Johannes S. Göbel (1847-1916) was one of the leaders within the Dutch Spiritualist movement. He died on January 1, 1916, following a long illness. Not as outspoken as his more intellectual friend H.N. de Fremery, he was the subject of personal attacks. Though he was an amiable man and generally well liked, he was not without fault in some of the conflicts.
In December 1888, J.S. Göbel was one of the three gentlemen who founded the Dutch Spiritualist Society “Harmonia”, in an attempt to bring together under one roof the many Spiritualist and Spiritist groups in the Netherlands. Harmonia was only partly successful and internal battles have been raging ever since, something the peaceful but rather weak Göbel abhorred.
In 1897, Göbel founded the magazine Het Toekomstig Leven. After his death he was succeeded as editor by his wife A. Göbel-Nierstrasz and several others. His magazine continued until late 1941 when it was discontinued by the German Occupation forces. After World War Two, there were discussions about restarting the magazine but the Harmonia board decided that the society should have just one magazine, Spiritische Bladen.
The preliminary biographical sketch for this entry relating to the history of Spiritualism in the Netherlands was kindly provided by Mrs. Loes Modderman in December 2013.