Balthasar Düring

Balthasar Düring (* around 1466 in Königsberg , Franconia ; † autumn 1529 in Coburg ) was a Lutheran theologian , superintendent of Coburg and Coburg reformer .

Live and act

Düring was born as the son of Burg Vogtes and later mayor in the Franconian town of Königsberg. It is believed that he was baptized on January 6, 1466. Due to the lack of documents, it is very difficult to find out his life data .

In 1490 he came to the University of Leipzig , where he acquired the academic degree of a master's degree in theology in 1509 and later took on teaching duties. In 1516 he became pastor at St. Urbani in Königsberg and at the same time continued his lectures in Leipzig . In April 1518 he got to know Martin Luther and followed him to Wittenberg to join his ideas. There he met Philipp Melanchthon in August .

At Melanchthon's recommendation, he became vicar at the St. Moritz Church in Coburg on February 6, 1520 . Düring began reforming the worship service in Coburg , keeping to Luther's formula missae et communionis . During this time he maintained a letter contact with the Wittenberg reformers, who supported him in dealing with the hostility of the Old Believers.

In 1521 he was raised to the office of preacher in Coburg on the instructions of the Elector Friedrich the Wise . Now Düring was able to assert its influence outside of the city limits of Coburg. More and more conversions to the Lutheran creed took place. When the elector approved the church ordinance drawn up by Düring in 1524 , the old believing priests left and the Franciscan convent dissolved. From then on, the Coburg Land was Lutheran and this condition was no longer endangered even during the time of the German Peasants' War .

When Martin Luther Kursachsen the church visitations suggested dealing with the superintendent Duering introduced the first protestant church visitation in the Veste Coburg (1528/29) by which laid down the canonical relations. The city council was on his side. After his death in the autumn of 1529, the council immediately asked Luther for a successor who would be able to complete Düring's work. Luther then recommended Johannes Langer .

literature

• Emil Sehling : Protestant church regulations of the 16th century. Leipzig 1901, vol. 1, p. 47.
• Albert Greiner : Magister Balthasar Düring, the Coburg reformer. Coburg 1929.
• Georg Berbig : The first Electoral Saxon visitation in the Franconian region. In: Archive for the History of the Reformation (ARG) Vol. 3, 1905/06, p. 353.
• Krauss Chronicle. 1754.

Web links

• Thomas A. Seidel, Steffen Raßlof: Lutherland Thuringia. The Free State on the way to the Reformation anniversary "Luther 2017" p. 65 [1]