Gustav Entz

Gustav Entz (born September 14, 1884 in Vienna ; † October 15, 1957 ibid) was an Austrian Protestant professor of practical theology .

Life

Entz studied Protestant theology . Even before the rectory was established in 1914, he was a pastor in Hietzing . On Saturdays he invited students to read Greek philosophers together in the rectory.

From 1914 to 1922 Entz was pastor of the municipality of Vienna. In the Gasthaus Hullesch in Hadersdorf (today Vienna XIV., Mauerbacher Strasse), an "Association of Evangelical Believers from Hadersdorf Weidlingau " was founded in 1919 , which was soon followed by associations of the same type in Purkersdorf and Pressbaum . The first service was celebrated by Pastor Entz on July 27th in the Hartmeyer house in Hadersdorf, Viktor-Hagel-Gasse 2, the first preaching station opened on November 1st, 1919 in the house of the chief engineer Bade in Weidlingau. Two weeks later a Luther celebration took place in Purkersdorf at Konsul Meyer, Fürstenberggasse 2. The first service in Pressbaum was celebrated on June 6, 1920 in the elementary school . Here, as in Purkersdorf, separate preaching stations were established. The service was held every 4 to 6 weeks by Pastor Entz and Vicar Hans Huebmer. For the first time, the founding of a parish or branch parish of Vienna-Hietzing was considered for the Western Railway communities.

From 1922, Entz became pastor of the Vienna Inner City sub-community in the Lutheran City Church . He received his doctorate in theology. In 1922 he was appointed full professor of practical theology in Vienna, with internal mission becoming his specialty . In 1938 he became dean .

His ethnic-national and anti-Semitic attitude made it easier for Entz to apply for membership in the NSDAP after Austria's annexation in 1938 , but this was denied to him because he had previously belonged to a Masonic lodge . At the end of 1941 he was listed on a list of new employees of the German Christian Eisenach Institute for the Research and Elimination of the Jewish Influence on German Church Life . In the winter semester of 1944/45 Berlin decreed that the faculty should be closed , but Entz was able to reverse this.

After 1945, Entz remained a full professor and became vice dean in 1950 . Among his students was u. a. the theologian and deaconry scientist Herbert Krimm .

Criticism and debate

Karl W. Schwarz describes Entz as follows:

" Nationally German by nature , Gustav Entz became an ardent supporter of National Socialism and a staunch opponent of the Catholic corporate state , which he fought in word and in writing. After the 'Anschluss' with the deanery, he felt the opportunities his faculty had and tried to do so for larger tasks. From the correspondence with the Reich offices in Berlin it can be seen that he cleverly played off his interlocutors in Vienna and Berlin in order to navigate the house entrusted to him through the turmoil of the Nazi era. "

On April 1, 1938, Entz became a supporting member of the SS . In his Gau act, "military service" is denied, and Entz is described as "fit without a weapon".

In 1954, Entz's basic anti-Semitic attitude was expressed in lectures. A discussion of his 'political theology' was blocked by his adoring students (they called him "Papa Entz").

In the meantime, the Gustav Entz Foundation that was set up has been renamed the Wilhelm Dantine Foundation.

Awards

• 1954: Large Silver Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria

• Knight of Honor of the Order of St. John

Fonts

• Pessimism and flight from the world in Plato ; Tübingen: Mohr, 1911
• 400 years of Protestantism in Austria ; self-published: Vienna, Prof. D. Dr. G. Entz, [1939] ⁶
• Gustav Entz, Fritz Brand, Robert Kauer: The transition movement, Vienna, Evangelical Central Association for Internal Mission in Austria ; Writings of the Evangelical Central Association for Inner Mission in Austria 22; Vienna: Evangelical Central Association for Inner Mission in Austria, 1938
• Memories of 50 years of church and theological work (typed in the archive of the Faculty Library Vienna)

literature

• Karl Schwarz, Falk Wagner (ed.): Changing times and constancy. Contributions to the history of the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Vienna 1821-1996 ( series of publications of the University Archives , University of Vienna ; 10). WUV, Vienna 1997; on Entz as dean pp. 156–204, on Entz as professor for practical theology pp. 501–512.
• Karl Schwarz (ed.): Gustav Entz - a theologian in the confusion of the 20th century (= studies and texts on church history and history, 4th row: Zeitzeugen, vol. 6). Evangelical Press Association, Vienna 2012, 160 pages.

Web links

• Literature by and about Gustav Entz in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Evangelical Church Vienna ( Memento of April 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ History of Ev. Purkersdorf parish
3. ^ Stadtkirche Wien ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ New employees , in: Association announcements No. 5/6, December 15, 1941, p. 133
5. ^ University of Vienna ( Memento from February 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ Matthias Wolfes:  KRIMM, Herbert. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 25, Bautz, Nordhausen 2005, ISBN 3-88309-332-7 , Sp. 739-750.
7. ↑ In a documentation by 20 scientists from the University of Vienna on the subject of “Future with Legacy”, in: epd-Austria: Vienna Theological Faculties face their “Legacy”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically created as marked defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; News from March 16, 2006  
8. ^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer : Viennese Evangelical Professors of Theology in the Mirror of the Gau-Akten. Documentation on Beth, Egli, Entz, Hajek, Hoffmann, Koch, Kühnert, Opitz, Schneider and Wilke , in: Yearbook for the History of Protestantism in Austria 116 (2000/01) 191-225, there 197.
9. ^ Karl W. Schwarz: Insights of a visionary ; Review of the Entz critic Ulrich Trinks: Outspoken ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
11. ↑ Roman Pfefferle, Hans Pfefferle: Glowly denazified. The professorships at the University of Vienna from 1944 in the post-war years . V&R unipress, Vienna 2014, p. 345