The Harpa Dei Choir is a lay Catholic vocal ensemble made up of four siblings, young adults in their early 30s. Nikolai, Lucia, Marie-Elisée and Mirjana Gerstner were born in Germany to members of the Agnus Dei sect, later moving to Ecuador. According to their web site, they consider Herbert Grundberger (“Brother Elija”/”Hermano Elias”) to be their “spiritual father.” Grundberger’s musings (as “daily meditations”) are found on their web site. Members of the choir also often appear in Grundberger’s videos on his web site and his other social media channels. Like Grundberger, the siblings wear pseudo-religious green-colored robes in all their videos and public appearances.
While Harpa Dei’s music is undoubtedly very beautiful and inspiring to hear, it is gravely concerning that the group is so intimately connected to Herbert Grundberger. There is evidence to suggest that Grundberger accompanies them on their tours to different countries around the world. It appears that Grundberger may be sort of a puppet-master and manager of the Harpa Dei singing group, and that their efforts may financially support him. At this writing, Harpa Dei’s YouTube channel has 433,000 subscribers. From this source alone, the group must receive quite substantial advertising revenue.
In their interviews, the siblings present themselves as very naive and devout. However, the production values of their videos and musical recordings, as well as their web site, are quite high. It is also an enormous, complicated task to organize and promote their multi-city performance tours in many countries around the world — especially for young adults who grew up in a sect in Ecuador, and who clearly spend a lot of time practicing their music. What is Grundberger’s role in coordinating all of this for them?
When asked in an interview about the Catholic community wherein they grew up, members of Harpa Dei pointedly did not mention the name of the Agnus Dei sect, which by then had been expelled from Ecuador. It is also quite concerning that in the interview, two of the siblings seem to claim that they have taken vows for their “religious order,” while the other two say they are members of the “apostolate.”
It is unclear whether Harpa Dei are aware of Grundberger’s criminal history, his illegitimacy as a “monk,” and the true reason for Agnus Dei’s expulsion from Ecuador. If they are aware, do they just excuse and rationalize these facts in cult-like fashion? As children, might they have been among Grundberger’s victims? Or are they indeed simply naive, and unaware?
More information:
- Wikipedia: Agnus Dei Community: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnus_Dei_Community
- 2013 video report about the Agnus Dei sect in Ecuador, featuring members of Harpa Dei, their parents and Grundberger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpLfPA9PymY
The fake monks of Agnus Dei 