STARCK, JOHANN AUGUST von. — Cryptocatholic theologian, b. 28 Oct. 1741 at Schwerin, d. 3 Mar. 1816 at Darmstadt. He studied theology and Oriental languages at Göttingen (1760–1763) and there came under Masonic influence; his rapid career may perhaps be partly attributed to the fact that until 1778 he was an active member of the sect in whose favour he wrote: *Apologie des Ordens der Freymaurer* (Berlin 1770).
He became professor of Roman antiquities at St Petersburg. In 1765 he undertook a long journey through Italy and France and on 8 Feb. 1766 he was converted to Catholicism and made his abjuration in the church of S. Sulpizio in Paris. Although the acts signed by him and the witnesses exist, he kept the matter secret all his life and retained his office as Protestant pastor. He was professor of Oriental languages at Königsberg (1770), lecturer in theology (1773), court preacher (1776), professor of philosophy at Mitau (1777), and finally, at the invitation of the Landgrave Ludwig of Hesse, was called to Darmstadt (1778), where he received many honours and the title of baron (1811). The manuscripts of his sermons, in the possession of his family, show with what zeal he attended to the duties of his office.
He had to defend himself against many adversaries and against the charge of cryptocatholicism he wrote: *Über Kryptokatholismus, Proselytemacherei, Jesuitismus, geheime Gesellschaften* (Frankfurt 1787); in *Thriumph der Philosophie des 18. Jahrhunderts* (ibid. 1803; 3rd ed. 1847) he condemned the Enlightenment. His most famous work is *Theoduls Gastmahl oder über die Vereinigung der verschiedenen christlichen Religionssocietäten* (ibid. 1809, 4th ed. 1828), in which he argues that «Protestants must return to the Catholic Church if they do not wish to slide into naturalism».
Hermine Kühn-Steinhausen