Adolf Herte

Adolf Herte (born August 28, 1887 in Brilon ; † March 3, 1970 in Höxter ) was a German Roman Catholic theologian.

After graduating from high school, Herte began studying theology in Paderborn , which he later continued in Munich , Innsbruck and Münster . In 1914 he was ordained a priest, the following year he published his dissertation on the Luther biography of Johannes Cochläus , which he wrote in Münster and was supervised by Joseph Greving . From 1922 to 1945 Herte was professor of church history and patrology at the Philosophical-Theological Academy (Academia Theodoriana) in Paderborn. In 1945 he was dismissed from college at his own request "because of his certain sympathetic relationships with National Socialism" and appointed pastor for war hospitals. Herte was elected a full member of the Historical Commission for Westphalia in 1925, from which he resigned in 1945.

He dealt critically with the Luther biography of Cochläus and the image of Luther of the later centuries derived from it. In a three-volume study in 1943, Herte was able to demonstrate in detail that “almost all Catholic works on Luther and the Reformation up to his present day were based on the polemical Luther commentaries by Johannes Cochlaeus”, which was of decisive importance for the reorientation of Catholicism towards the Reformation Martin Luther was. This “new Catholic view of Luther” was brought to the general public almost at the same time by Joseph Lortz .

Works

The Luther biography of Johannes Cochlaeus . A source-critical investigation, Diss. Münster 1915;
The encounter of Germanism with Christianity, Paderborn 1935;
The Luther Commentaries by Johannes Cochlaeus. Critical study of historiography in the age of religious schism (= RGST 33), Münster 1935;
Luther literature under the influence of Johannes Cochläus from 1600 to 1750 (faculty writing), Münster 1938;
The Catholic Luther picture under the spell of Luther's commentaries by Cochläus, 3 vols., Münster 1943.

literature

Hubertus R. Drobner : Adolf Herte. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 24, Bautz, Nordhausen 2005, ISBN 3-88309-247-9 , Sp. 833-835.
Jörg Ernesti : Ecumenism in the Third Reich (= denominational and controversial theological studies 77), Bonifatius, Paderborn 2007, ISBN 978-3-89710-367-2 , pp. 159–170.

Web links

Biographical information on the website of the Historical Commission for Westphalia
Literature by and about Adolf Herte in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

↑ Jörg Ernesti: Ecumenism in the Third Reich (= denominational and controversial theological studies 77), Paderborn 2007, p. 159.
↑ Michael Weise: From the "Apostle of Satan" to the "Father in Faith". The Catholic view of Luther as a mirror of denominational coexistence and opposition. In: Wichmann-Jahrbuch des Diözesangeschichtsverein Berlin 58/59 (2018/2019) NF 15, pp. 65–94, here: p. 89.
^ Jochen Birkenmeier, Michael Weise: Heretic, Spalter, Faith Teacher - Luther from a Catholic point of view. Volume accompanying the exhibition (= publications by the Lutherhaus Eisenach Foundation 3), Eisenach 2017, p. 63f.

personal data
SURNAME	Herte, Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Roman Catholic theologian
DATE OF BIRTH	August 28, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brilon
DATE OF DEATH	March 3, 1970
Place of death	Höxter

[1] Jörg Ernesti: Ecumenism in the Third Reich (= denominational and controversial theological studies 77), Paderborn 2007, p. 159.

[2] Michael Weise: From the "Apostle of Satan" to the "Father in Faith". The Catholic view of Luther as a mirror of denominational coexistence and opposition. In: Wichmann-Jahrbuch des Diözesangeschichtsverein Berlin 58/59 (2018/2019) NF 15, pp. 65–94, here: p. 89.

[3] Jochen Birkenmeier, Michael Weise: Heretic, Spalter, Faith Teacher - Luther from a Catholic point of view. Volume accompanying the exhibition (= publications by the Lutherhaus Eisenach Foundation 3), Eisenach 2017, p. 63f.