Carl Heinrich Juergens

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Carl Heinrich Juergens (born May 3, 1801 in Braunschweig , † December 2, 1860 in Wiesbaden ) was a German Lutheran theologian, editor, publicist and politician.

Pre-march

His father was a treasure collector. After graduating from school, Jürgen studied theology in Göttingen and received his doctorate. theol. He had been a member of the Corps Brunsviga Göttingen since 1820 . Afterwards he was pastor in Amelunxborn , Negenborn and Stadtoldendorf .

In the 1830s he came into contact with Karl Steinacker . Through this he came into contact with Carl Theodor Welcker . He worked as an author on the Rotteck-Welcker State Lexicon, which was co-edited by the latter, as well as on conversation encyclopedias and as the author of magazine articles. He was also a co-founder of the Gustav Adolf Association . As a result, he came into conflict with the church leadership.

After Duke Karl II's dethronement in 1830, Jürgens turned against a natural right to resist, but nonetheless to the princes, especially the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. strongly appeals to finally keep their constitutional promise from the time of the wars of liberation . In his work "On the necessity of radical reforms in the current situation in Germany" he turned against the natural law treaty doctrine of the nature of the state and against every revolutionary movement. Instead, he pleaded for a progressive evolutionary development. In essence, he always took this view later. From 1837 to 1839 he was a member of the Braunschweig state parliament . In 1842 he was re-elected, but did not take up the mandate.

Revolution 1848/1849

At the beginning of the March Revolution he was the leader of the liberal-national movement in Braunschweig. He was a member of the Frankfurt Pre-Parliament and the Fifties Committee . In these he succeeded in bringing together a group of moderates against radical forces who were thus able to prevent further decisions. For the constituency of Braunschweig-Stadt, Jürgens was elected to the Frankfurt National Assembly. He belonged to this until the end. He was a member of the central electoral committee and the constitutional committee. He participated intensively in the constitutional discussion. He belonged first to the casino faction and later to the Pariser Hof faction . He rejected a single German state without subdivision into individual countries. He noted the weakness of the National Assembly and the provisional central authority . He saw major mistakes in the dissolution of the Bundestag and the non-participation of the states in the constitution. During the constitutional debate, Jürgens urged that the resolution on fundamental rights be accelerated. He rejected a hereditary empire and did not elect Friedrich Wilhelm IV. As emperor.

Author and publicist

Since June 14, 1848, he published the “leaflets from the German National Assembly”, in which he roughly disseminated his ideas. When the newspaper became more and more a diatribe, initial supporters and employees withdrew.

In addition to his political activities, Jürgens was also successful as an author. This applies, for example, to his Luther biography , Luther from his birth to the dispute on indulgences , which has been published in three volumes since 1846. The text was widely received in specialist circles. After the end of the National Assembly, Jürgens concentrated on his work as an author and editor. He also published as a justification in two volumes in 1850: On the history of the German constitution . After a moderately reactionary government had been formed in Hanover in 1850, Juergens became editor of the official “Hannoversche Zeitung”. After the ministry resigned in 1851, he gave up this position again. During this time, Jürgens first moved to Frankfurt am Main and in 1860 to Wiesbaden. In 1857 in Frankfurt he became a member of the local Masonic lodge "Zur Einigkeit". Not least against the pro-Prussian stance of Johann Gustav Droysen , he published his “Studies on German History and Politics” in 1856. His work “Germany in the Franco-Sardinian War from 1856 to the Peace of Villafranca” from 1860 was anti-Prussian and Greater German.

Fonts (selection)

  • About the need for radical reforms in the current situation in Germany. Braunschweig, 1831 digitized
  • Luther from his birth to the indulgence dispute. Leipzig, 1846ff. 3rd volume digitized volume 3
  • On the history of the German constitution. Hannover, 1850-1857 2 vols. ( Digitized by the Digital Library of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)

literature

personal data
SURNAME Juergens, Carl Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lutheran theologian, editor, publicist and politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH December 2, 1860
Place of death Wiesbaden