Eginhard Friedrich Petersen

Eginhard Friedrich Petersen (born August 29, 1834 in Lübeck ; † September 18, 1909 there ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran clergyman and chief pastor at Lübeck Cathedral .

Life

origin

Eginhard Petersen came from an old pastor family in Lübeck. His great-great-grandfather, Peter Hinrich Petersen , became senior pastor at the Jakobikirche . His grandfather, Johann Friedrich Petersen (the elder) , was the main pastor at the cathedral and his father, Johann Friedrich Petersen (the younger) , was also a cathedral pastor . His brother Carl, however, became a farmer.

career

Petersen visited the Katharineum and was there from the Director Jacob and the professors Classen and jacket embossed . It was a special memory for him that he was allowed to take part in the German lessons given by Geibel on his behalf and that Geibel had developed a special affection for him.

After graduating from high school, at Easter 1854, Petersen began as the eldest son, also determined by the influence of his father's house, to study Protestant theology in Erlangen . At the local university shone at the time the triumvirate: Hofmann , Thomasius and Delitzsch . The Erlangen theology and Karl von Raumer exerted a great influence on the students through their personality . In addition to the scientific stimulation, he had a receptive sense for the natural impressions in the valleys of Franconian Switzerland and for the stimulating traffic in the old patrician house of the Merkel family in Nuremberg . From Erlangen he went to Berlin , where the venerable patriarchal figure of old Nitzsch and next to him Dorner, the cozy Swabian, and the philosopher Trendelenburg attracted the students. He spent the end of his studies in Tübingen . There he was greatly impressed by Beck's deep understanding of Scripture and his impressive Christian personality. Petersen had never belonged to a particular theological school, but followed the principle of his life: "Test everything and keep what is good." And followed the development of theology until the end of his life.

After returning to his homeland after passing the candidate exam (1859), Petersen took the usual path of the Lübeck candidates at the time . He made his living by teaching in schools and boarding houses. He worked his way through the occasional representation of sick or leave clergy at sermons . He taught in what was then the Petrian boys 'school, in the then flourishing girls' boarding schools of Miss Plessing and Miss Bousset and then joined the house of the widow Lind, who was then living in Lübeck, as private tutor and educator .

When the preacher Grautoff died after a brief period in office , Petersen was elected as his successor as a deacon on July 22, 1863 . If his talent was not adequately appreciated, it was because the youngest clergyman was only assigned the little-attended services at 2 o'clock. Only on a few festive days did they see a larger audience. With his inward-looking nature, he was never forced to take on honorary civil positions. So he was initially dependent on the care of pastoral care , for which the General Hospital under his control offered him many opportunities. Through his quiet work he gained trust beyond the boundaries of his community .

After the death of the main pastor Zietz, Petersen was given the main pastorate at the cathedral on May 16, 1879. Only then was he given the place that corresponded to his talent. Through his deep, content-rich sermons he gathered a growing circle of grateful listeners around him.

At the same time he was given the post of military chaplain. As a garrison pastor , he was initially responsible for the Lübeck Fusiliers (later 3rd Battalion ) of the 2nd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 76 . From April 1, 1897, Lübeck received his own regiment , he was the clergyman of the 3rd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 162 , which since the imperial maneuver of 1904 has been called the "Infantry Regiment" Lübeck "(3rd Hanseatic) No. . 162 ”. The dedication Petersen thereto was with the awarding of a medal award gebhrend recognized.

In addition to his official work, Petersen was now also active in other areas. He taught religion in the teachers' college for several years . At the suggestion of the ministry , he was appointed as a spiritual member alongside the senior in the church council and played a major role in the redesign of the Lübeck church constitution and the church parish order.

He has also made a name for himself as a writer. When his boyfriend and student friend Gustav Plitt died as a professor of church history in Erlangen , he left behind a half-finished manuscript that was supposed to depict the life of Martin Luther . When the Hinrichs'sche Verlagbuchhandlung in Leipzig asked Petersen to complete the book, he knew how to work his way into the train of thought of his friend so that the less well-informed reader would later not be able to determine what belonged to one or the other friend. The lively interest aroused by the Luther year 1883 should soon make a second edition of the work necessary. Another work of his are the considerations on the Philemon letter published in 1888 . This should prove to be a masterpiece of practical scriptural interpretation . In addition, several sermons and official speeches given by Petersen were found scattered in homiletic journals .

When he, caused by increasing sickness, sought his retirement on October 1, 1908, he was still deciding to celebrate a nice Christmas and New Year's party with his friend Blumhardt in Bad Boll in Württemberg , then for a longer time with his in to dwell distant children and enjoy their grandchildren. Accompanied by his son-in-law, Pastor Gay, Petersen went to Rome .

Back in Lübeck, however, his strength visibly waned and despite his lively spirit he died.

The funeral service took place on September 22, 1909 in the rooms of the churchyard chapel, which were filled to the last seat. At his express wish to give all the pomp at his funeral , a celebration in the cathedral had been refrained from. It was led by his eldest brother, Pastor Aereboe, the boys' choir of the cathedral church accompanied him, after the celebration his coffin of the military band followed to the sound of the chant "Jesus my confidence". After sinking into the crypt , the choir of the Jenisch'schen Free School , of which he was the long-time headmaster and whose school festival he attended 14 days before his death, sang the song "Where the soul finds home, peace" .

family

Petersen was from 1866 with Mathilde (1843–1916), b. Stahmer, married. She was the daughter of the Hamburg Senator Johann Stahmer and the sister of a close friend from university. From this marriage two sons and four daughters were born. The eldest son and a gifted daughter died before him.

The other son, Friedrich Petersen (1881–1933), became a well-known organist in Wiesbaden .

Award

• Order of the Red Eagle , 4th grade (1904)

Fonts

• D. Martin Luther's life and work. On November 10, 1883, described to the German Protestant people by D. Gustav Plitt, completed by Eginhard Friedrich Petersen, chief pastor in Lübeck. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1883. Online in the Google Book Search USA
• Philemon: The Apostle Paul's letter to this his friend in 9 reflections. Leipzig, Hinrichs 1889 ( digitized version )

literature

• Adolf Hinrichsen: The literary Germany. Berlin and Rostock: Album Foundation (Hinstorff) 1887, p. 464
• Senior Pastor Eginhard Petersen. In: Lübeckische Blätter 51 (1909), number 40, edition of October 3, 1909

Web links

• 2 Petersen's funeral sermons in the pastoral papers

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hermann Genzken: The Abitur graduates of the Katharineum zu Lübeck (grammar school and secondary school) from Easter 1807 to 1907. Borchers, Lübeck 1907. (Supplement to the school program 1907) Digitized version , no. 519
2. ↑ Also Christian Reimpell , later his successor as head pastor at the cathedral of Luebeck, should later served as Delitzsch again in Leipzig, studying at the sky there on academic theologians brilliant triumvirate.
3. ↑ Thomas Mann used Therese Bousset and his mother as a role model for Sesemi Weichbrodt in his 1901 novel Buddenbrooks: Decay of a Family . His brother, Heinrich Mann , used this as a model for the figure of the governess of the main character Lola Gabriel in his 1907 novel Between the Races .
4. ↑ Military weekly paper 89 (1904), column 2750 ( digitized version )