Christian Ludwig Gerling (theologian)

Christian Ludwig Gerling , also: Ludwig Gerling (born November 11, 1745 in Rostock , † January 13, 1801 in Hamburg ) was a German Lutheran theologian and chief pastor of Hamburg's Jacobi Church .

Life

Gerling was the son of the pastor of the Rostock Marienkirche (Joachim) Wilhelm Gerling (1695–1755) and his wife Margareta Agneta, the daughter of the pastor at St. Jakobi , Peter Becker .

Gerling was an orphan at an early age and was raised by his older brother, Peter Gerling, pastor at St. Mary's Church. He studied theology, first at the University of Rostock , then from 1767 at the University of Göttingen . Here he received his master's degree in 1769 and was appointed second preacher at the university church in the same year . In February 1771 he was appointed adjunct of the theological faculty in Göttingen. In 1773 he accepted the call to the German court preacher in London. In 1776 he came to Rostock as professor of theology and preacher at the monastery of the Holy Cross ; on December 26th of this year he received his theological doctorate in Göttingen. In the following year, on September 7, 1777, he was appointed as the successor to Samuel Christian Ulber as senior pastor at the St. Jakobikirche in Hamburg. On November 28th, he was introduced to his post at a festive service at which Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach performed a specially composed cantata. On April 28, 1784, he became senior in the Hamburg Ministry of Spirituality and thus the leading clergyman of the Hamburg Church.

On May 30, 1780 he married Lucia Charlotte Adolfine Helmer from Hamburg. He died in 1801, only 56 years old. Of his children, his son of the same name, Christian Ludwig Gerling (1788–1864), was best known as a mathematician, astronomer and an honorary citizen of Marburg.

Johann Heinrich Vincent Nölting wrote him a memorial.

Works

From preparation to death: a sermon. London 1774.
Sermon at the solemn introduction of the Venerable and highly learned Mr. M. Johannes Wolff, pastor at the evangelical St. Mary's Church in the Savoy in London, October 2nd, 1774 in an imaginary church. Miller, London 1774.
De summa atque aeterna Jesus Christ divinitate. Rosenbusch, Göttingen 1776.
Christian Ludwig Gerling's inaugural and farewell sermon in Rostock. Koppe, Rostock 1777.
Excerpts from his Sunday feasts and passion sermons. By year, Hamburg 1779–1788.

literature

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Text to the music, as ... Mr. Christian Ludewig Gerling, SS Theol. D. November 28th, 1777 was consecrated as main pastor at the St. Jacobi Church in Hamburg / was newly made and performed by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, director of the Hamburg Music Choir. Printed by Johann Philipp Christian Reuss, Hamburg [1777].
Johann Hinrich Vincent Nölting: In memory of the venerable and highly learned Mr. Christian Ludwig Gerling, doctor of world wisdom and the scholarship of God, senior of the venerable ministry, pastor of the Jacobite community, and scholarch in Hamburg. Schniebes, Hamburg 1803.
Hans Schröder (Hrsg.): Lexicon of the Hamburg writers up to the present. Developed on behalf of the Association for Hamburg History. Volume 2, Hamburg 1854, pp. 474–478 (with list of publications, digitized version )
Wilhelm Jensen: The Hamburg Church and its clergy since the Reformation. Volume 1, Augustin, Hamburg 1958, p. 135.

Web links

predecessor	Office	successor
Samuel Christian Ulber	Senior pastor at St. Jacobi in Hamburg 1777–1801	Bernhard Klefeker

personal data
SURNAME	Gerling, Christian Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Lutheran theologian, senior pastor in Hamburg
DATE OF BIRTH	November 11, 1745
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rostock
DATE OF DEATH	January 13, 1801
Place of death	Hamburg