Gottfried August Ludwig Hanstein

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Gottfried August Ludwig Hanstein

Gottfried August Ludwig Hanstein (born September 7, 1761 in Magdeburg , † February 25, 1821 in Berlin ) was a Protestant theologian and senior consistorial councilor .

Life

The son of a criminal inspector was a student at the Magdeburg Cathedral School under Gottfried Benedict Funk . After studying theology, philosophy, mathematics and physics at the University of Halle , August Hanstein returned to his hometown in 1782 and worked as a teacher at the cathedral school.

Five years later he became a pastor in Tangermünde . Here he consolidated his good reputation as an educator and pulpit speaker. Hanstein's main focus was on practical homiletics (doctrine of sermons). He became known as a trainer for the next generation of preachers and, along with Friedrich Schleiermacher, was considered an outstanding homileticist of his time.

His most important sponsor was the influential theologian and senior consistorial advisor Wilhelm Abraham Teller . It was thanks to this that Hanstein was appointed preacher of the cathedral by the cathedral chapter in Brandenburg in 1803 . There he also taught at the Knight Academy . His career took a big leap when he was in November 1804 by King Friedrich Wilhelm III. was appointed as the future successor of Teller in Berlin. After his unexpected sudden death in December 1804, Hanstein was Teller's successor in his various offices. He became provost of the Petrikirche , superintendent of the diocese of Berlin and member of the Lutheran Upper Consistory in Berlin .

His time at the Petrikirche was overshadowed by the severe fire that completely destroyed the church building on September 20, 1809. In that year Hanstein was appointed to the "Section for Culture and Education" of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior after the senior consistory was dissolved . As a lecturing council, Hanstein took part in the preparation of the measures associated with the Lutheran Reformed Church Union in Prussia ( Evangelical Church in the Royal Prussian Lands ) that was carried out in 1817 . As a theologian fully committed to the Enlightenment , Hanstein embodied a supranaturalist rationalism influenced by sensitivity .

Hanstein was held in high regard by the Prussian royal couple. Under the protectorate of Queen Luise , Hanstein was a co-founder of the Luisenstift , an institution for the education of morally endangered boys.

The activities of Hanstein coincided with the deep crisis of the Prussian state after the military defeat against Emperor Napoleon in 1806. Between 1808 and 1814 the prominent preacher was popular as a patriotic pulpit speaker. Even after the end of the wars of liberation , his sermons, which were regarded as exemplary, found media coverage.

Schleiermacher gave the funeral speech at his grave. August Hanstein left a family. His son Wilhelm , a lawyer, became known as a chess player . Another son, August Hanstein, died in 1827. Fanny Hensel dedicated a fugue and the song Sehnsucht to him. To a dying friend . The composer Felix Draeseke was a grandson of Hanstein.

Works (selection)

  • Memories of Jesus Christ , 1808 (multiple editions until 1820)
  • The serious time. Sermons delivered in 1813 and 1814 , 1815
  • Life in faith. Sermons (2 volumes), 1831.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ To Hanstein
personal data
SURNAME Hanstein, Gottfried August Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1761
PLACE OF BIRTH Magdeburg
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1821
Place of death Berlin