Ernst Johanssen

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Ernst Wilhelm Johanssen (born August 14, 1864 in Sophienhof ; † March 20, 1934 in Marburg ) was a German Lutheran pastor , missionary and missionary theologian .

Life

Johanssen was born and raised together with eight other siblings on his father's estate, the "Sophienhof", near Preetz , which also includes the Sophienhof chapel (Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein ).

He came into contact with the external mission at an early stage through his mother, who founded a mission sewing association in Preetz and known personally to Franz Michael Zahn and Friedrich Fabri, among others , and through his father, who also had contacts with leading representatives of the German-speaking mission societies .

After graduating from high school in Plön , he studied theology in Greifswald , Basel , Erlangen and Kiel from 1884 . During this time Johanssen studied the writings of Søren Kierkegaard and Johann Georg Hamann , which increased his desire to become a missionary. He made the final decision to do so in 1889 after several meetings with Friedrich von Bodelschwingh , who also convinced him to join the EMDOA , although Johanssen had previously made contact with the Basel Mission Society .

In 1890 he joined the Bethel Candidate Convict and in 1891 was sent to German East Africa together with Paul Wohlrab, with whom he also founded the missionary work in Usambara and of whom he was temporarily president . From 1891 to 1907 Johanssen worked in the Mlalo mission station (vacation break 1894), where his son Paul Gerhard Johanssen was born in 1903 . In 1905 he traveled with mission inspector Walther Trittelvitz (during his inspection of the mission areas of the EMDOA) to Uganda to the British mission societies working there. Because of his talent for speaking and preaching, the Waschamba gave him the nickname "Ngovi" ("Annunciator", "Messenger", "Herald").

In 1907 Johanssen was one of the pioneer missionaries of missionary work in Rwanda as President together with Wilhelm Ruccius and the Washambachrists Abel Mtungudja, Filipo Shemweta and Shemlondwa , where he was also the founder and stationarius of Kirinda, where Johanssen was in close contact with the Tutsi ruler Mwami Yuhi V. Msinga , because he hoped to proselytize the indigenous population through him.

In 1911/12 he had a stay in Europe, after his return he worked briefly in the newly established Remera, after which he went back to Kirinda to have a missionary effect on the Msinga there. As the last EMDOA missionary, Johanssen remained in Rwanda until his capture by Belgian troops in 1916 and was then expelled from German East Africa by the Allies and forcibly transported through the Congo to the West African coast and from there to Germany.

In 1919 he was the founder of the "Association of German Protestant Missionaries" and editor of the association magazine "Our Experience". From 1920 he taught as a lecturer at the theological college in Bethel; from 1921 to 1924 he was pastor of the Bethel Zionsgemeinde. In 1925 he traveled to Usambara, from the end of 1926 to 1929 he took up the Bukoba mission again and was the founder of numerous new stations there.

During his time in German East Africa and in the Tanganyika Territory , Johanssen was one of the most influential figures of missionary work in the mission areas of the EMDOA. His work and conception of missions was determined by the high respect and appreciation of indigenous cultures , which he emphasized in his numerous religious studies , ethnological and linguistic works.

The final return to Germany followed in 1929. In 1931 the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the University of Münster awarded him the Dr. theol. hc , he was also a lecturer for “Mission and Primitive Religions in East Africa” at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Marburg in 1932/33 .

Johanssen died in Marburg in 1934.

Publications

  • Ubilikizi Wa Nyemi Ugondwavyo Ni Mateyo. The Gospel according to Matthew in the Shambala language , Usambara, East Africa, 1902; Reprinted by Kessinger Publishing 2010.
  • The life of the Shambala is illuminated by their proverbs. A contribution to the understanding of the natives of German East Africa , Berlin 1915 (together with Paul Döring).
  • Rwanda. Small beginnings - big tasks of the evangelical mission in the intermediate sea area of ​​German East Africa , Bethel 2nd edition 1915.
  • The Bantu people's idea of ​​God. The Imana thought among the residents of Rwanda , in: AMZ 1923, p. 149 ff.
  • Mysteries of a Bantu people. The Mandwa cult of Nyaruanda compared to the ancient Mithras cult , Leipzig 1925.
  • Spiritual life of African peoples in the light of the Gospel , Munich: Chr. Kaiser 1931.
  • Leadership and experience in 40 years of missionary service , 3 volumes (Volume I: Initial work in Usambara from 1891–1907 ; Volume II: The second job - Rwanda 1907–1917 ; Volume III: At home and in the service of reconstruction from 1918–1934 ), Bethel undated (after 1934).

Lexicons

  • Joseph Busse, Johanssen, Ernst , in: Lexikon zur Weltmission (LWM) , p. 247 f.
  • Ernst Dammann , Johanssen, Ernst , in: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon ( BBKL ) 3, Sp. 621 f.
  • Hans-Werner Gensichen , Johanssen, Ernst , in: Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions (BDCM) , p. 333 (online at books.google.de)
  • Hans-Werner Gensichen, Ernst Johanssen , in: Dictionary of African Christian Biography (DACB) , online at dacb.org

literature

  • Paul Wohlrab: Usambara. Becoming and growing a Gentile Christian community in German East Africa , Bethel 1915; Reprint Saarbrücken: Edition Finis Mundi 2005.
  • Walther Trittelvitz: Memories of Missionary Johanssen † , in: NBethMiss 48 (1934) 66-78.
  • Gerhard Jasper: A Herald of God , Bielefeld 1952.
  • Johanna Eggert: Mission School and Social Change in East Africa. The contribution of the German evangelical mission societies to the development of the school system in Tanganyika 1891-1939 , Bielefeld 1970, p. 210 f.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bauks: The Protestant pastors in Westphalia from the Reformation period to 1945 , Bielefeld 1980, p. 235.
  • Klaus Fiedler : Christianity and African Culture. Conservative German missionaries in Tanzania 1900–1940 , Gütersloh 2nd edition 1984, pp. 65–73.
  • Gustav Menzel: The Bethel Mission: From 100 Years of Mission History , Verlag Vereinte Ev. Mission, 1986, ISBN 978-3-9219-0009-3 .
  • Christian Möller : Impetus for church building from the external mission, presented at the beginning of the Bethel mission in Usambara , in: United Evangelical Mission (ed.), The diaconal dimension of mission. Lectures on the 100th anniversary of the Bethel Mission , Bielefeld 1987, pp. 57–81.
  • Niels-Peter Moritzen: What drives and what prevents a missionary from doing religious studies. Considerations based on two examples , in: Johannes Triebel (Ed.), The Missionar als Researcher. Contributions by Christian missionaries to research into foreign cultures and religions , Gütersloh 1988, pp. 157–160.
  • Walther Knoke: From Sophienhof to Lake Victoria. In memory of Ernst Johanssen , in: Jahrbuch für Heimatkunde im Kreis Plön 20 (1990) 148-154.
  • Walter F. Rapold: The God who comes home in the evening. The inculturation of the Christian concept of God in Rwanda by Ernst Johanssen (1864–1934) based on the Imana concept. A missiological contribution , Volketswil / Switzerland 1999, pp. 226-258.
  • Thorsten Altena: "A bunch of Christians in the middle of the heathen world of the dark continent". On how Protestant missionaries understand themselves and others in colonial Africa 1884–1918 (= Internationale Hochschulschriften; Vol. 395), Münster: Waxmann 2003, ISBN 978-3-8309-1199-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://travelingluck.com/Africa/Rwanda/Kibuye/_202021_Kirinda.html
  2. ↑ Menzel: “When the station was first set up, the two missionaries received help from the deacon Carl Holst, who was a gardener and who was sent out a month later . ... Carl Holst switched to government service after only one year, obviously not working to full capacity in his service, but probably too restricted in his freedom of movement. He died on May 17, 1894 in Dar es Salaam . "(Pp. 86 and 501)
personal data
SURNAME Johanssen, Ernst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johanssen, Ernst Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lutheran pastor, missionary and mission theologian
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Sophienhof
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 1934
Place of death Marburg