Franz August Westphal

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Franz August Westphal, painting, 1829

Franz August Christian Friedrich Westphal (born February 20, 1779 in Thiede ; † February 20, 1847 in Braunschweig ) was a German Lutheran theologian in Braunschweig, court and cathedral preacher, director of the orphanage and garrison school and abbot of the Königslutter monastery .

Life

Westphal attended high school in Wolfenbüttel and studied theology at the University of Helmstedt from 1798 . From 1801 to 1807 he directed the orphanage school in Braunschweig. In 1805 he went on a three-month educational trip to Switzerland to learn about the new teaching method that had become known throughout Europe at the educational institutions run by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Münchenbuchsee near Bern and in Yverdon-les-Bains (Iferten). On the way to Bern, he obtained information from Wilhelm Friedrich Hufnagel in Frankfurt am Main about the newly founded model school , which was based on Pestalozzi's methodology. During his stay in Bern, Westphal also visited Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg's agricultural educational institute on his Hofwil estate .

From 1807 to 1819 Westphal was pastor in Klein Stöckheim (today as the Stöckheim district of Braunschweig). From 1815 to 1816 he was given the post of war preaching in the Braunschweig Army Corps. As a field chaplain, he took part in the Battle of Quatre-Bras and the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815 . On June 18, 1816, to celebrate the victory festival, he gave a speech to the Braunschweig troops on the parade ground in Braunschweig. When a memorial column was erected on the Braunschweig Nussberg in honor of Major General Johann Elias Olfermann (1776–1822), who commanded the Brunswick troops after the death of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm in the Battle of Quatre-Bras on June 16, 1815 , Abbot Westphal gave the Weiherede speech on October 18, 1832. In 1819 Westphal was appointed pastor in Süpplingen and there in 1821 appointed superintendent. In 1824, Duke Karl II of Braunschweig-Lüneburg appointed him court and cathedral preacher in Braunschweig, an office that he held until his death. In the same year he was appointed abbot of the Michaelstein monastery near Blankenburg am Harz. His appointment to the office of director of the orphanage and garrison schools in the Duchy of Braunschweig took place on July 27, 1824. In 1828 Abbot Westphal was also the directorate of teaching and education for the deaf-mute institute in Braunschweig, which opened on September 6, of the city's magistrate transfer. Westphal had already touched the severe handicap suffered by deaf and dumb children in earlier years. As court and cathedral preacher, he took on the preparation of deaf and mute children for confirmation. We have survived two sermons that he gave in 1826 and 1827 at the confirmation of deaf-mute youth in Brunswick Cathedral . He summarized his experiences with teaching and educating young people with hearing impairments in his 1830 communication on teaching and upbringing the pupils of the Deaf-Mute Institute , which was published in the book by Dr. med. David Mansfeld The deaf and dumb institute in Braunschweig from its establishment until the end of the year 1829 has been reprinted. On May 21, 1829, the Duke appointed him abbot of the Königslutter monastery.

In addition to his duties as the first preacher at Braunschweig Cathedral and abbot of the Königslutter monastery, Abbot Westphal was also pastor of the ducal family and appeared at public celebrations in honor of the reigning duke. In the case of political and military events in the Duchy of Braunschweig, he had to take the floor because of his ecclesiastical office. The ecclesiastical offices to which he had been appointed by Duke Karl II were up for grabs when Duke Karl II fled the country after a reign of only 7 years before the unrest in the Braunschweig Revolution of September 1830. But Karl's brother and successor, Duke Wilhelm, confirmed Westphal in his offices and so he was able to participate in the solemn oath of service by the Braunschweig Troop Corps on the day Duke Wilhelm took office. Westphal then held the sermon in Braunschweig Cathedral on April 25, 1831 on the occasion of the new Duke's inauguration and the service at the opening of the general parliament on September 30, 1831.

Westphal died on February 20, 1847. After his death, Westphal became known nationwide through newspaper reports about an alleged death vision. Then he was woken up during the night while he was pastor in Klein Stöckheim by knocking on the door of the rectory. A man he did not know led him wordlessly to the open church door and immediately disappeared. On the door the pastor was able to decipher the words "Abbot Westphal, died February 20, 1847". He shared his experience with his family without revealing the year. And in fact the pastor was later appointed abbot and died on the announced day of death.

Private

Westphal was the eldest of three sons of the pastor and superintendent of St. Georg in Thiede, Ferdinand Ernst Westphal (1735–1804) and his wife Charlotte Sophie Westphal born. Knittel (1758-1840). His younger brother Ludwig August Wilhelm Westphal (1785-1825) was superintendent in Hesse at Osterwieck. The other brother Wilhelm Heinrich Julius Westphal (1792-1850) became a clergyman consistorial councilor in Wolfenbüttel in 1840 and died of cholera. His grandfather, the notary Urban Georg Westphal (1699–1743) from Königslutter, was in the service of the ducal court in Wolfenbüttel. His maternal grandfather was the theologian, consistorial counselor and general superintendent in Wolfenbüttel Franz Anton Knittel (1721–1792), who became known through his discovery of fragments of the " Gothic Bible of Bishop Ulfila " in the ducal library in Wolfenbüttel and his controversial Latin translation.

Westphal was married to Johanne Juliane Luise Westphal, b. Dankworth (1784–1861), daughter of Johann Philipp Dankworth (1748–1827) and Wilhelmine Marie Justine Dankworth, b. Stallmann (* 1753 in Engelnstedt / Salzgitter). His father-in-law Dankworth was initially school and arithmetic master and later commisair and accounting officer of the "Ducal Intelligence Comtoir" (official advertising paper) in Braunschweig. Since his appointment as court and cathedral preacher in Braunschweig in 1824, Westphal lived with his family in the canons' houses of the monastery of St. Blasii, Castle No. 4 (today Small Castle No. 4). Direct descendants of Abbot Westphal are u. a. Heinrich Westphal (1859–1920), pharmacist in Jerxheim, Helmstedt district, and his sons Hans and Heinrich Westphal. Hans Westphal (1895–1974) also became a pharmacist at the Salzgitter-Thiede site. His descendants run two pharmacies there. Hans Westphal's older brother, Heinrich Westphal (1889–1945), was an architect of New Building in the 1920s. His grandson Bernd Westphal (* 1944) is a German diplomat .

Awards

On September 19, 1837, the theological faculty of the University of Göttingen awarded him a doctorate in theology on the occasion of the 100th anniversary celebration. For his participation in the battles of Quatre-Bras and Waterloo as field chaplain of the Brunswick Troop Corps, he was awarded the ducal medal in memory of the campaign in 1815 .

literature

  • Georg Seebaß and Friedrich-Wilhelm Feist: The pastors of the Braunschweig Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church since the Reformation was introduced , Regional Church Office, Wolfenbüttel, Vol. I 1969 and Vol. II 1974
  • Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, editor on behalf of the Braunschweigische Landschaft: Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon, 8th to 18th centuries , Appelhans, Braunschweig 2006
  • Johannes Beste: History of the Braunschweigische Landeskirche from the Reformation up to our days by Johannes Beste, pastor at the main church BMV zu Wolfenbüttel , Zwißler, Wolfenbüttel 1889, digital library TU Braunschweig .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Westphal recorded his travel experiences in an extensive diary that has been preserved in the family's possession.
  2. ↑ For the life data see data sheet of the German National Library ; and Johannes Beste, History of the Braunschweigische Landeskirche from the Reformation to our days , Zwißler, Wolfenbüttel 1889, note 25, p. 710 .
  3. ^ Carl Venturini, editor: Outline of a pragmatic history of the war system in the Herzogthume Braunschweig, III. Name list of officers of the Ducal Field Corps from 1815). P. 125, online .
  4. ↑ see speech to the Braunschweig troops for the celebration of the Victory Festival on June 18, 1816 […] , orphanage printing works, Braunschweig 1816, 8 p., Location: Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Library, shelfmark: Gn Kapsel 43 (2).
  5. ↑ Ludwig Hänselmann †, Brunswick city archivist: Duke Friedrich Wilhelm and Major General Elias Olfermann , in: Yearbook of the History Association for the Duchy of Braunschweig. Vol. 12.1913, p. 144 .
  6. ↑ Georg Seebaß and Friedrich-Wilhelm Feist: The pastors of the Braunschweig Evangelical Lutheran Church […] , Regional Church Office, Wolfenbüttel, Volume I 1969, p. 183.
  7. ↑ Georg Seebaß and Friedrich-Wilhelm Feist: The pastors of the Braunschweig Evangelical Lutheran Church […] , Regional Church Office, Wolfenbüttel, Volume I 1969, p. 7.
  8. ↑ DNB 1020798475 and salutation when taking over the directorate of the Fürstl. Orphanage and garrison schools in Braunschweig […] , Braunschweig 1824, 14 pages, location: Braunschweig City Library, call number: I 37.97.
  9. ^ Hajo H. Frerichs: Chronicle of the State Education Center for the Hearing Impaired Braunschweig: a collection of texts: 175 years of education for the hearing impaired in Braunschweig , p. 24, online .
  10. ↑ Franz August Westphal: Speech in the public confirmation of two deaf and mutes on the 12th Sunday of Trinity, August 13th 1826 […] , Ms. Vieweg u. Sohn, Braunschweig 1826, 19 pages, location: Braunschweig City Library, signature: brochure. I 37.975, also reproduced in the Chronicle of the State Education Center for the Hearing Impaired Braunschweig , pp. 19-22, online and speech at the public confirmation of two deaf-mutes, on the twelfth Sunday of Trinity 1827 […] , Fr. Vieweg u. Sohn, Braunschweig, 1827, 22 p., Location: Braunschweig City Library, signature: brochure. I 37.974.
  11. ^ David Mansfeld and FA Westphal: The deaf-mute institute in Braunschweig from its establishment to the end of 1829 […] , Ms. Vieweg u. Sohn, Braunschweig 1830, pp. 60–70, online ( Memento from January 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ).
  12. ^ See communication in the Allgemeine Kirchenzeitung No. 92, June 13, 1829, p. 751 .
  13. ↑ see sermon on the birthday party of His High Prince Highness, the Sovereign Duke and Mr. Carl von Braunschweig-Lüneburg etc. etc., delivered on October 30th 1828 by FA Westphal , Braunschweig 1828, 16 p., Location: Braunschweig City Library, signature: Brosch. I 37.970.
  14. ↑ see flag consecration speech on June 18, 1826 before the assembled Braunschweigischen Troop Corps […] , Ms. Vieweg u. Sohn, Braunschweig 1826, 4 sheets, locations: University Library of the TU Braunschweig, call number: 2300-9758 and Digital Library TU Braunschweig ( Memento from August 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ).
  15. ↑ see address to the Braunschweigische Troop Corps before taking the oath of service on the large Exercierplatze on April 20th, 1831 […] , Ms. Krampe, Braunschweig approx. 1831, 8 p., Location: Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, signature: M: Gn Kapsel 43 (3).
  16. ^ See homage sermon on the feast of the inauguration of the government of Sr. High Princely Highness of Duke Wilhelm zu Braunschweig-Lüneburg [...] , Ms. Krampe, Braunschweig 1831, location: Braunschweig City Library, signature: brochure. I 36,693 and sermon at the opening of the general parliament on September 30, 1831 […] , Ms. Vieweg u. Sohn, Braunschweig 1831, 14 p., Location: Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, call number: M: Gn 13440.
  17. ↑ Date of death see data sheet of the German National Library and City Chronicle Braunschweig .
  18. ↑ see e.g. B. Announcement in Illyrian Journal for Fatherland, Art, Science and Social Life , v. Kleinmayr, Laibach, issue No. 23 of March 20, 1847 , p. 92.
  19. ↑ Georg Seebaß and Friedrich-Wilhelm Feist: The pastors of the Braunschweig Evangelical Lutheran Church […] , Regional Church Office, Wolfenbüttel, Volume II 1974, p. 343 u. 344.
  20. ↑ Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, editor on behalf of the Braunschweigische Landschaft: Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon, 8th to 18th centuries , Appelhans, Braunschweig 2006, p. 399 a. 400 and Zimmermann, Paul: "Knittel, Franz Anton", in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Bd .: 16, Kircher-v. Kotzebue , Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, pp. 299-300 .
  21. ↑ see Braunschweigisches address book for the year 1826 , Meyer, Braunschweig 1826, p. 17, PDF online at the TU Braunschweig ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
  22. ↑ see Braunschweigisches address book for the year 1830 , Meyer, Braunschweig 1830, p. 115, PDF online at TU Braunschweig ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ↑ see article 100 Years of Pharmacy Thiede-Steterburg , to be found at: http://www.bjoern-westphal.de/100_Jahre.pdf
  24. ↑ see report in Göttingische learned advertisements, the third volume on the year 1837 , pp. 1659–1661, online .
personal data
SURNAME Westphal, Franz August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Westphal, Franz August Christian Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1779
PLACE OF BIRTH Thiede
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 1847
Place of death Braunschweig