Georg Schlosser

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Georg Schlosser (born April 25, 1846 in Darmstadt , † June 9, 1926 in Frankfurt ) was a German Protestant theologian . He worked mainly in diakonia , in the development of poor and sick care and as a pioneer of evangelical prison chaplaincy.

Go Councilor D. theol. Georg Schlosser

Schlosser comes from a family from Darmstadt that is characterized by Lutheran piety. Here he also spent childhood and school. Schlosser made the decision to study theology mainly because of his early social-diaconal interests; From 1863 he studied at the Hessian State University in Giessen and joined the oldest Christian student association, the Giessen Wingolf . Schlosser writes about the connection: “In terms of importance, it really surpasses everything that Gießen has otherwise given me for my life. “(Memoirs p. 71). After a short stay at the more experiential-theological faculty of the University of Erlangen 1864–1866, he took his first exam in Gießen in 1866, briefly studied in Berlin , and then at the obligatory preacher's seminar in Friedberg to prepare for the second exam in 1870 in Gießen.

Schlosser was in the Darmstadt city church on April 4, 1870 ordained , was initially field deacon in the German-Prussian War in 1870, pastor and teacher in Gernsheim , finally casting then first pastor in 1873 initially Mitprediger, 1876 First Second, at the city church (later called Matthäusgemeinde ).

From the beginning he turned to diaconal tasks, which were exacerbated especially by the industrialization and impoverishment of the working class in the empire; he kept in touch with Friedrich Naumann and Johann Hinrich Wichern from an early age . Schlosser founded the “Upper Hessian Association for Inner Mission ”, “the Evangelical Workers' Association ”, the “ Herberge zur Heimat ” and the “ General Association for Poor and Sick Care ” in Giessen . The latter in particular performed numerous diaconal tasks in Gießen, including a day nursery and a deaconess nursery . He was also one of the first to devote himself to prison chaplaincy and gave numerous lectures in Germany on the necessity of this.

The theological faculty of Giessen University awarded him a doctorate in recognition of his active diaconal work and the city of Giessen made him an honorary citizen.

Theologically he belonged to the so-called “liberal Gießen school” and stands in the unification of awakening theology and diaconal work in the classical tradition of his Wingolf brothers Friedrich von Bodelschwingh and Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen .

After the First World War , Schlosser - quite a social reformer - still vehemently intervened in the discussion of the conservative bourgeoisie about the revolutionary forces in 1919/20, especially in Wingolf and theology. Schlosser accused the old Prussian system of a lack of justice and charity, he expressed understanding for the revolting workers. In the monarchy they saw themselves “largely excluded from the higher goods of life and only looked longingly over the walls that separated them from them lavish tables at which the top ten thousand reveled (...) Isn't it understandable if, after they couldn't get their rights in the old state, they now expected the revolution to fulfill their hopes? " (Wingolfsblätter 1920 vol. 49 , 10).

From 1915 he spent his twilight years with his sons in Frankfurt am Main, where he died on June 9, 1926. Schlosser found his final resting place in a grave of honor in the old cemetery in Giessen . After the Second World War , the city of Gießen renamed Kirchstrasse to "Georg-Schlosser-Strasse" after its honorary citizen.

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SURNAME Schlosser, Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Darmstadt
DATE OF DEATH June 9, 1926
Place of death Frankfurt am Main