Arnold Gustavs

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Arnold Gustavs (born January 7, 1875 in Neuenkirchen , † December 19, 1956 in Stralsund ) worked as a pastor on the island of Hiddensee from 1903 to 1948 . He made a name for himself as an ancient orientalist . He had a long friendship with the poet Gerhart Hauptmann . Both graves are in the cemetery of the Inselkirche in Kloster auf Hiddensee .

Life

Arnold Gustavs was the eldest of two children of the Neuenkirchen teacher Franz Gustavs († 1930). Until he entered the Greifswald grammar school , he was tutored by his father. After graduating from high school in 1893, he studied theology at the University of Greifswald , where he a. a. the lectures of the systematist Hermann Cremer and the church historian Victor Schultze , whose trainee he became. In addition to his studies, he dealt with German studies , in particular with Old Saxon and Old Norse.

Cover of the book Die Insel Hiddensee

He passed his first theological exam in 1897 with an exam sermon on Gal 4,4  LUT in the Inselkirche zu Kloster on Hiddensee. In 1899 he completed his second theological exam. From 1900 he worked in the Inner Mission in Bethel near Bielefeld and from 1902 as an assistant preacher in Rheine (Westphalia). From October 1903 he was pastor of Hiddensee and was particularly interested in the history of the island . In the course of his life he put together an extensive collection of stone tools, which he handed over to the then Hiddensee Biological Research Institute.

In his book "Die Insel Hiddensee" (see also section retirement) Arnold Gustavs goes into detail about the history of the island and also writes about the remains of the monastery such as the tombstone of Abbot Johann Runneberg. As a student of theology Arnold Gustavs Hiddensee visited in 1896. In the book he describes the former states of life and people very closely. Arnold Gustavs came to Hiddensee as a pastor in autumn 1903 . He heard a lot from the residents about their living and working conditions, the descriptions of which went back to 1854. He wrote interesting events like "The Fifty-Seven" in the book. Regarding the school system, the pastor reports that it was not until 1835, when serfdom was abolished and when the island passed into the possession of the "Monastery of the Holy Spirit" in Stralsund , that a regular school education was established. However, most adults could not write and did as signature still three crosses. Arnold Gustavs found in a review from 1864 that of 57 signatures, 37 people had signed with crosses.

There are no photos in the book itself. His son Eggert Gustavs was self-taught as a painter and graphic artist and numerous graphics are included in the book. The graphic design of the cover is by Georg Hülsse .

Cuneiform research

Since taking office at Hiddensee, he has dealt with cuneiform script , which was used in the Middle East in the period from around 2600 to the last decades BC. Was used by many peoples in different languages. In the summer of 1923 he, Bruno Meißner , Fritz Schachermeyr , Eckhard Unger and Ernst Friedrich Weidner founded the Ancient Near Eastern Society.

Gerhart Hauptmann

An important place in his life was his friendship with Gerhart Hauptmann . So he tried to get Hauptmann a house on Hiddensee. In 1930 Hauptmann bought the "Seedorn" house in Kloster as a summer residence. At Gerhart Hauptmann's request, Arnold Gustavs and his wife became administrators of his house until it was taken over as a memorial by the community. Gerhart Hauptmann died in Silesia on June 6, 1946. The funeral took place at Hiddensee in accordance with his wish once expressed. Pastor Gustavs organized the celebrations and gave his old friend the funeral speech about 2 Cor 12.4  LUT .

time of the nationalsocialism

Arnold Gustavs' role in the Nazi era is controversial. The Germany radio culture expressed in a broadcast post 2015: "Arnold Gustavs was not fellow travelers, he was a fervent admirer of Hitler, a fanatical supporter who used his authority outside the church." This is contradicted by Konrad Hunchback, pastor Kloster on Hiddensee.

retirement

Gustavs' grave on Hiddensee

In retirement, Arnold Gustavs wrote a home book about the island of Hiddensee. The book was published in 1952 by Hinstorff Verlag Rostock. The fifth edition was published in 1993, a revised edition in 2009. His memories of Gerhart Hauptmann were published posthumously by Gustav Erdmann in 1962 in the Petermänken-Verlag Schwerin. He was also a volunteer shop steward for soil antiquities on Hiddensee.

On his eightieth birthday on January 7, 1955, Arnold Gustavs received a letter of congratulations from Otto Grotewohl on behalf of the government of the GDR , which said: “I am happy to take the opportunity to greet you with the greetings and congratulations of the German Democratic Government on your 80th birthday To send republic. As one of the friends of our unforgettable Gerhart Hauptmann, you have taken loving care of his estate and his work in Kloster on Hiddensee and thus rendered the German people a good service. I thank you on your 80th birthday for your quiet but important work and I wish you many years of health and well-being. "

Arnold Gustavs died on December 19, 1956 in the Stralsund hospital.

family

Arnold Gustavs was married to Helene Lützow (* 1885, † 1963 in Stralsund) since September 1, 1905. The couple had four children: Annalize (* 1906; †?), Malte (* 1907; † 1945, father of Arne Gustavs), Eggert Gustavs (* 1909; † 1996, painter and graphic artist) and Ingeborg (* 1915; † 1931 )

Honors

  • 1921 Licentiate theol. hc from the University of Greifswald

literature

  • Arnold Gustavs: Hiddensee . Notes from an island pastor. Ed .: Arne Gustavs. 5th edition. C. Gustavs, Joachimsthal 1993, ISBN 3-929833-00-X .
  • Arne Gustavs: My grandfather, the island pastor in: Renate Seydel (Ed.): Hiddensee A reading book . Ullstein Buchverlage Berlin 1997 ISBN 3 54823855 6 , pp. 247-265
  • Owe Gustavs: Reich service on Hiddensee 1933–1945. Arnold Gustavs - island pastor in the Third Reich . Volume 1: National Socialist things in Pomeranian church papers and the yearbook “German Abroad and Evangelical Church”. A documentation . 2nd Edition. Edition Andreae Hiddensee, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-939804-41-3 . In addition, “a critical statement by Arne Gustavs” and a review by Irmfried Garbe .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dieter Bub: Hiddensee argues about the role of his pastor . in: Deutschlandradio Kultur , broadcast “Religions”, August 30, 2015.
  2. ^ Open letter from Konrad Glöckner dated September 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ Gustavs, Arnold . In: Grete Grewolls: Who was who in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania? A dictionary of persons . Edition Temmen, Bremen 1995, ISBN 3-86108-282-9 , p. 170.
personal data
SURNAME Gustavs, Arnold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant pastor
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuenkirchen (near Greifswald)
DATE OF DEATH December 19, 1956
Place of death Stralsund