Franz Lau

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Franz Christian Karl Bernhard Lau (born February 18, 1907 in Leipzig ; † June 6, 1973 there ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran theologian, professor of church history and head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Saxony .

Life

Lau, son of the district judge and later district judge Leopold Lau, studied history, Protestant theology, German and philosophy at the universities of Leipzig and Vienna after graduating from the Queen-Carola-Gymnasium in Leipzig . As an assistant to Horst Stephan , he was awarded a Lic. Theol. PhD. He then managed the pastoral position in Regis-Breitingen as parish vicar , where he joined the Pastors' Emergency Association and later the Confessing Church . From 1936 to 1938 he was director of studies at the seminary in Lückendorf south of Zittau, and from 1939 pastor at the Martin Luther Church in Dresden Neustadt . After the end of the war he was elected superintendent of Dresden. Soon afterwards he took over (with the title of state superintendent because Hugo Hahn, who was regarded by the Confessing Church as a legitimate bishop, was initially denied entry from Stuttgart to Saxony by the Soviet military administration ) was in charge of the Saxon regional church.

When Hahn was able to take over the office of bishop in October 1947, the way was free for Lau to pursue an academic career, which he had originally aimed for. As the successor to the dismissed Heinrich Bornkamm , he took over the chair for church history at the theological faculty of the University of Leipzig, which he held until his retirement in 1970. Here he made a name for himself primarily as a Luther researcher , among other things as editor of the Luther yearbook from 1957 to 1972, but also dealt with other topics of Reformation history and German church history (among other things as editor of the yearbook Herbergen der Christenheit ). He also worked on a voluntary basis from 1952 to 1971 as President of the Gustav-Adolf-Werk and from 1957 to 1972 as cathedral dean of the Meissen Monastery.

Awards

In 1952 Lau was awarded an honorary doctorate by the theological faculty of the University of Rostock . In 1965 he was accepted into the Saxon Academy of Sciences .

Fonts (selection)

  • “External order” and “worldly thing” in Luther's theology . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1933 (dissertation).
  • The salvation of the people and the gospel, spiritual and physical blessings. A contribution on the topic: Luther and the Present (= Theologia militans , Issue 13), Leipzig 1937.
  • The ecclesiastical order as an educational power (= Theologia militans , Book 17), Leipzig 1938.
  • The Gospel of Matthew , Kassel / Stuttgart 1949.
  • Luther's Doctrine of the Two Realms . Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, Berlin 1952.
  • Luther . de Gruyter, Berlin 1959 (several new editions and translations into English, Polish and Japanese).
  • (as ed. :) The faith of the reformers. Luther, Zwingli, Calvin , Bremen 1960.
  • Paul - Augustine - Luther. Justification not from the work, but from faith , Berlin 1961.
  • (with Joh. Pfeiffer, H. Schlyter :) Between Fundamentalism and Existentialism (= Lutheranism, Issue 27), Berlin 1962
  • (with Ernst Bizer :) History of the Reformation in Germany until 1555 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1964 (2nd edition 1969).
  • The Faith of the Reformers. Luther, Zwingli, Calvin (= classic of Protestantism 2). Schünemann, Bremen 1964.
  • (as ed. :) Legacy and obligation. Reformation memorial book , Berlin 1967.
  • (as ed. :) The Meissen Abbey. Essays on Saxon church history . Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1973.

literature

  • Four hundred and fifty years of the Lutheran Reformation. 1517-1967. Festschrift for Franz Lau on his 60th birthday . Evangelical Publishing House, Berlin 1967.
  • Helmar Junghans : In memoriam D. Franz Lau . In: Herbergen der Christenheit 10 (1975/76), pp. 227–229.
  • Helmar Junghans:  Lau, Franz. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-428-00194-X , p. 686 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Michael Plathow :  Lau, Franz. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 4, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-038-7 , Sp. 1234.
  • Ingetraut Ludolphy : Franz Lau (1907–1973). Church historian and advocate for the Protestant diaspora . In: Lutheran Church in the World 48 (2001), pp. 205–218.
  • Markus Hein: Franz Lau. For the 100th birthday on February 18, 2007 . In: Rector of the University of Leipzig (Ed.): Anniversaries 2007. People | Events . Leipzig 2007, pp. 9-14.
  • Markus Hein, Helmar Junghans (ed.): Franz Lau (1907–1973). Pastor, state superintendent and church historian. Colloquium on life and work on June 22, 2007 at the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig . Evangelical Publishing House, Leipzig 2011.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lau, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lau, Franz Christian Karl Bernhard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lutheran theologian
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1973
Place of death Leipzig