Hans Kreßel

Hans Kreßel (born April 14, 1898 in Erlangen ; † October 30, 1985 ibid) was a German Evangelical Lutheran pastor and theologian .

Life

On his father's side, Hans Kreßel comes from a long-established Erlangen farming family. He was born as the only child of the master baker Konrad Kreßel and his wife Barbara, geb. White, born. From 1907 to 1916 he attended the Gymnasium Fridericianum in Erlangen and began studying theology at the University of Erlangen in the winter semester of 1916/17 . At the beginning of the summer semester of 1917 he was called up for military service, which took him to Romania and northern France. In the interim semester of 1919 he was able to resume and continue his studies in Erlangen.

From 1921 he held the position of vicar in the parish of St. Stephan in Bamberg . In 1926 he was called to Mühlhausen as a pastor . From 1929 to 1942 he was pastor in Schweinfurt . On June 7, 1942, Hans Kreßel was introduced to the office of first pastor at St. Johannis (Nuremberg) by district dean Julius Schieder . There he worked until he retired in 1968. In 1956 he was appointed to the church council.

During his ministry and also during his retirement, Kreßel was a guest preacher. Kreßel died on October 30, 1985 in his hometown Erlangen.

Scientific and literary activity

Even as a high school student, Hans Kreßel published treatises on local history. With a work that brought the art-historical connection between the former monastery church Frauenaurach and the Ebracher Bauhütte, he was awarded Dr. phil. PhD. Later he also devoted himself to art, church and local history topics in his parishes. In Nuremberg he mainly dealt with Johannes Werner and Albrecht Dürer .

In the theological field, Kreßel researched and published on the subjects of Evangelical Lutheran worship and Wilhelm Löhe . He was a later representative of the Elder Liturgical Movement . In his liturgical scientific concept he started out from the dialogue between God and man. In doing so, he tried to take account of the development of the Word of God in, with and under human circumstances. He also worked on several theological journals.

Fonts (selection)

• Beyond the grave. Sermon lectures on death, resurrection, last judgment and eternal life , Bamberg 1925.
• Wilhelm Löhe as a practical theologian , 3 vols., Gütersloh 1929, Neuendettelsau 1952, 1955.
• D. Philipp Bachmann . The preacher and the liturgy , Leipzig 1931.
• The great works of God. Liturgical addresses and forms for all festivals of the church year , Ansbach 1934.
• The liturgy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria on the right of the Rhine. History and criticism of its development in the 19th century , Gütersloh 1935.
• The living community - the fate of the church , Gütersloh 1939.
• Visitation. Selected time sermons from the church year 1944/45 , Gütersloh 1947.
• The liturgy of the Erlangen theology . Its history and principles , Göttingen 1946.
• Our service. An introduction to the nature and course of the Lutheran worship service (= Kirchlich theologische Hefte 5), Munich 1948.
• On the history of the parish Mühlhausen in Upper Franconia , Nuremberg 1955.
• The game of God. Seven Franconian Stories , Neuendettelsau 1957.
• Simon Schoeffel . Magnalia and miniatures from the life of a Lutheran bishop , Schweinfurt 1964.
• Albrecht Dürer. The human being - the Christian - the artist , Nuremberg 1971.
• From the right liturgy. Prolegomena on a morphology of the liturgy, its shape and design , Neuendettelsau 1971.
• Before the downfall? What the signs of the times teach , Bad Liebenzell 1976.
• In the House of the Lord Forever , autobiography, Erlangen 1978.
• The St. Andreas Church in Kalchreuth. Gem in Franconia , Kalchreuth / Erlangen 1985.

literature

• Peter M. Kiehl: Designing church services as a craft. The liturgical academic work of Hans Kreßel (1898–1985). In: Lutherische Theologie und Kirche 32 (2008), pp. 49–62.

Web links

• Literature by and about Hans Kreßel in the catalog of the German National Library