Christian Keyßer

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Christian Gottlob Keyßer (born March 7, 1877 in Geroldsgrün , Upper Franconia ; died December 14, 1961 in Neuendettelsau ; also with the spelling Keysser ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran missionary ("pioneer missionary") of the Neuendettelsau Mission in New Guinea . As a member of the German Evangelical Mission Council (DEMR), he was one of the leading figures in German missions. His suggestion of evangelizing entire tribes rather than individuals, a concept known as the "people's church", was considered controversial .

Live and act

Christian Keyßer was born in Geroldsgrün in 1877. From 1899 to 1920 he was in the service of the Neuendettelsau Mission in New Guinea (today Papua New Guinea) and continued the work that Johann Flierl had started there. In various of his works he describes his missionary experiences, in particular about the people of the Kâte ( dictionary of the Kâte language ; a Papuan community ), under whom he lived for twenty years ( Sattelberg station , near Finschhafen ). After the First World War , the Australian Mandate Government refused to allow him to re-enter New Guinea after a home leave. From 1922 to 1939 he was a mission inspector and teacher at the Neuendettelsau mission seminar . His memoirs were published under the title That's just me (Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verlag, 1966). In 1929 he was awarded an honorary doctorate ( Dr. phil. Honoris causa ) by the University of Erlangen .

In addition to his missionary work, Keyßer conducted extensive ethnological research, went on exploratory trips and wrote linguistic works. In his time he was considered one of the best experts on New Guinea.

“Because of his missionary practice, he was controversial, both among his colleagues and later in the German and international, mission science discussion. His aim was to give shape to the Christian message in the language and the ways of thinking and living in New Guinea. The traditional social structures should be preserved and transformed in a Christian way. "

Keyßer became a member of the NSDAP and the German Christians .

He was married to Emilie Heumann and they had three daughters: Jutta, Hertha and Imma Eleonora. His sister Frieda was married to the German missionary and ethnologist Carl Strehlow, who worked in the Finke River Mission in Hermannsburg , Northern Territory , Australia .

Publications (selection)

  • From the life of the Kai people. In: R. Neuhauss : German New Guinea , Vol. III, Berlin 1911
  • Colorful pictures from the missionary work among the Kâte, Society for Inner and Outer Mission in the sense of the Lutheran Church: Neuendettelsauer Missionsschriften; No. 36 Neuendettelsau, publishing house of the mission house
  • Into the wild woodland: from the helper mission on Sattelberg, Society for Inner and Outer Mission in the sense of the Lutheran Church: Neuendettelsauer Missionsschrift; No. 43 Neuendettelsau, Verlag d. Mission House, 1920
  • Bai, the magician , Neuendettelsau: Verlag des Missionshauses, 1923
  • Dictionary of the Kâte language spoken in New Guinea, Berlin: D. Reimer, 1925. 7 volumes.
  • Nalumotte: Stories of boys and girls from New Guinea, Neuendettelsau, Diakonissen-Anstalt bookstore, 1931.
  • Jungle walk , Neuendettelsau, Freimund printing works, 1950 Munich, Kaiser, publ. 1934
  • Zake, the Papuan chief, Stuttgart, Evang. Mission Edition, 1934
  • Old Testament and today's time, Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl., 1934
  • The world mission an impossible work? - Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl., [1935]
  • Der Geist , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl., 1935
  • The Prophet von Tobou, Berlin, Heimatdienstverlag, 1940.
  • A Papuan community. Neuendettelsauer Missionsschriften, No. 65. Kassel, Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1929.
  • The ghost wall , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Druckerei, [1950]
  • Zake, the Papuan chief , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl., [1949]
  • God's way into Hubeland, Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl., 1949, 2nd ed.
  • Is God Really There? , Basel, Basler Missionsbuchh., 1942
  • The Prophet von Tobou , Berlin, Heimatdienstverl., 1940
  • The Papua. A performance from the folk life of the hill tribes in New Guinea , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl. 1950
  • Papuaspiele , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Druckerei 1950
  • Papuan children , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Druckerei 1950
  • A Papuan community , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl., 1950,
  • Papua letters , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Druckerei, [1950]
  • The Prophet of Lies, Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Druckerei, [1950]
  • The Lopiong column , Neuendettelsau, Freimund printing works, [1950]
  • Heidenangst , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Druckerei, [1950]
  • The ghost wall , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Druckerei, [1950]
  • Ajo !: A mission book for the youth . Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl. 1956
  • Long journey: Stories for children (with Jutta Zimmermann) . Partly ed. by Jutta Zimmermann. - license d. Bookstore d. Berlin evang. Missionsges.
  • The Christian eater . Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verlag. 1954
  • Nalumotte: Boys and Girls Stories from New Guinea. Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl. 1953
  • Papuatorheiten , Neuendettelsau, Freimund Verl 1952
  • The boy thrown away , Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl. 1952
  • Papuan humor . Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl. 1952
  • The Grand Chief and his wife: A Papuan moral image. Neuendettelsau: Freimund-Verl. 1952
  • The Stone Age Farmer: A Report How d. pagan Papuans tilled his field. Neuendettelsau: Freimund-Verl. 1959
  • Teach All Peoples: Examples from the Small Catechism Mission. Neuendettelsau: Freimund-Verl. 1960
  • God's fire . Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verl., 1959
  • It's just me Life memories. (reprint) Neuendettelsau, Freimund-Verlag, 1966.
  • Kâte dictionary, W. Flierl and H. Strauss, eds., Canberra: Australian National University , 1977. ISBN 0-85883-149-X (see: en: Kâte language )

literature

Web links

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ cf. Klaus Mühlhahn: Interactions between China and Germany, 1897–1914 (= Studies on International History, Volume 8) 2000, p. 290, note 17 ( partial online view ) & Traugott Farnbacher: Community Responsibility "Beginnings, Developments and Perspectives of Community and offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea ". 1999 ( online, partial view )
  2. ↑ Erlanger Verlag für Mission und Ökumene (publisher link to Fugmann, Gernot and Philipp Hauenstein, 2011)
  3. ↑ Gunther Schendel: The Hermannsburg Missionary Institution and National Socialism: the path of a Lutheran milieu institution between the Weimar Republic and the post-war period . Münster: Lit, 2008 Zugl .: Göttingen, Univ., Diss., 2007
  4. ↑ Werner Ustorf: The mission council in the time of the "Third Reich" . In: Georg Gremels (Ed.): The Hermannsburg Mission and the "Third Reich". Between fascist seduction and Lutheran perseverance . Münster: Lit, 2005, ISBN 3-8258-8972-6 , pp. 21–34, here p. 22
  5. ↑ cf. Strehlow John , at edvkoala


personal data
SURNAME Keyßer, Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Christian Keysser; Christian Keyser; Christian Gottlob Kaiser; Christian Keyser
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German missionary
DATE OF BIRTH March 7, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Geroldsgrün , Upper Franconia
DATE OF DEATH December 14, 1961
Place of death Neuendettelsau