Andreas Osiander

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andreas Osiander by Georg Pencz , paper drawing 1544 in Rome

Andreas Osiander (born December 19, 1496 or 1498 in Gunzenhausen , Principality of Ansbach ; † October 17, 1552 in Königsberg , Duchy of Prussia ) was a theologian and German reformer .

Live and act

After studying in Ingolstadt, Osiander first worked as a pastor in Nuremberg at St. Lorenz from 1522 , on the appointment of the local provost Hektor Poemer (1495–1541). Convinced of Martin Luther's theology , he and his companions, the painter Albrecht Dürer , the humanist and councilor Willibald Pirckheimer as well as the council clerk Lazarus Spengler and the mastersinger Hans Sachs , pushed through the Reformation in Nuremberg. Osiander was the main author of the important and influential church order of 1533, which was introduced simultaneously in Nuremberg and in the neighboring margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach .

In the Upper Palatinate , too , Osiander played a key role in church renewal, for example he provided the template for the edict of sovereign Otto Heinrich and worked out a new church order . Osiander was also behind the recall of the evangelical-minded rector of the Sebaldus School, Hans Denck , who later joined the Reformation Anabaptists .

In 1549 Osiander was appointed by Duke Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach as professor of theology at the still young Albertus University of Königsberg , founded in 1544 . There he got into a heated argument with the followers of Philipp Melanchthon , Luther's close companion. The dispute was about the doctrine of justification , one of the core statements of Reformation theology. For Melanchthon, a sinner remained deeply a sinner even after being justified before Christ; Osiander, on the other hand, was of  the opinion - similar to the position of the Eastern Churches - that the righteousness of Christ is implanted in people through faith and thus becomes an essential part of the believer.

This so-called Osiandrian quarrel aroused and divided Protestantism for many years. In the end, Osiander and his followers went their own way on this theological question, which was important for the Reformation.

Osiander was considered a connoisseur of the Hebrew language and Jewish mysticism . Unlike Luther, he sought a genuine dialogue with the Jews , vigorously advocated their rights and rejected any form of anti-Judaism .

Preface to Copernicus

Osiander ensured that Nicolaus Copernicus ' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, against the strong opposition of Luther and Melanchthon, was published in Nuremberg in 1543. However, he made some changes to the work that were not authorized by Copernicus. He deleted important passages, made his own additions and added a foreword in which he presented Copernicus' theory as a mere mathematical model without claiming to correspond to reality, but without adding that it did not come from Copernicus. For a long time the opinion prevailed that Copernicus did not really believe in his model.

family

This portrait of the reformer Andreas Osiander adorned the pulpit of the Church of St. Lorenz in Nuremberg on the occasion of the Luther year 2017

Andreas Osiander was married three times.

  • 1. Marriage to Catherine Preu (* 1508 Weißenburg; † July 14, 1537 in Nuremberg)
  • 2. Marriage in 1538 with Helene Künhofer (also Helena Kunhoffer; * 1519 Nuremberg; † May 1545 in Nuremberg) at the time of the marriage wealthy widow, 2 daughters
  • 3. Marriage in 1546 with Helene Magenbuch (* March 14, 1523 in Nuremberg; † September 8, 1597 in Hohenacker), the daughter of the Nuremberg doctor Johann Magenbuch (* 1487 in Blaubeuren, † October 14, 1546 in Kassel, buried in Nuremberg) . After Osiander's death, she married the pastor Johannes Ruckher and became the ducal Württemberg court pharmacist.

The following are known of his children:

  • from first marriage
  • from second marriage
    • Susanne (* in Nuremberg)
    • Katharina (* in Nuremberg)
    • further daughter (* 1545 in Nuremberg)
  • from third marriage
    • Ursula (* in Nuremberg)
    • Elisabeth (* in Königsberg)

For other important family members see under Osiander .

Complete edition

  • Gerhard Müller, Gottfried Seebass (Ed.): Andreas Osiander d. Ä. Complete edition . Gütersloher publishing house, 1975–1997 ( online )

literature

Web links

Commons : Andreas Osiander  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ lorenzkirche.citykirche-magazin.de ( Memento from January 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ cf. Osiander: Complete Edition Vol. 7, p. 517
  3. ^ Walther Hubatsch: Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach. Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and Duke in Prussia 1490-1568. Cologne, Berlin: Grote; Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer, 1960. - Jörg Rainer Fligge: Duke Albrecht of Prussia and Osiandrism 1522-1568. Diss. Phil. Bonn 1972. (Rotaprintdruck der Universität) 1078 p., 57 ill., Index.
  4. ↑ Hermann Kesten: Copernicus and his world . Ullstein 1983, p. 364
  5. ↑ Freidenhammer studied in 1545 at the University of Wittenberg, in 1552 he became a deacon at the old town church in Königsberg, 1556 pastor to Schippenbeil, 156S preacher to St. Barbara in Breslau, 1571 deacon to St. Maria Magdalena, 1572 deacon to St. Elisabeth. He died on June 5, 1572. He was a son-in-law of Andreas Osiander. (Pantke V, 15f; Arnoldt I, 37, II 265.)
personal data
SURNAME Osiander, Andreas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hosemann, Andreas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and reformer
DATE OF BIRTH December 19, 1496 or December 19, 1498
PLACE OF BIRTH Gunzenhausen
DATE OF DEATH October 17, 1552
Place of death Koenigsberg , Prussia