The family owned several estates in Pomerania, including Gatz, where Gustav was born, and Reddentin where he died.
However, led by figures such as Ernst von Senfft-Pilsach, many of the military aristocracy from Pomerania reacted against the luxuriousness of court life in Berlin after the Napoleonic Wars and became deeply religious, under the influence of Pietism, which was especially strong in this part of the Kingdom of Prussia.
In 1817 Gustav began to have intense, charismatic religious experiences, including glossolalia (speaking in tongues).
His brothers Karl and Heinrich began to have similar experiences, and they jointly devoted their estate at Reddentin to charismatic prayer meetings, open to noble and commoner alike.
The religious atmosphere may also have influenced other military figures such as Gustav's nephew, Field-Marshal Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal who grew up in the Below household.