Arnold Köster

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Arnold Köster (born February 3, 1896 in Wiedenest near Cologne; † October 28, 1960 in Vienna ) was a Baptist preacher who publicly criticized National Socialism and thus belongs to the Christian resistance against National Socialism .

Köster's statements on National Socialism can be traced back to articles in Baptist magazines since 1930 and in around 500 sermons given during Austria's Nazi era . His concerns can already be proven for the time before the transfer of power to Adolf Hitler in 1933, and they were still publicly expressed after the annexation of Austria in 1938, when Köster's place of work in Vienna was already under National Socialist power.

Arnold Köster (approx. 1940) (Archives of the Baptist Congregation Vienna-Mollardgasse)

Youth, training and marriage

Arnold Köster's parents were Ludwig Heinrich Köster (1865–1950) and Emilie, née Werkshage (1867–1937). In 1910 Arnold was baptized in Bielefeld by his father, who was a Baptist preacher. After finishing school, he completed a commercial apprenticeship. In 1914 he preached in a branch for the first time. During the First World War he was called up for military service. According to an obituary, this was where "his decisive encounter with the Bible took place, which he read again and again as the only reading of his soldier's life".

After the end of the war he received his training as a preacher from 1919 to 1923 at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Hamburg . Abitur was not a requirement for this seminar. The lessons were theologically conservative - one of the textbooks was Adolf Schlatter's The Christian Ethics - but showed some cosmopolitanism. History of philosophy and German literary history were also taught in this way. There were intensive Greek lessons ; English was also taught, but not Hebrew. Overall, the level of this four-year seminar can roughly be compared with that of a technical college .

He mainly used Luther's translation of the Bible , but also referred repeatedly to Schlatter's translation of the New Testament (1931). He sympathized with the German revival movement of the 19th century and dealt with Otto Stockmayer , who - around 1900 - published books on the Holy Spirit . He also dealt with Karl Barth . He hardly seems to have read English literature. The philosophers Kierkegaard , Nietzsche and Spengler appear several times in Köster's sermons.

At the graduation ceremony he gave a lecture on the subject of Antichrist , a subject that later appeared repeatedly in his preaching.

On July 12, 1923, Köster married Maria Hornburg (1900–1970). The couple had three daughters and three sons in the years 1924–1932.

After the seminar, Köster was a preacher for the Wilhelmsburg congregation for a year . In terms of membership growth, his ministry was a high point for this congregation. From 1924 to 1929 he was a preacher in the Cologne Baptist Congregation, in the "Friedenskapelle".

Since 1929 as a preacher in Vienna

Beginning and end of the minutes of the “Alliance meeting” written by Köster on March 5, 1934; A cash book was used as a log book (archive of the Baptist Congregation Vienna-Mollardgasse)

The Viennese Baptist congregation at Mollardgasse 35 , at that time the only independent Baptist congregation in Austria , called him from Cologne . Here he worked as a preacher for 31 years until his death. It is rare for Baptist pastors to spend so long in the same place of work.

Köster was involved in the Evangelical Alliance in Vienna , in which representatives of free churches, free organizations (such as the Bible Society) and individual Evangelical pastors and several deaconesses met regularly. For a few years Köster was secretary; several minutes of the meetings that he wrote have been preserved.

In 1937 the Wiener Zeitung ran a series of articles about sects in Vienna . The term “ sect ” was still very broad at that time. The author Felix Hilke, a Catholic, also visited the Viennese Baptist congregation and emphasized Köster's high level of education, which is in no way inferior to that of a Catholic or Protestant clergyman: “Even though his expression is not very popular, he understands simple and heartfelt words to find."

Nazi criticism before 1938

Köster soon came to the conclusion that " Heil " and " Hitler " were opposites. If politicians promised to create a new, better world on their own, he feared disaster. The following examples, arranged chronologically, illustrate his criticism of National Socialism in the period before the annexation of Austria. Kösters expressed himself in articles in Baptist magazines that were printed in the German Reich ( truth witnesses , messengers ). The Anabaptist Bote , which began in 1930 and was co-published by Köster, was printed in Vienna and later in Bucharest , but also had readers in Germany. From 1933 onwards, the editorial teams had to consider National Socialism as a power factor.

In 1931 Köster saw the National Socialists' promises of salvation as competition:

“Oh, happy hour, when all belief in the kingdoms of this world is broken, when belief in ' the third kingdom ' has been revealed as a false belief and the deceived human heart has become free to believe in the kingdom of God , in the kingship of Jesus! "

As early as 1932 in the final phase of the Weimar Republic, Köster was a staunch critic of National Socialism, of which, according to Andrea Strübind , there were very few in the free church environment. In an interpretation of a prophetic speech by Jesus, Köster questioned the calling of salvation: “This is what it is about in these times of judgment for the German people and for all peoples ... National Socialism storms past in daring defiance and terrible self-presumption today, from which the broad masses intoxicated and hypnotized today await salvation. ,Salvation! Salvation! - And yet there is no salvation! '”Here Köster quotes the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah ( Jer 8,11  EU ). An essential feature of his criticism becomes visible in Köster's criticism of “self-measurement”.

Also in 1932, Koester's article on the swastika and the Soviet star appeared . Mark of the Antichrist !? This article is also mentioned in Günter Balders' overall account of the history of the German Baptists . Köster described both symbols as "anti-Christian": the swastika, which is based on the sun wheel, symbolizes "self-redemption, higher development from one's own strength, self-perfection [...] the expressive expression for people's belief in themselves". To that extent it contradicts the idea that all people need salvation through Jesus Christ. Köster traced the Soviet star back to the pentagram , in which “belief in the divine human being” is expressed, in his ability to “shape this earth into paradise” “out of his own strength”. Based on the Revelation of John ( Rev 13  EU ) Köster concluded “that the symbol of the Antichrist is the sign of man, that is, that sign in which man believes in himself and proclaims himself as - God.” So he holds both signs for anti-divine and anti-Christian . In this Koester article, Strübind sees a “clear exposure of the ideology of National Socialism”.

Sometimes Köster described his job as a preacher; once he emphasized the importance of withdrawing in order to better listen to God. In 1933 he wrote that a preacher must have the courage to "sit behind his Bible for a whole day in the midst of the hustle and bustle of church life", otherwise his work would be sterile. Since Köster saw preaching as a prophetic task, such references are instructive. Andrea Strübind erroneously ascribes an article in the Anabaptist Messenger of May 1933 about the national revolution in Germany to Köster. The author Johannes Fleischer was also critical of National Socialism. He often presented concrete political diagnoses, while Köster concentrated more on the fundamentals.

In an article published in 1934, Köster spoke out against the emphasis on racial differences : “The Holy Spirit shows us in humans the brother ... What do social and racial differences mean to him! 'You are all one in Christ' ”( Gal 3:28  EU ) With this, Köster stood in opposition to an essential National Socialist characteristic, namely the emphasis on racism and anti-Semitism .

Nazi criticism from 1938

Union of Austria in 1938

In March 1938, the National Socialists forced Austria to join the German Reich. This met with broad approval from the Austrian church leaders. Among the Protestants, their disadvantage, which they had previously experienced during the Schuschnigg era , contributed to this approval . Köster also expressed relief because up until then he had feared the outbreak of civil war due to the internal political conflicts in Austria . In an article from April 1938 he also mentions that in conversations with many Austrians he had repeatedly encountered "the great homesickness for Germany". The Anschluss appeared to him to be the fulfillment of a wish of the vast majority of Austrians. Köster looks back a long way into the history of Austria and mentions the Catholic conscience pressure, as it was expressed in the persecution and expulsion of Anabaptists and Salzburg Protestants , and the long-term consequences for the Austrian population:

“The best left the country, the weak ones were left with a broken spine. And then the world was amazed at the Austrian people and their weaknesses in character! "

Beginning of the typescript of a lecture by Köster on the subject of "People without God", given on October 16, 1941 (Archives of the Baptist Congregation Vienna-Mollardgasse)

Since March 1938, Köster lived within the National Socialist sphere of influence. For him as a critic of the Nazi regime, this meant an additional risk. At about this point, however, the source situation also changes: there are now hardly any journal articles from him, but the sermon postscripts are gradually beginning. Gertrud Hoffmann, a member of the congregation, recorded his sermons in shorthand and then transcribed them using a typewriter. These typescripts and their carbon copies are kept in the archive of this Baptist church. Individual scripts have been preserved since 1938, and have been fairly regular since autumn 1940. From 1943 matrix prints were made, which enabled Köster's sermons to be distributed in greater numbers. About 300 people listened to him on Sundays. There were two services every Sunday: in the morning at 10 a.m. and in the late afternoon at 5 p.m., with two different sermons. There was also a lecture every Thursday evening. The speaker was almost always Köster himself. That means up to three Köster texts per week. He spoke for about three quarters of an hour at a sermon and a full hour at a lecture. A total of about 500 sermons and lectures by Köster's exact wording from the war have been preserved - that is a density of tradition that is otherwise hardly reached.

At the beginning of the war in 1939

On Sunday, September 3, 1939, two days after the start of the Second World War , Köster put three concerns to the heart of his congregation: First, the Christians on the front lines as soldiers needed intercession “that they should always keep an awareness of Jesus' responsibility ". Then “all the many” should be thought of, “in whose huts and hearts there is now nameless suffering that close relatives have had to give up who are in the midst of the chaos of war”. Köster does not limit the sympathy he has expressed here to a specific people, such as the German. It is noticeable that his reference to the suffering associated with war was made as early as 1939 and not - as with other preachers - only in the last years of the war, when the suffering of war through fallen relatives and Allied bombing was also felt by the own population.

Thirdly, it was about

“That the church of Jesus Christ should stay awake for the second coming of Jesus Christ . When the enthusiasm for victory comes over the peoples, may they not lose themselves in earthly goals, and in all historical experience where peoples strive wildly for the fulfillment of long-cherished dreams and expectations, do not forget that God throughout the history of the world his story continues. "

Köster distanced himself from all hopes of military victory. He was far from praying for it either.

Marks of the Antichrist (1941)

Köster did not allow himself to be carried away by the widespread enthusiasm, neither in 1933 after the so-called “national uprising” nor during the first successes of the war in 1939–1941. A few weeks after the beginning of the compulsory identification for Jews by wearing the yellow star , he spoke in a lecture on October 9, 1941 about the Antichrist . Köster used Bible passages from Revelation 13 and Daniel 11 as a basis. He didn't say specifically who he was thinking of, but his characterization of the Antichrist clearly fits Hitler:

First of all, the Antichrist has no noble descent and remains unnoticed for a long time; secondly, he is eloquent: “He is ... a world prince who masters the word so that this word brings people into an intoxication again and again, so that they keep coming back believe again. ”Thirdly, he set up armies“ which can pour over other nations like a flood ”, he wages a fight against the Jews, and he will“ have a Christianity and publicly proclaim it ”. In relation to the next, the fourth indicator, Hitler was politically and militarily very successful up to this point: “He will do what he wants ... that is, he takes on something and it happens. Everything succeeds what he sets out to do. Because he is inspired from below, he walks on abysses with night-walking security. "

Fifthly, since Hitler's intimate relationship with Eva Braun was kept secret, Köster said: “He has no love for women. He does not know the secret of the most intimate community, which is why he is not at all capable of any other community. ”A sixth characteristic is the radical transformation:“ Whether it is the peoples, the nations, whether it is the law, the economy, the thinking , he will rise up against everything in order to make everything new. ”And seventh, he worship“ before the God of fortresses ”.

On December 8, 1941 Koester spoke at the Vienna Alliance about the message of Obadiah to the community today .

The Protestant Reformed writer Hermine Cloeter heard him for the first time and recorded her impression in her diary:

“A Herr Köster, a fine philosophical head, spoke very meaningfully and profoundly about the prophet of the old covenant Obadja. ... He pointed out the typical in their utterances; God speaks here not only to the Israelite people of that time in their special situation through the prophets, but to every people in the same situation. ... And the parallel to us is easy to draw. "

This diary provides insights into the reception of Koester's speeches among his contemporaries.

Open confrontation 1943

Shortly after the German defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad and the Sports Palace speech by Joseph Goebbels , Köster gave a lecture on March 4, 1943 on the subject of Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Man and Son of God . In this, Köster deviated from his previous cautiousness in rewriting his Nazi criticism and openly called for people to turn away from the National Socialist ideology:

“One can expect from a National Socialist who drank this worldview and who has absorbed the whole complex of ideas that come from certain books - from him one cannot expect that he will recognize Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God! He is not capable of doing this unless he lets this whole world of thought smash him - then his conscience is free to see Jesus. "

Such a clear expression is unusual in Köster's sermons. Most of the time he avoided expressly mentioning the term "National Socialism". This lecture could have had consequences, because two months later Köster indicated the possibility of his arrest (see Gestapo interrogations below ).

On April 5, 1943, Köster gave a lecture on the Christian worldview and contrasted it with the “Weltanschauung”, which meant National Socialism.

Review 1945

On February 8, 1945, Köster gave a lecture on the hour of temptation ( Rev 3.10  EU ). Köster looked back:

“I look back on the antichristian spirit for about 20 years and I have to admit to the dear Savior that he kept his word! ... And when a pastor in the Evangelical Alliance got up and said: 'We all raved about it', I got up and said: 'I forbid that! I didn't rave about it! ' ... I just wish I had spoken louder and warned more about the poison! "

The war was still going on at the time, but it was already spoken as if the power of the National Socialists was already a thing of the past.

Theological characterization of Koester's criticism of Nazism

In the context of German Baptism, Köster was an exceptional figure during the Nazi era , as Andrea Strübind's study shows.

Book cover of a selection of Köster's sermons (1965)

In an attempt to characterize Köster's criticism of the Nazis, theological basics are worked out in his sermons. Strübind considers Köster's "distancing from the emerging National Socialist movement" to be theologically motivated . In doing so, she sees “in his proclamation the apocalyptic interpretation of history that is quite typical for Baptism of that time”. This interpretation was "a way to be resistant to the Nazi ideology", and Köster is a good example of this. Strübind describes his “specific teaching on Israel” as “a decisive proprium of Koster”. This includes "the appreciation of the Old Testament, Israel's permanent election, the Jewish descent of Jesus and the rejection of racism".

Similarly, the Metzler Lexicon of Christian Thinkers highlights three features of Koster's preaching: first, his eschatological hope , which is often in competition with enthusiasm for politicians and their goals, second, his philosemitism , which emphasizes God's special ways with the people of Israel, and third, his theologically based internationalism , which denied the special position of the German nation.

The relationship between the kingdom of God on the one hand and the world on the other is an important issue in theology. According to the Lutheran tradition , there is tension between these two sizes, and the national church and state interact with one another in a variety of ways. On the other hand, Anabaptists and Baptists tended to see the kingdom of God and the world as more of a duality , and as a result sought a separation between church ( free church ) and state. Paul Spanring traces this difference on the basis of two representatives of these church currents, namely by comparing the theological position of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Arnold Köster, two men of the Christian resistance.

Koster's concern was not primarily a political one; his references to current political events were motivated by pastoral care. But he didn't want to worry about it. H. the inner life of the individual, but he applied the gospel to the whole world, including the outer. According to the judgment of Heinz-Adolf Ritter, at Köster "the political and pastoral statements always flow together to form the one message: 'God loves this world!'".

NS criticism from other Austrian preachers

Köster's contemporaries made comparisons with other preachers. After a lecture by the Methodist preacher Hinrich Bargmann, for example, Hermine Cloeter noted in her diary: “Actually without the right courage, even if very fine and witty. Preacher Köster is much more unconditional and clear. ”The extent to which a preacher commented on current political events also depended on how he perceived the task of interpreting the Bible - and the preaching based on it. Such a discussion on the hermeneutical question of whether a sermon - linked to the Bible - could contain criticism of concrete contemporary phenomena took place within the framework of the Vienna Evangelical Alliance . Bargmann pleaded for a careful interpretation of the Bible , since a transfer of prophetic warnings of the Old Testament to certain nations of the present is arbitrary. Köster justified his becoming concrete; while reading the Bible, types would be recognizable whose recurrence in the present should very well be addressed. The description of such a type could strongly have an appearance of the present in mind - as in Köster's lecture on the Antichrist in 1941.

The minutes of the meetings of the Vienna Evangelical Alliance also contain a reproduction of the presentations given there. Apart from Köster's presentations, there are hardly any clear references to National Socialism, neither positive nor negative. In his history of the Evangelical Alliance in Austria , Frank Hinkelmann judges the Alliance's attitude towards National Socialism: "We are only aware of a clearly critical position from Köster."

In order to be able to classify the statements in sermons relating to current political events with regard to the Nazi criticism contained therein, Graf-Stuhlhofer explained five pairs of opposites, each of which results in a spectrum of possible statements, including: a. the pair of opposites "hope for victory - military victory as a minor matter". The hope of the final victory can never be found with Köster, but z. B. with the Archbishop of Salzburg, Andreas Rohracher . In 1943 he hoped that “our soldiers” would succeed in “deterring Bolshevism”. This patriotic partisanship was based on the fear of a victory for the atheist Soviet Union .

Another pair of opposites concerned the “legitimation of German warfare” (as opposed to “leaving the question of war guilt open”). Köster did not justify the German warfare, so did not blame the "enemies" - never so called by Köster - but not the other way around. So who the attacker and who the defender was, remained open to him. Other preachers justified the German war effort insofar as they saw it as a defensive war. So the Burgendland evangelical pastor and senior Karl Fiedler. For him, Christmas 1944 was "even more serious and sad" than the previous war Christmas because

“The enemy has come very close to the borders of our fatherland and has already partly crossed them in the east and west. Our people and fatherland are in the hardest and most bitter struggle for their freedom and independence. "

According to Gustav Reingrabner's assessment, Fiedler's sermons contain “remarkable and courageous statements”, and Fiedler was “in opposition” to the Nazi regime. In order to assess his criticism of the Nazi regime, Köster should of course preferably be compared with those preachers who are regarded as critical.

Historical classification of Köster's Nazi criticism

Köster's comments critical of National Socialism are sometimes also included in overview presentations. In his book on Germany's free churches in the 19th and 20th centuries , Karl Heinz Voigt also mentions Köster as a Nazi critic.

According to Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer , Köster was "one of the sharpest public continuous Nazi critics in the Greater German Reich ". The characterization of this criticism as "continuous" indicates that Köster's critical preaching activity could be carried out over years. And "public" was not only Köster's criticism, but also he as a critic - while the authors and distributors of critical leaflets wanted to remain secret.

Köster's work is not part of the resistance in the narrower sense , because he refused on principle to work towards the overthrow of the government; he saw that as God's business. So in terms of intention , Koster's preaching was not resistance. However, if one looks at the function of his preaching, it is very much a question of "resistance", because if many preachers had preached like Köster (and if they had been allowed to preach that way in the longer term), they would very well have a loss of authority contributed to the government and its popular support.

Gestapo interrogations

Köster's sermons were occasionally observed by Gestapo employees and there were several interrogations. But it was not included in the file. It is astonishing that Köster's criticism of the Nazi regime had no more serious consequences. One factor that at least led to such consequences being postponed was a benevolent Gestapo employee. Köster mentioned this in a sermon shortly after the end of the war:

"When I was once again questioned by the Secret State Police , the one gentleman who was friendly to me told me that it had to finally come to a point where my Christian worldview should conform to the total worldview of National Socialism!"

In a lecture on a Thursday evening in 1943, Köster explained how he prayed to God when he “had to go to summons and the like”. On the following Sunday he mentioned the following possibility: “If I should be caught somehow,” and encouraged people to continue to meet without the preacher. These frequent hints probably refer to an occasion - which Köster did not explain in detail - such as an upcoming or recent Gestapo interrogation.

Ultimately, we can only speculate about the reasons why Köster was retained despite his criticism of the Nazi regime: Perhaps it was because of how Köster presented himself to the Gestapo: probably straightforward - that is sometimes more respected than a disguise. Perhaps it was due to the minor importance of the Baptists: In Austria the main ideological opponent of the National Socialists was the Catholic Church - perhaps alternative Christian groups, which represented a kind of competition with the Catholic Church, were treated less strictly in principle.

Since Köster occasionally wrote articles for German Baptist magazines, a political judgment was obtained about him. The responsible NSDAP local group leader judged: “Unpolitical attitude.” This impression perhaps resulted from a caution with Köster. During the Nazi era, for example, he never spoke about politics at the family table.

Commitment to Jews and Ukrainians

House of the Baptist Congregation in Vienna, Mollardgasse 35, ca.1930 (archive of this Baptist Congregation)

Until the annexation of Austria, Vienna had a Jewish population of around 10%. There were also contacts with Jews in the Viennese Baptist congregation; The most prominent example is Theodor Herzl's son : Hans Herzl came there through work colleagues and was baptized in 1924 before emigrating to London - that is, five years before Koester started work in Vienna.

Köster's social commitment to persecuted Jews and slave laborers is emphasized by Strübind; it describes Kösters congregation as "home for persecuted Jews and Jewish Christians".

Some evidence points to the community's efforts to support Jews; however, neither the specific names of those affected nor the precise nature of the aid have been passed down. Shortly after the end of the war, a Protestant pastor mentioned this help at a meeting of the Vienna Evangelical Alliance: "The Baptist congregation tried to alleviate a great public need, namely to provide the evangelically baptized Jews with a kind of home."

According to an article published in 1952, some of the Jews cared for by the Swedish Lutheran Israel Mission in Vienna found "refuge with the Baptists" after the closure in 1941, namely in the Baptist association of "Friends of Israel". In an obituary for Köster and in a later memory report it is mentioned that Jews were accepted into the Baptist congregation.

Ukrainian forced laborers were given the opportunity to meet in the community hall. Cloeter gives a reference to Russian congregations in the Baptist church in her diary. There she reports on August 22, 1943:

“Frieda Wilhelm attended a ceremony with the Baptists. Her brother Köster made a great impression. She attended a baptism of two Russian workers who had wandered all over Vienna to find the 'Baptistei' in Mollardgasse. Strong impression. A German-speaking Russian worker did the interpreting. "

It should have been Ukrainians. These services took place early on Sunday afternoons. Köster mentioned this in a sermon on March 18, 1945 and said that there the washing of the feet was practiced as a ritual act (alongside baptism and the Lord's Supper). According to one report, "around 120 foreign workers" were baptized during the war.

Köster's commitment to refugees from Hungary in 1956 also fits in with the willingness to take risks and be ready for action.

post war period

Numerous sermons from the time between the end of the war in 1945 and Köster's death in 1960 are also available in the archives of the Baptist community in Vienna-Mollardgasse. However, these have not yet been evaluated historically. Graf-Stuhlhofer's monograph from 2001 concentrates on the Nazi era and does not include the time afterwards. In an obituary, Köster's commitment to refugees from Hungary after the failed uprising in 1956 was mentioned.

Köster continued to have an influential function in Austrian Baptism, also during and after the foundation of the Federation of Baptist Congregations in Austria in 1953 . In the Vienna Evangelical Alliance he was a leader alongside the Protestant pastor Georg Traar ; there was also a close connection with the evangelical bishop Gerhard May . As part of the alliance, Köster initiated the Salzerbad Conferences, which took place from 1951 to 1975.

The year before his death, Hermine Cloeter heard him speak at a lecture at the Vienna Alliance and was impressed again:

“The lecture at an admirable spiritual height: The Church of Jesus Christ and the peoples of the world. Once again to be able to convince me of the very only knowledge of the Bible and spiritual understanding of this man. Unfortunately, vocally not up to par, so that it was difficult to follow the lecture, which testified to a height and depth in the conception and position of our time that I have never found anyone to express. "

In addition to such recognition, there are also critical remarks about Köster in her diary - she sometimes found him too self-confident.

He remained a full-time preacher in his Viennese Baptist congregation until he died at the age of 64. His unusually long time in this community shaped it. His ideas of how to shape church life continued to have an effect, a subsequent preacher was strongly compared to his predecessor, and even decades later, many church members showed a strong bond with the respective preacher (later called pastor ).

Articles, sermons and lectures

  • Köster wrote articles in the Baptist magazines Truth Witnesses and Aid messengers as well as - especially many - in the Anabaptist messenger, which he co-edited .
  • Issue of several sermons by Koster: lamplight in the dark place. Sermons and Lectures , ed. by Karl Federmann and Gertrud Hoffmann. Sensen-Verlag, Vienna 1965 (Köster's wording was stylistically edited here by Federmann).
  • Documentation of excerpts from Koster's sermons by Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer for the following periods:
1938–1940: National Socialism as competition to the Christian faith. The Viennese Baptist preacher Arnold Köster on the Anschluss and the beginning of the war. Documentation on the years 1938 to 1940. In: Yearbook for the History of Protestantism in Austria 112 (1996) pp. 137–183.
1943, January and February: sermons during Stalingrad. A documentation on the Viennese Baptist pastor Arnold Köster in January and February 1943. In: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswwissenschaft 48 (2000) pp. 1078-1097.
1945, January to June: The end of the war in Vienna as reflected in the sermons of a Nazi-critical Baptist pastor . In: Austria in History and Literature 40 (1996) pp. 113–125.

literature

  • Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public criticism of National Socialism in the Greater German Reich. Life and worldview of the Viennese Baptist pastor Arnold Köster (1896–1960) (historical-theological studies of the 19th and 20th centuries, 9). Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2001, ISBN 3-7887-1856-0
    • Heinz-Adolf Ritter: Review by Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Criticism […] , 2001, in: Theological conversation. 27, 2003, pp. 205-209.
    • Andrea Strübind: Review by Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public criticism […] , 2001, in: Yearbook for Evangelical Theology . 18, 2004, pp. 331-335.
    • Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public criticism […] [short version of the book] in: Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte . International half-yearly publication for theology and history. 14, 2001, pp. 557-564.
  • Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer: About the “limit of the possible” in the Third Reich. Criticism of the national in the unique collection of sermons of the Viennese Baptist pastor Arnold Köster. In: past and present. Quarterly issues for contemporary history, social analysis and political education. 18, 1999, pp. 13-35.
  • Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer:  KÖSTER, Arnold. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 19, Bautz, Nordhausen 2001, ISBN 3-88309-089-1 , Sp. 815-821.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Hans Luckey : Obituary , in the Baptist magazine Die Gemeinde , June 4, 1961, p. 13f.
  • Rupert Ostermann: Obituary , in: Der Sendbote. North American Baptist Organ , December 29, 1960, pp. 23–23.
  • Paul Spanring: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Arnold Köster. Two Distinct Voices in the midst of Germany's Third Reich turmoil . Wipf and Stock, Eugene (Oregon) (USA) 2013 (Dissertation at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bristol , 2011).

Single receipts

  1. ^ Rupert Ostermann in the obituary in: Der Sendbote. Organ of the North American Baptists, December 29, 1960, pp. 23f. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , p. 20.
  2. ↑ The certificate of discharge from July 4, 1923 indicates his name as "Willy Arnold Köster".
  3. ↑ Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, pp. 88–92.
  4. ^ Luckey: Obituary , 1961, p. 14. Reproduced in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 65.
  5. ↑ This was one of three lectures from among the 13 graduates. - Annual report 1922/23 of the Preacher Seminar, p. 12. See also Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , p. 21.
  6. ^ At that time Harburg-Wilhelmsburg. - The membership statistics in the community letter of the Evangelical Free Church Community Hamburg-Altona from November 1996, p. 18f. See also Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , p. 21f.
  7. ↑ Wiener Zeitung, Sunday, January 24, 1937, p. 4. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 24.
  8. ↑ Anabaptist Bote from December 1931, p. 1. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique, 2001, p. 135.
  9. ↑ Andrea Strübind: “We Christians among spectators”. The German Baptists and the persecution of the Jews during the Nazi dictatorship. In: Daniel Heinz (Ed.): Free churches and Jews in the “Third Reich” (Church - Denomination - Religion; 54). V&R unipress, Göttingen 2011, pp. 151–181, there 158.
  10. ↑ Anabaptist Bote January 1932, pp. 1–3: Article with the heading If you too recognized ...! , on Jesus' admonition to Jerusalem ( Lk 19.41–44  EU ). Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , pp. 140f.
  11. ↑ Ritter in his review by Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Criticism , in: Theologisches Talk 2003, p. 207: "The core of his criticism is directed against the self-glorification of Nazi ideology."
  12. ↑ Günter Balders (ed.): One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. 150 years of Baptist churches in Germany. 1934-1984. Festschrift . Oncken, Wuppertal / Kassel 1984, p. 89.
  13. ↑ Truth witness of September 11, 1932, pp. 291f. - Contained in the collection of sermons Lamp Light at Dark Place , 1965, pp. 143–148. Excerpts from this article in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 147f.
  14. ↑ Strübind: unfree free church , p. 65.
  15. ↑ An Anabaptist Bote from August 1933, p. 3.
  16. ↑ Andrea Strübind: Unfrei Freikirche , p. 79.
  17. ↑ Arnold Köster: The spirit - the divine life element of the community . In: Truth witness from April 1934, No. 15, pp. 117–119.
  18. ^ Truth witnesses , vol. 60, from April 24, 1938, pp. 130f. Excerpts from the documentation Competition… 1938 to 1940 , 1996, pp. 144–148; a short section also in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 61f.
  19. ↑ Erwin Ringel : The Austrian soul. Ten speeches on medicine, politics, art and religion. Vienna 1984.
  20. ↑ Hilke mentions this number in his article in the Wiener Zeitung 1937. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 59.
  21. ↑ For the transmission of Köster's sermons see Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, pp. 186–194.
  22. ^ Ritter in his review by Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , in: Theologisches Talk 2003, p. 205.
  23. ^ Sermon on Sunday, September 3, 1939. - See the documentation from Graf-Stuhlhofer: National Socialism as Competition ... In: Yearbook for the History of Protestantism in Austria 112, 1996, pp. 161f.
  24. ↑ a b c So Strübind in their review of Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public criticism , p. 332.
  25. ↑ Strübind: unfree Freikirche , p. 268, says that Köster here “clearly identified the Antichrist with Hitler” (on the content of this lecture there also p. 284, as well as in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , p. 8).
  26. ↑ The linguistically revised text of this lecture is contained in the sermon collection Lamp Light at Dark Place , 1965, pp. 107–123.
  27. ↑ Reproduced by Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer (ed.): Evangelical Alliance in Vienna from the First Republic to the Nazi era (1920–45). Edition of the meeting minutes and programs (= studies on the history of Christian movements of the Reformation tradition in Austria ; 2), VKW, Bonn 2010, pp. 145–151. An excerpt is also from Frank Hinkelmann: History of the Evangelical Alliance in Austria . 2nd edition, Bonn 2012, p. 64, cited as an example for the NS dispute of the Evangelical Alliance.
  28. ↑ Cloeter: Tagebuch , Vol. 2, p. 153 (kept in the Austrian Academy of Sciences . Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 97, or from Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer (Ed.): Evangelische Allianz in Vienna from the First Republic to the Nazi era (1920–45). Edition of the meeting minutes and programs (= studies on the history of Christian movements of the Reformation tradition in Austria ; 2), VKW: Bonn 2010, pp. 234f .: 1941–44: Papers in Cloeter's diary .
  29. ↑ Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 8f.
  30. ↑ Hinkelmann: Geschichte der Evangelischen Allianz , 2012, p. 66f., Says that it was more than clear to every visitor that Köster was referring to National Socialism, even without explicitly mentioning it.
  31. ^ Documentation from Graf-Stuhlhofer: The end of the war in Vienna ... ; in: Austria in history and literature 40, 1996, p. 115; an excerpt also from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 9.
  32. ↑ Andrea Strübind: The unfree free church. The Union of Baptist Congregations in the 'Third Reich'. Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1991, pp. 65, 268, 284, 336.
  33. ^ So Strübind: We Christians among spectators , in: Heinz: Freikirchen und Juden , 2011, p. 158.
  34. ↑ Markus Vinzent (Ed.): Metzler Lexicon of Christian Thinkers. 700 authors from the beginnings of Christianity to the present day. Verlag JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2000, p. 413 (Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer wrote this article about Köster).
  35. ↑ Paul Spanring comes from Austria and is a Baptist pastor in England.
  36. ^ Ritter in his review of Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , in: Theologisches Talk 2003, p. 208.
  37. ↑ Cloeter, Diary on April 13, 1942, Vol. 2, p. 188. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Evangelische Allianz , 2010, p. 234.
  38. ^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer: Jews and Free Churches in Austria. The attitude of the free churches in Austria at the time of National Socialism, illustrated above all by the example of the preachers Arnold Köster (Baptist) and Hinrich Bargmann (Methodist) . In: Daniel Heinz (ed.): Free churches and Jews in the “Third Reich” (= church - denomination - religion ; 54). V&R unipress, Göttingen 2011, pp. 311–330, there 316–318: “Hermeneutic discussion about the biblical reference to the present”.
  39. ^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer (Ed.): Evangelical Alliance in Vienna from the First Republic to the Nazi era (1920–45). Edition of the meeting minutes and programs (= studies on the history of Christian movements of the Reformation tradition in Austria ; 2). VKW, Bonn 2010.
  40. ^ Hinkelmann: History of the Evangelical Alliance , 2012, p. 67.
  41. ↑ Graf-Stuhlhofer: From the “Limit of the Possible” in the Third Reich , 1999, pp. 13–35, there 32–34.
  42. ^ Sermon on October 16, 1943, Konsistorial-Archiv Salzburg, files 19/4. Quoted from Peter Schernthaner: Andreas Rohracher. Archbishop of Salzburg in the Third Reich (= series of publications by the "Archbishop Rohracher Study Fund" ; 3), p. 56, note 192.
  43. ↑ Graf-Stuhlhofer: From the “Limit of the Possible” in the Third Reich , 1999, pp. 25–29.
  44. ^ Sermon on December 24, 1944. Quoted from Gustav Reingrabner: Sermon in “great” and “difficult” times. An example. In: Yearbook for the History of Protestantism in Austria 116, 2000/01, pp. 163–190, p. 176 there.
  45. ^ Reingrabner: Predigt , 2000/01, pp. 186f.
  46. ^ Karl Heinz Voigt: Free churches in Germany (19th and 20th centuries) (= Church history in individual representations, III / 6). Leipzig 2004, p. 178f.
  47. ^ Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , pp. 1–6. See there the more detailed explanation of this statement; also online as a reading sample .
  48. ↑ This distinction in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public criticism , p. 5 f.
  49. ↑ Sermon on May 13, 1945. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 253.
  50. ^ On April 29 and May 2, 1943. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 252.
  51. ^ Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, pp. 201 and 6.
  52. ^ Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, pp. 62 and 253.
  53. ↑ Strübind: We Christians among spectators , in: Heinz: Freikirchen und Juden , 2011, p. 158. Similarly Strübind: unfree Freikirche , p. 265.
  54. ↑ Erwin Schneider at the meeting on June 4, 1945. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , p. 225.
  55. ↑ So the evangelical pastor Georg Molin: Judentum und Judenmission in Wien . In: Judaica. Contributions to Understanding Judaism 8, 1952, pp. 207–223. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer, p. 124f.
  56. ^ Obituary for Köster by Rupert Ostermann 1960, as well as Adolf Böcker, who was in Vienna in 1941/42 and whose memories are kept in the Oncken archive . Reproduced in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , p. 225.
  57. ↑ Cloeter: Diary , Vol. 2, p. 293f. Quoted in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Evangelical Alliance, 2010, p. 234.
  58. ^ Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, pp. 209f.
  59. ↑ Hans Luckey, a former colleague of Koester at the Theological Seminary, in an obituary , 1961, p. 13f. Also quoted in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 30.
  60. ^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer (Ed.): Fresh water on arid land. Festschrift for the 50th anniversary of the Federation of Baptist Congregations in Austria (= Baptism Studies ; Vol. 7). Oncken, Kassel 2005, Part 3: Austrian Federation and Federal Administration (by Helmut Rabenau).
  61. ^ Hinkelmann: History of the Evangelical Alliance , 2012, pp. 82–87.
  62. ↑ At Koester's funeral, May announced in a conversation that Koester was “not just a brother to him, but also a dear friend”. So reported by Hans Luckey in his obituary , 1961, p. 13f. Also quoted in Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 29f.
  63. ^ Hinkelmann: History of the Evangelical Alliance , 2012, pp. 94–96.
  64. ↑ Cloeter, Tagebuch, Vol. 2, p. 510, on an alliance evening on January 7, 1959. Quoted from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, p. 98.
  65. ^ Quotations from Graf-Stuhlhofer: Public Critique , 2001, pp. 97f.
  66. ↑ Graf-Stuhlhofer: Fresh Water , 2005, chap. 2/2: Vienna-Mollardgasse (by Helmut Rabenau and Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer).
personal data
SURNAME Köster, Arnold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian Baptist preacher
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Wiedenest
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1960
Place of death Vienna
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on May 1, 2013 .