Arthur Walter

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Arthur Walter (born September 20, 1860 in Riga , Livonia Governorate , Russian Empire ; † May 16, 1919 in Riga, Latvian SPR ), full name Arthur Hugo Walter , Artūrs Hugo Valters in Latvian , was a German-Baltic pastor . He is considered an Evangelical Lutheran confessor and is recorded on the Riga martyr's stone.

The dates in this article are based on the Julian calendar for the period up to 1918 unless otherwise noted.

Life

Before the Latvian War of Independence

Arthur Walter was a son of the pharmacist August Walter. He attended the Kuhls school from 1869 to 1870, the Zinck school from 1871 to 1875 and the city high school in Riga from 1876 to 1879, from which he graduated from high school. He was ordained in Riga on March 31, 1885 in Riga by Superintendent Girgensohn on March 31, 1885 , after studying theology from 1879 to 1884, obtaining the candidate degree at the University of Dorpat and taking his exams before the consistory in Riga. From September 14, 1879 he was a member of the Theological Association Dorpat; In 1882 he became archivist and in 1883 librarian of the association. He spent his probationary year from 1885 to 1886 with Pastor Walter in Kremon in Livonia.

From 1886 he held his first office, which was to be his last. He served as pastor of the first Latvian part of the very large St. Gertrud congregation in Riga, while Oskar Schabert was responsible for the German part and the Latvian Karl Freudenfeld for the second Latvian part. The total community comprised a total of 47,000 people, of which 12,000 were German and 35,000 were Latvian, which was possibly the community with the largest number of members in the Evangelical Church. The members of the congregation lived all over the city.

On September 17, 1886 Arthur Walter married Hedwig Hermine Walter.

Walter had a very good knowledge of Latvian. He was so committed to his community that he was often overworked. The main theme of his sermons was the love and grace of God, which was also based on his own life experiences. He never seemed to have any doubts about his faith. His life was determined by church work. Despite the enormous size of the congregation, he also took care of the little things and was thus able to develop a personal relationship with many individuals.

Due to the size of the congregation, three services were held every Sunday in the only church with changing dates. This led to confusion and, in spite of the good relationship between the clergy, on high holidays also to friction among the parishioners, as some people were already pushing into the church for the next service before the previous one was over. Therefore, another church was built for the Latvian community.

The foundation stone was laid on the Thursday after Pentecost, May 29, 1903, at 2 p.m. on the former market square. Walter put the Bible into the capsule, said a Latvian closing prayer and the blessing; it is also mentioned in the foundation stone certificate. The Neu-St. Gertrud ( New Church of Saint Gertrud , Latvian: Evaņģēliski luteriskā jaunās svētās Ģertrūdes baznīca), at which Walter and Freudenfeld subsequently served, was completed in 1906.

In 1911 Arthur Walter was awarded the pectoral cross together with Xaver Marnitz and other clergymen.

During the Latvian War of Independence

During the Latvian War of Independence , Walter and his wife were imprisoned by the Bolsheviks . When they were separated, he calmly called to her:

"Don't forget: the need isn't bigger than the helper."

The detention in the central prison was very difficult for him, but he never complained about it. Instead, he comforted many. Physically he was not very resilient. The prison authorities took his boots off as they were supposedly used by the army. Instead he received bast shoes. With this footwear he had to de-ice the road. So he stood in ice cold water with wet feet. There were no stockings to change. He always had colds from which he suffered greatly. In addition, there was the hunger from which all prisoners suffered. He was infected with typhus, which was rampant in prison . The Bolsheviks could not and did not want to fight this epidemic. The “bourgeoisie”, so their opinion, should die quietly.

Walters' wife was released after a short time and heard about her husband's illness. For weeks she tried unsuccessfully to be admitted to her husband. The doctor who treated him told her that Walter bore his illness with great patience. He was worried, however, by the economic hardship of his family, whose property had been completely confiscated.

Finally, Walter and his wife met, but it was only allowed to last ten minutes. He was passed out, so emaciated that he could no longer be recognized, and was dying. At that meeting, the guard stood next to the woman with a watch in hand and sent her out when the time ran out. Arthur Walter died peacefully of his illness just two hours later.

Afterlife

His community was shaken by Arthur Walter's death. Regardless of the great danger posed by the Bolsheviks, the congregation succeeded in ensuring that the pastor could be buried in an appropriate coffin. Despite the immense size of the church, it was completely occupied. Walter's death, for example, had sent the Riga Latvians the first clear signal against the Bolsheviks.

Only six days after Arthur Walter's death, Riga was conquered by the Baltic State Army .

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Walter, Arthur
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walter, Arthur Hugo; Walter, Artur Hugo; Valters, Artūrs Hugo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Evangelical-Lutheran clergyman, German-Baltic confessor
DATE OF BIRTH September 20, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga , Livonia Governorate , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1919
Place of death Riga , Latvian SPR