Ludwig Johannes Tschischko

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Ludwig Johannes Tschischko (born June 18, 1858 in Kommodern , Kovno Governorate , Russian Empire ; † February 21, 1918 near Stackeln , Latvia ), Ludwig Tschischko , also known as Ludwig Johann Tschischko , actually Latvian Ludvigs Jānis Čiško , was a Latvian pastor . He is considered an Evangelical Lutheran martyr and is recorded on the Riga Martyrs Stone.

The dates in this article are based on the Julian calendar for the period up to 1918 unless otherwise noted.

Life

Youth and education

Ludwig Johannes Tschischko's father was the arrendator Martin Tschischko, his mother's name was Katharina, née Feldmann. From 1873 to 1880 Ludwig Johannes Tschischko attended the Gouvernements-Gymnasium in Mitau .

From 1881 to 1890 Tschischko studied theology in Dorpat . In 1891 he received his diploma as a graduate student. In 1892 his candidacy for the ecclesiastical office in Courland began . He was ordained in St. Petersburg on January 10, 1893 , after which he was pastor-vicar.

Work in Pskov

Immigration from Livonia led to the formation of small Lutheran congregations in the Pskow governorate , which had to be looked after by the pastor in Pskow . For this reason, the General Consistory set up another preacher position, which was intended specifically for the Latvians in the parishes of Pskow, Laura, Kateschna and Pokrovsk. Ludwig Johannes Tschischko temporarily held this position from 1893 under various titles. Ten electors were nominated for the election of preachers. Their decisions were repeatedly challenged, sometimes at the Consistory General, sometimes at the Ministry of the Interior.

On September 6, 1895 Tschischko married Emilie Kampe (* 1865).

After Tschischko had already twice been installed in the newly created office by the consistory and protests had both times led to the cancellation of the decision by the consistory general, it came on Sunday, October 4th July. / October 16,  1898 greg. , on a third election of Chishko, in which he received five votes against three with two abstentions. Protests broke out again. The reason for the crippling conflicts were national currents and the fact that the “Instruction”, a statute of the ministry, bound the Latvian and German communities together.

On April 16, 1900, after years of disputes, Chischko finally became the ordinary pastor of the Latvian part of the St. Jakobi congregation in Pskov. The inauguration was carried out by Pastor G. Keussler from St. Petersburg with the local preacher Bresinsky. Tschischko was supposed to bring together the Latvians, who lived scattered in the governorate, into communities. The work here in the Protestant diaspora was difficult. In the beginning he had no success, as he encountered resistance on all points. In the course of 18 years of reliable and tough work, however, he succeeded in building a fruitful community life. In addition to his spiritual activities, Tschischko was a teacher of the teachers' seminar of the cadet corps and the grammar school.

Pastor in St. Matthiä

On November 4, 1909, Ludwig Johannes Tschischko was elected to succeed Pastor A. Needras , who had moved to Kalzenau , in the small community of St. Matthiä in the Livonia Governorate with four votes against, which Pastor Maldon received from Lubahn . He gladly followed the call, as the heavy reconstruction work in the Pskov governorate had attacked him mentally and physically, so that he could no longer continue, although the community would have liked to keep him. The Latvian part of the new community gladly accepted him as a Latvian, but he was also able to quickly acquire the sympathy of the German-Baltic part of the community, as he was characterized by friendliness and helpfulness.

Here he was able to work undisturbed for six years until the First World War changed the situation. The Russian soldiers influenced the population so that socialist and atheist beliefs increased. The church was divided. Older members of the congregation remained Christian and ecclesiastical, while the younger ones tended to atheism and anti-clericalism due to the influences mentioned.

In 1917, Livonia came under the rule of the Bolsheviks for the first time . Many confirmands of Chishkos also joined them. This hurt the pastor very much as he had taken special care in training them. When parts of his property were taken from him, he did not offer any resistance. However, he resolutely refused to open the church to the Bolsheviks.

The armistice between the German Reich and Russia ended on February 18, 1918. The German army began to advance, considering that the Russian armistice had not been met. The Russian army and the Latvian rifle regiments withdrew. The Latvian Bolsheviks reacted to their loss of power with retaliatory measures against their opponents, which they also counted on Chishko.

Arrest and violent death

On February 20, 1918, which fell on the day of repentance, Ludwig Johannes Tschischko put on his gown and wanted to go to the church service. Two communist militiamen arrested him and took him to Wolmar. He arrived there that evening with ten other people arrested. The 7th Latvian Rifle Regiment took over responsibility. The prisoners were held in a small room that already contained ten other people. Your money has been confiscated. They had to sleep on the filthy floor. The pastor took care of the other prisoners.

The prisoners were awakened at 1:30 a.m. It was intended to have her run back to Walk. While they were suffering from unbearable heat in the overcrowded room, they were now exposed to extreme cold. The march began. On the way, some other prisoners, younger and stronger, approached the pastor and told him that they intended to overpower and strangle their six-man armed escort. Tschischko should prepare to flee. The pastor asked them not to kill anyone as they had nothing to fear. The men gave up trying to escape. After the train had covered four kilometers, the guard at Kawershof ordered to leave the path and continue through a lane in the forest. The prisoners began to sense what was in store for them. They went a few hundred paces into the forest. The escort leaders announced the decision of the Iskolat (Latvijas Executive Committee) that they should be shot. The pastor approached the guards to prevent them from doing what they were doing. Ludwig Johannes Tschischko could not finish his words because he was killed by a shot. Five other people were shot dead, the other prisoners were able to hide in the dark in the thick forest.

Tschischko, who was a Latvian and had cared about the welfare of his people, had been killed by other Latvians. Oskar Schabert later commented on this in his Baltic Martyrs Book (see chapter "Literature") with: "The last decisive battle will not be fought on a national or social basis, but faith and unbelief will lead to the final decisive battle." The six victims were in the cemetery buried by St. Matthiae.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Calendar reform by the Bolsheviks on February 1st July. / February 14,  1918 greg. , Declaration of independence of Latvia on November 5th jul. / November 18,  1918 greg.
  2. ^ University of Dorpat in the Düna-Zeitung , No. 206 of September 12, 1891, online under Ludwig Tschischko | issueType: P
  3. ↑ Domestic. in the Rigaschen Rundschau , No. 226 from October 5th jul. / October 17,  1898 greg. , online at Tschischko | issueType: P
  4. ↑ Pleskau. Introduction. in the Düna-Zeitung , No. 89 of April 20, 1900, online under Pastor | issueType: P
  5. ↑ St. Matthiae. Election of preachers. in the Rigaschen Zeitung , No. 258 of November 7, 1909, online at Tschischko Pastor | issueType: P
  6. ↑ Eugenie von Rauch: German Churches and Schools in a Russian Provincial City , Chapter 3, in the Baltic Monthly Issues , No. 1 of January 1, 1937, online under Pastor Tschischko | issueType: P
personal data
SURNAME Tschischko, Ludwig Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tschischko, Ludwig; Tschischko, Ludwig Johann; Čiško, Ludvigs Jānis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Evangelical Lutheran clergyman, Latvian martyr
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Chests of drawers , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH February 21, 1918
Place of death Kawershof near Wolmar , Latvia