Alfred Lange (Author)

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Alfred Lange (born November 13, 1910 in Neubarnim , Oberbarnim district ; † November 6, 1971 near Schwäbisch Hall ) was a German author and founder of the Catholic lay movement and educational institution Stefanus Community .

Life

Alfred Lange was born as the eldest son of the hairdresser Hermann Lange and his wife Martha on November 13, 1910 in Neubarnim. He had two younger brothers, Paul and Hermann, who lost their lives in the German-Soviet war in 1942 and 1943.

From 1917 Alfred Lange attended elementary school in Neubarnim. Then he wanted to study Protestant theology , but this was not possible due to the financial situation of the Lange family. Alfred Lange completed an apprenticeship as a textile merchant in Bad Buckow from 1924 to 1927. Then he returned to his home village and took over a textile business in Sonnenburg . Alfred Lange used his free time to continue his education, especially in religion and history ; he also played handball .

In 1932 Alfred Lange married the Protestant Christian Marie Metzler. Between 1933 and 1949 they had their six children, Manfred, Brigitte (died shortly after birth), Sigrid, Hiltraud, Eckhard and Monika. Since the textile business made little profit, Alfred Lange began to publish articles on various topics in newspapers and thus earned a small extra income. He also continued his education, as he explained in a speech in Illertissen on January 28, 1962: “I studied and studied for myself every evening, I wanted to move forward. And again and again I was concerned with religious studies. "

Alfred Lange died in a car accident on November 6, 1971 while driving to Stefan's friends in Regensburg.

War years

Alfred Lange was convinced of essential parts of Adolf Hitler's propaganda . Among other things, he made a name for himself as a publicist through his newspaper articles . In the Polish border area east of Schlochau (now Polish, Czluchów) he tried to bring German culture closer to the descendants of German settlers with the help of theater performances.

Despite his positive attitude towards the teachings of National Socialism , Alfred Lange had a keen sense of justice. For example, he wrote a letter of protest against the arrest of one of his customers, a social democratic father, who was then released - however, Alfred Lange was questioned by the Gestapo about it . He also publicly criticized the Reichskristallnacht on November 9, 1938, which again attracted the attention of the Gestapo.

In 1939 Alfred Lange was called up as a soldier in the service of the air intelligence force, later he switched to the paratroopers . At that time he read a lot and did further education. In addition to the works of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche , he was also impressed by the book Myth of the 20th Century by Alfred Rosenberg , the chief ideologist of the National Socialist movement.

Alfred Lange ended up as a soldier in the Soviet Union , Greece , Italy and France . On July 29, 1944, he was seriously injured in Normandy by a short-shot German grenade . His left upper arm had to be amputated , the right leg remained shortened and stiff. On September 3, 1944, Alfred Lange was brought to his home hospital in Frankfurt / Oder , where he met Sepp Hofer. Both shared a room, Hofer will later report on Lange as a "Bible-savvy, Nazi-arrested religious seeker interested in the Catholic faith, who condemned the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944 as treason".

Faith

During his work in Schlochau, Lange, baptized as a Protestant , came into contact with the Catholic faith for the first time . The views of the Catholic Church initially remained alien to him. In 1936, however, he resigned from the Protestant regional church against the will of his wife and parents, albeit not the Catholic Church. He wrote: “My wife came from a Swabian farming family who acquired land in the Oderbruch region through Austria and West Prussia. Protestant Christianity was alive in her. In contrast, I experienced severe crises of faith. Luther's doctrine of the faith that alone makes you happy, plus the mild Christianity in my home country, the turmoil of the Protestant denomination, organizational and content, moved me to leave the regional church. "

Because of his war injury, Alfred Lange was sent to the military hospital in Zams in 1944 , where he met many Catholic doctors, nuns and clergy during his ten-month stay. The stay was so formative for Lange that a return to church was inevitable for him. After moving to Wolfegg Castle in the Allgäu, seat of the Prince of Waldburg zu Wolfegg and Waldsee , Lange continued to weigh up for months whether he should return to the Protestant faith or turn to the Catholic faith. He eventually came to the conclusion that only the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus, and turned seven years after the departure from the teachings of Luther the Catholicism to. So he joined the Catholic Church on July 29, 1945 after successfully completing the mandatory convert classes .

In the following winter Alfred Lange found his family in Spiegelhagen near Perleburg , which he brought to Wolfegg shortly afterwards. His wife now knew that her husband had converted. At Christmas 1946 they joined the Catholic Church, now with the first name “Maria”, and the children too.

In the Upper Swabian area of ​​Wolfegg Castle, many people found support in the church. The convert Alfred Lange also got involved in the development and reorganization of youth and male pastoral care with the aim of strengthening the bond between young people and men in the Catholic faith. After initial doubts, Lange began to give lectures to young people and men, always with the topic “My way to the church”. During one of these lectures, followed by a discussion in the parish of Deißlingen , he found that the non-Christian visitors were rhetorically superior to the reluctant Catholic youth. For him it was the starting point for the idea of ​​founding the Stefanus Community , in which young men from all walks of life should be trained to be active in the Church and in the world. The focus is on religious topics, current topics and rhetoric .

Act

Alfred Lange endeavored his entire life to educate himself in questions of faith and politics. He took part in correspondence courses and boarding school courses. In addition, he was a gifted speaker who had his knowledge mainly from the speaker trainer Fritz Schweinsberg. For Lange, the linguistic design of a speech was just as important as its content.

In addition to the lectures, the idea of ​​a speaker school germinated in Lange, which he implemented in 1948 with the establishment of the Stefanus Community. The goal of his rhetoric courses was not to create a Catholic elite of speakers, rather he wanted all mature Christians to have the opportunity to continue their education. The Stefanus community eventually developed into an educational community. The members develop together on the basic values ​​of faith, knowledge, speech and friendship.

Lange recorded the knowledge he acquired in numerous books. These were not only important in the rhetoric school, but also used as a basis for further training in the Stefanus community. His book Small School for Speech and Discussion was published in five editions, with 25,000 copies of the last edition sold. Other successful books by Alfred Lange are After Idolatry (1965), The Convincing Word (1967) and Fulfill Your Day (1957).

Fonts

  • Small school for speeches and discussions. Speech training for Christians active in church, people and state. Publisher Winfried Werk, Augsburg 1955.
  • Make your day come true. Examples and suggestions for the Christian life. Publisher Winfried Werk, Augsburg 1957.
  • Win your world. A book about the life and work of active Christians. Otto Schloz publishing house. Stuttgart 1958.
  • Know your hour. Twenty thoughtful stories. Publisher Winfried Werk, Augsburg 1960.
  • The speaker. Workbook for prompt preaching and convincing speaking. St. Josephs printing works, Wangen / Allgäu 1961.
  • After idolatry. A book of active love. Leufke, Neu-Ulm 1965.
  • Use your talents. Felix-Verlag, Vogt 1966.
  • The convincing word. Small school for speech and dialogue, discussion and chairing meetings. Publisher Winfried Werk, Augsburg 1967.
  • Orator and speech. A non-fiction book of the persuasion speech with original contributions. Publishing house current texts, Rottweil / Neckar 1970.

literature

  • Alfred Lange: Win your world. A book about the life and work of active Christians. Otto Schloz Publishing House, Stuttgart 1958.
  • Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 .
  • Max Rößler: Urged to act by the fire of truth. Alfred Lange, the founder of the Stefanus Community, would have turned eighty on Tuesday. In: Deutsche Tagespost , No. 136. of November 13, 1990, p. 4.
  • Werner Fiutak: Stefanus community. In: Lexicon for Theology and Church , Herder Verlag, Freiburg / Breisgau 2000, Volume 9 (San to Thomas), 3rd edition, ISBN 3-451-22009-1 , Sp. 943.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 11.
  2. ↑ Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 12.
  3. ↑ a b c Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 13.
  4. ↑ Copy of Alfred Lange's speech to Stefanusfreunde in Illertissen on January 28, 1962.
  5. ↑ Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 52.
  6. ↑ Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 14.
  7. ↑ Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 16.
  8. ↑ a b Alfred Lange: Win your world. A book about the life and work of active Christians. Verlag Otto Schloz, Stuttgart 1958, p. 9.
  9. ↑ a b Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 17.
  10. ↑ Alfred Lange: Win your world. A book about the life and work of active Christians. Verlag Otto Schloz, Stuttgart 1958, p. 8.
  11. ↑ Alfred Lange: Win your world. A book about the life and work of active Christians. Verlag Otto Schloz, Stuttgart 1958, p. 7.
  12. ↑ Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 18.
  13. ↑ a b Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 20.
  14. ↑ Alfred Lange: Win your world. A book about the life and work of active Christians. Verlag Otto Schloz, Stuttgart 1958, p. 11.
  15. ↑ Alfred Lange: Win your world. A book about the life and work of active Christians. Verlag Otto Schloz, Stuttgart 1958, p. 14.
  16. ↑ Werner Fiutak: Stefanus community. In: Lexicon for Theology and Church , Herder Verlag, Freiburg / Breisgau 2000, Volume 9 (San to Thomas), 3rd edition, ISBN 3-451-22009-1 , Sp. 943.
  17. ↑ a b c Max Rößler: Urged to action by the fire of truth. Alfred Lange, the founder of the Stefanus Community, would have turned eighty on Tuesday. In: Deutsche Tagespost , No. 136. of November 13, 1990, p. 4.
  18. ↑ a b Paul Kopf: Only friends together. 50 years of the Stefanus community 1948–1998. Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-7966-0934-1 , p. 24.
  19. ↑ Alfred Lange: Win your world. A book about the life and work of active Christians. Verlag Otto Schloz, Stuttgart 1958, p. 22.
personal data
SURNAME Lange, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German author, convert and founder of the Stefanus Community
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Neubarnim
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1971
Place of death Schwäbisch Hall