Friedrich Witt (theologian)

Friedrich Witt (born July 5, 1863 in Neustadt in Holstein , † September 8, 1914 in Altona ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran theologian.

Life and work as a theologian

Friedrich Witt was a son of the master shoemaker Heinrich Witt (1832-1904) and his wife Dorothea Sophia Magdalena, née Eckmann (1830-1928). Until his confirmation in 1879, he went to primary school in his hometown and intended to become a teacher. Thanks to the "truly fatherly care of a well-thinking man" he was able to attend the Eutin grammar school, which he left in autumn 1884 with the Abitur. After that, he studied mainly at the University of Kiel , Protestant theology .

After the ordination on August 21, 1890, Witt worked as vicar in Lütjenburg . On July 14, 1892, he moved to Preetz as second preacher . There he was particularly involved in the welfare of drinkers and youth work and gave lessons at the seminary.

On July 18, 1892, Witt married Bertha Barckmann (1867–1950). The couple had a son, who died in childhood, and three daughters. On July 4, 1909, he took over the post of provost of the Rantzau provost (based in Horst ), which he held until his death.

Working as a church historian

Witt had already dealt with the history of Schleswig-Holstein during his time at the Eutiner Gymnasium. From 1891 he wrote his own smaller articles about Neustadt and Lütjenburg. In 1897 he comprehensively described the school system in Preetz. As a board member he has been involved in the Association for Schleswig-Holstein Church History since its foundation in July 1896. He created an overview of all printed sources and treatises on the church history of the region and thus fulfilled the most urgent concern of the association. After a first edition in 1899, a second in significantly larger numbers appeared in 1913. These sources and adaptations of the Schleswig-Holstein church history were considered to be an important overview of the church, but also the state and especially the local history, until the 1970s.

Then Witt began to systematically record all handwritten documents. In doing so, he sorted the archives of both general superintendent's offices and, from 1910 onwards, edited directories of the pastorate archives of Schleswig-Holstein, which pastors had given to the consistory. The theological faculty of the University of Kiel intended to appoint Witt an honorary doctorate for this work . However, the theologian died before it was completed, leaving an approximately half-finished work.

literature

• Wolfgang Prange: Witt, Friedrich . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 1. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1970, pp. 282–283