Friedrich Traugott Wettengel

Friedrich Traugott Wettengel (born February 9, 1750 in Asch ; † June 24, 1824 in Greiz ) was a Bohemian Lutheran theologian.

Life

The son of the imperial court administrator Johann Adam Wettengel and his wife Johanne Sophie Steidel had received his first education at home. After receiving his first lessons at the public school in his hometown, under the guidance of a private tutor, he acquired the necessary scientific knowledge to be able to be accepted into the first class of the Gymnasium in Hof in 1765 . There he gave evidence of his speaking talent in Latin and Greek at three public school exams. In 1768 he devoted himself to theological and philosophical studies at the University of Jena , which he completed in 1770 at the University of Erlangen . It was there that Georg Friedrich Seiler (1733–1807) had a decisive influence on his scientific education.

In 1771 he received his master's degree in Erlangen and was a little later in a noble family v. Zedtwitz in Nentschau private tutor. The popularity of one of his sermons at that time won him the favor of a Colonel v. Falkenstein. Recommended by him, Wettengel went to Greiz in 1775, where Prince Heinrich XI. appointed court chaplain by Reuss . In 1780 he was given the character of court preacher and the management of the orphanage there. In 1792 he was superintendent and first consistorial assessor. For a number of years his restlessly active work proved itself, especially in 1792 when a seminary for preachers and school teachers was established. As an Old Believer, he prevented the hymn book reform in Greiz in 1806. In April 1824, in recognition of his services, he was given the status of a church council . But a hemorrhage that year ended his life.

family

Wettengel was married twice. His first marriage was on February 15, 1784 in Greiz with Juliana Barbara Catharina (* 1758; † February 28, 1784 in Greiz), the daughter of Johann Christian von Maunz in Regensburg. His second marriage was in 1796 with Christiane Friedericke (born April 11, 1766 in Plauen, † February 28, 1848 in Greiz), the daughter of the tax collector in Plauen, Johann Benjamin Eberhardt. After the death of his son Friedrich Wilhelm Traugott Wettengel (* August 4, 1800 in Greiz; † March 12, 1843 ibid), his widow donated 5000 Reichstaler for the poor and orphans, whereupon the Wettengel Foundation was established in Greiz.

Act

Wettengel, who had a thorough knowledge of the individual branches of theological knowledge and of the older languages, made a name for himself as a popular pulpit speaker during his time. His sermons on the speeches of Jesus on the cross, published in 1779, bear witness to this . In 1790 he answered the question of whether the symbolic books were a yoke for the free evangelical church with great acumen . In 1808 he tried to counter the view, which was contrary to his religious mind, that Christian preaching and public worship were less necessary in our days than at the time of the Reformation. He also made a name for himself as a hymn poet.

Works

• The last day of this world; in three chants. Greiz 1779
• Sermons about the speeches of Jesus Christ on the cross, along with two others. Erlangen 1779
• Contribution to the history of true Christianity, the pious life and blissful death of Frau v. Wolframsdorf. Greiz 1760
• Word of love to the Lord v. Bahrdt. . . 1780
• To the glorious death of Leopold, Prince of Braunschweig. Greiz 1785
• Reasons of consolation in the graves of our loved ones. Greiz 1785, 1791
• The high value of pure family joys; a sermon. Greiz 1786
• Instructions for the wise and fohen enjoyment of life, initially for the youth, in conversations and stories. Greiz 1789, 1792
• Are the symbolic books a yoke for the free Evangelical Lutheran Church? Greiz 1790
• Joseph II's silhouette drawn by a foreigner. Frankfurt am Main 1790
• Poems and songs for those who suffer. Greiz 1789
• The high value of a temple, sermon at the dedication of the town church, which was rebuilt after the cremation of 1802. Greiz 1805
• Lazarus the poor. Greiz 1806
• Are the Christian preaching office and public worship less necessary in our day than in the time of the Reformation? With regard to the opinion of the general superintendent Löfler in Gotha answered, etc. Greiz 1808
• The restriction of marriages viewed at the judgment seat of religion and reason, an unbiased investigation. Greiz 1810
• Beloved Greitz! See the seriousness and goodness of your God! Sermon held after lightning struck the town church. Greiz 1811
• It is peace! A sermon. Greiz 1814
• Victory and death celebration of the warriors who fell in the last wars. Two sermons. Zwickau 1819
• Call to Christians to celebrate the Sundays and feast days with dignity. Zwickau 1819

literature

• Heinrich Doering : The learned theologians of Germany in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Verlag Johann Karl Gottfried Wagner, 1835, Neustadt an der Orla, vol. 4, p. 709, ( online )
• Paul Heller: Thuringian Parish Book - The Reussian dominions. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig, 2004, ISBN 3374021794 , Vol. 4, p. 1399
• Georg Christoph Hamberger , Johann Georg Meusel : The learned Teutschland, or lexicon of the now living German writers. Verlag Meyer, Lemgo, 5th ed., 1800, vol. 8, p. 478, ( online ); 1812, Vol. 16, p. 206, ( online ); 1827, Vol. 21, p. 525, ( online );
• Friedrich August Schmidt: New necrology of the Germans. Bernhardt Friedrich Voigt, Ilmenau, 1826, 2nd year (1824), 2nd part, p. 1161, ( online )