Gottschalk Kruse

Gottschalk Kruse (* around 1499 in Braunschweig ; † around Easter 1540 in Harburg, today Hamburg ) was a Lutheran theologian and reformer in Lower Saxony and the first representative of Lutheran teaching in Braunschweig.

Live and act

In 1508 the nine-year-old Gottschalk Kruse was given to the Benedictine monastery of St. Aegidien in Braunschweig by his widowed mother as a “puer oblatus” , where he worked as a monk from 1516. The Brunswick citizen Peter Hummel is said to have drawn Kruse 's attention to Martin Luther's writings first . Supported by his abbot Mag. Thiederich Koch and prior Hermann Boeckheister, he was able to start studying theology in Erfurt in the same year, listening to Luther, Melanchthon and Karlstadt . With the support of friends, he went to Wittenberg in 1520 to continue his studies there. Luther promoted him so much that he was able to complete his studies in 1521 with a doctorate in theology.

Reformation in Braunschweig

After returning to Braunschweig again, he preached the new teachings of Luther from December 1521 to January 1522 and thus exposed himself to the suspicion of running a heretic school. For this reason, his abbot sent him away from Braunschweig to calm the situation down to the village of Volkmarode , which belonged to the monastery property and was only a few kilometers away, but which was in the area of the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg . But he also had to flee from there, this time to Wittenberg, where in 1522 he wrote Lower Saxony's earliest Reformation pamphlet, “Von Adams und unsem Valle und Wedderuperstendighe” , which was printed in Braunschweig that same year.

Back in Braunschweig, Kruse preached from the end of 1522 to February 1523, but had to flee again and on March 19, 1523 only barely escaped an attack by the troops of Duke Heinrich the Younger . Thereupon Kruse fled the city for good , but in the same year wrote a justification with the title “Wörumme hee gheweken uth seynem kloester eyn underrichtunghe” , which he dedicated to the Brunswick citizens and which was printed in Wittenberg. Both writings ensured that the Reformation was even more popular in Braunschweig.

In Celle and Harburg

Luther recommended Kruse to Duke Ernst von Lüneburg , called "Ernst the Confessor" because of his confession of the new faith. Kruse was then sent to Celle to work there as a reformist. Between 1524 and 1527 he drove the Reformation in the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg , so he disputed z. B. in the presence of the Duke and the City Council with the Franciscans and showed them that they were deviating from the Holy Scriptures. Kruse can be regarded as the first general superintendent of the Duchy of Lüneburg-Celle. For the implementation of the Reformation he wrote the 27 articles and the sermon instruction as well as some tracts. Urbanus Rhegius found great support in him. From 1527 until his death in 1540, Kruse was a reformer and first superintendent of the small principality of Lüneburg-Harburg .

Works (selection)

Van adams vnd vnsem valle vnd wedder vper-standinghe. 1522.
To all pious mynic believers bes. D. instead of Brunswygk, D. Godschalci Crußen / Wörumme hee gheweken wth synem monastery eyn vnderrichtunghe. 1523.
Handelyng twyschen d. Baruotes tho Zeelle ynn Sassen, vnde d. suluest before preachers, de Mysse concerns…. 1527.
Article darinne etlike mysbruke by den Parren des Förstendoms Lüneborg discovered, vnde that yegen good ordenynge, with bewysynge vnd vorklarynge d. writes. 1527.

literature

Camerer, Garzmann, Schuegraf, Pingel: Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon. Braunschweig 1992.
Klaus Juergens: Kruse, Gottschalk . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 .
Walter Schäfer: Kruse, Gottschalk. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-428-00194-X , p. 149 f. ( Digitized version ).
Werner Spieß : History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. 2 volumes, Braunschweig 1966.
E. Wolters: A trace of Gottschalk Kruse. in: Journal of the Society for Church History of Lower Saxony. No. 42, 1937, p. 239.
Adolf Wrede: Introduction of the Reformation in Lüneburg's by Ernst the Confessor. Goettingen 1887.

Individual evidence

↑ Werner Spieß: History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 2, Braunschweig 1966, p. 642.
↑ Werner Spieß: History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 48.
↑ Werner Spieß: History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 49.
↑ Werner Spieß: History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 50.

personal data
SURNAME	Kruse, Gottschalk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Lutheran theologian and reformer in Lower Saxony
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1499
PLACE OF BIRTH	Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH	1540
Place of death	Hamburg-Harburg

[1] Werner Spieß: History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 2, Braunschweig 1966, p. 642.

[2] Werner Spieß: History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 48.

[3] Werner Spieß: History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 49.

[4] Werner Spieß: History of the city of Braunschweig in the post-Middle Ages. From the end of the Middle Ages to the end of urban freedom 1491–1671. Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 50.