Carl Heinrich Schaaf

Carl Heinrich Schaaf (born February 28, 1827 in Werdum , † October 1, 1904 in Potshausen ) was a German theologian.

Live and act

Carl Heinrich Schaaf was the third son of the businessman and innkeeper Georg Friedrich Schaaf (1794–1849) and his wife Maria Elisabeth born. Lucas. He was considered a gifted child who should study. From the age of 3 to 13 he lived in the pastor of his grandfather Johan Friedrich Clamer Schaaf (1763–1848) in Werdum. This awakened an interest in genealogy in him . After the city school of Esens , Schaaf went to the Aurich Lyceum for five years . Here the deeply religious rector Reuter had a lasting influence. During his senior year at the school, school principal Rothert released him from classes for the most part and assigned him the task of teaching backward students during this time. From Easter 1848, Schaaf completed a three-year theology course at the University of Göttingen. In the last two semesters he heard from Friedrich Ehrenfeuchter .

In September 1851, Schaaf passed the first theological exam in Aurich before the consistory. He received the grade "excellent". Then he became a parish assistant on Langeoog , where his grandmother, née Leus, was born. He was the first clergyman there since the Christmas flood in 1717 , which destroyed the church, but only worked here for a short time. Due to his ordination on November 23, 1851 in Aurich, he did not have to take a second theological exam. In October 1852, following a unanimous vote, he took over the post of pastor von Strackholt , where he preached to a large audience. The church was expanded during his service. During this time he dealt with publications by Gottfried Thomasius and followers of the confessional movement.

On March 31, 1857, Schaaf was inaugurated as the elected pastor of Potshausen . In 1861 he married Elise Juliane Feltrup, with whom he had nine children. In 1865/66 a new building replaced the old, no longer sufficiently large church in Potshausen. From its foundation in 1869, Schaaf was involved in the regional synod in Hanover . He was committed to creating a lively cooperation between the Lutheran Church of East Friesland and the Old Hanover Regional Church, whereby he wanted to preserve the peculiarities of the East Frisian communities. From 1876 until the end of his life he was a member of the Synod's standing committee. In 1883 he accepted the appointment as superintendent of the 5th Lutheran Inspection, which he had previously refused several times. In addition, he worked for a long time on the committee of the Ostfriesische Missionsgesellschaft and was a member of the board of the general conference of the Lutheran pastors of East Frisia. He also published the East Frisian Sunday Messenger.

The University of Göttingen appointed Schaaf on his golden service anniversary in 1901 as a doctor of theology. He received the Order of the Red Eagle 3rd class from the Prussian King.

Works

Schaaf became known through two works:

• In 1862 he published a child-friendly explanation of the Small Catechism . The work was called "Schaaf's Catechism" and found widespread use in the East Frisian confirmation class and in religious education in Lutheran elementary schools. Twelve editions of this went to print by the end of his life.
• Schaaf published the Ostfriesischer Sonntagsbote , which experts at the time considered to be his real life's work. The Sunday messenger was founded in 1861 by Schaaf's friend Johann Heinrich Leiner (1830–1868) as a weekly Protestant house and family newspaper and initially had 600 subscribers. Schaaf led the Sunday messenger for more than 30 years and was able to gain more than 5000 subscribers. The net proceeds went to the Ostfriesische Rettungshaus in Großefehn and later also to the Emdener Seemannsheim. Together with the catechism, Schaaf earned around 50,000 marks.

literature

• Georg-Friedrich Schaaf: Schaaf, Carl Heinrich . in: Martin Tielke (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland. Vol. 1, Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Aurich 1993, ISBN 3-925365-75-3 , pp. 297-298.

Remarks

1. ↑ For the grandfather's life data, see family article in Ostfriesischer Biografisches Lexikon, Volume II, 1997, pp. 321-325.