Samachara. Karnataka Samachara was first released on 1 May 1844 and in fact it was the 15th issue of Mangalooru Samachara. Karnataka Samachara was the first Kannada newspaper to be printed using movable type. Unfortunately, only three issues of Karnataka Samachara were released. Mögling is credited to be one of the visionaries for a unified Karnataka. In his times, not much communication used to happen between the north and south regions of present-day Karnataka though the people in these two regions spoke the same language, Kannada. In the last issue of Karnataka Samachara, he talks of a Samagra Karnataka (Unified Karnataka) which is essentially a union of these different regions.
Proselytisation
Mögling's main job as a missionary of Basel Mission was the spread of Christianity. One of his converts by name Anandaraya Kaundinya and his family have exchanged letters with Mögling which he has published under the title Iraaru patragalu (Twelve letters). This was the first collection of letters ever published in Kannada. Even during his stay in Kodagu district during the years (1853–1858) he spent much of his time on proselytisation. He also published a German book titled Das Kurgland which mainly deals with his activities related to Christianity.