Karl Jakob Früauf is the son of Johann Friedrich Früauf, leader of the Moravian (Brüdergemeine) community of Neudietendorf im Herzogtum, near Erfurt, Thüringen. Karl Jakob was born there on 25 September 1768.
He joined the Moravian congregation in Niesky on 8 June 1782. In 1794, he traveled to the Moravian colony of Sarepta, just south of the Volga German colonies. He returned to Germany where he served as a teacher in the Moravian community of Christianfeld in Schleswig from 1800-1801. He then moved to Barby where he married Friederike Elisabeth Krebs.
Früauf served as pastor in the colonies of Dietel from 1801-1815 and Grimm from 1815-1819.
On 30 May 1820, Früauf was removed from the clergy rolls by Superintendent Feßler for drunkenness. He moved to Norka where he died on 8 May 1839.
Pastor Früauf is the father of three pastors: Karl Friedrich Ludwig, Karl Wilhelm August, and Karl Heinrich Eduard.
Amburger, Erik. Die Pastoren der evangelischen Kirchen Rußlands vom Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts bis 1937 (Erlangen: Institut Nordostdeutsches Kulturwerk Martin-Luther-Verlag, 1998): 319.
Schnurr, Joseph. Die Kirchen und das religiöse L