Hans Nielsen Hauge

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Portrait of Hans Nielsen Hauge around 1800
Adolph Tidemand : Haugianere (1848)

Hans Nielsen Hauge (born April 3, 1771 in Tune, Østfold , near Fredrikstad , Norway ; † March 29, 1824 near Oslo ) was a Norwegian lay preacher and founder of the Haugians , an evangelical revival movement that had great religious, social and economic influence on the Norwegian rural population in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In his 18 years as a preacher, he wrote and published 33 books. Through his work as a lay preacher, he shaped Norwegian Pietism to this day.

Life

youth

Hans Nielsen Hauge was a farm boy from Rolvsøy near Fredrikstad . His parents were Niels Mikkelsen Evenrød and Maria Olsdatter Hauge. His last name, Hauge, is actually the name of his maternal family's farm that your parents ran. He grew up with ten brothers and five sisters in a family marked by deep pietistic piety. In addition to the Bible, the parents' household included The Little Catechism of Martin Luther and writings by Lutheran Pietists. Hauge received schooling only from wandering teachers who stayed in the village for a few weeks. So he had no higher education, but even as a child he read the Bible regularly and dealt with religious questions. After confirmation he helped in agriculture, engaged in various crafts and tried out new techniques.

The pastor of his home parish Tune, the Herrnhuter Gerhard Seeberg, recognized Hauge's zeal for education and allowed him to use his library. Seeberg's religious rigor, his moral rigor and his aversion to the theological rationalism , which is also widespread in the Norwegian state church , impressed and shaped Hauge. In the congregation, however, the pastor was not popular because he spied on his congregation members, excluded them from the Lord's Supper for alleged offenses and charged them with arbitrary tax demands. They complained to the government about this in 1786. Seeberg was suspended and released in 1795 after the investigation was completed. However, he claimed to be innocent and equated his condemnation with Christ's passion . Hauge was deeply affected by Seeberg's mendacity, but at the same time was stimulated to continue studying the Bible.

Awakening Experience and First Writings

On April 5, 1796 Hauge experienced its revival . He felt called to preach the message of the salvation of sinful people through Jesus Christ and the spiritual rebirth through the Holy Spirit, thus giving people the opportunity to be converted and saved before the last judgment. Over the next few weeks, Hauge spoke primarily to his neighbors, among whom there was a revival in the following months .

In the summer of the same year Hauge wrote his first work, Betragtning over Verdens Daarlighed (Contemplation on the folly of the world). In it he accused the pastors of the state church of not caring enough about the salvation of the congregations entrusted to them. The second book, Forsøg til en Afhandling om Guds Viisdom (An attempt at a treatise on God's wisdom), a summary of the Christian doctrine of the faith, followed in the fall . In it Hauge justified himself for preaching as an undergraduate: The apostles were also lay people . Thanks to the freedom of the press issued by Johann Friedrich Struensee in the entire Danish state in 1770 , he was able to have the writings printed, although he criticized the pastors of the state church harshly. In the years up to 1800 Hauge published eight more books in quick succession, each of which achieved several editions. In 1798 he published the book of the spiritual (or: spiritual) poverty which was wrongly ascribed to the medieval mystic Johannes Tauler . In no time at all, he became the most widely read author in Norway. The desire to read his writings promoted literacy among the Norwegian rural population.

Itinerant preacher

In the spring of 1797 Hauge began to travel through Norway as an itinerant preacher. Between 1797 and 1804 he wandered through almost all of Norway and Denmark on foot. In total, he covered around 15,000 km in eight years. He helped a little on the farms where he was allowed to enter and then gathered the farm residents and neighbors for devotion. Sometimes he held four prayers a day. Wherever a circle of followers formed through his work, he sought out a suitable leader, man or woman, who was responsible for the circle of friends and led its meetings. Soon his followers went on preaching trips themselves.

The 1741 by King Christian VI. However, the conventicle ordinance issued, the so-called conventicle poster , forbade such religious meetings , known as conventicles , and lay preaching. Another law restricted the freedom of the common people to travel. Hauge tried to prevent the confrontation with the law by always carrying a travel permit with him and always looking for contact with the local pastor first. Nevertheless, he came into conflict with the church regiment and the authorities. He was arrested a total of ten times - for the first time as early as 1797. Hauge met with rejection especially among the state church clergy, but also among the citizens who were inclined to enlightenment . Several of his arrests came from pastors or higher clergymen who tried to prevent him from doing his job. The charges were not only of violation of the conventicle poster , but also of sorcery and adultery. Often the envy of the less successful local pastors was also involved. In response to the arrests, which were initially only followed by short term imprisonment, he wrote several defenses. However, he continued his preaching trips over and over again. In many places he was welcomed by people who had already been converted by reading his writings. Sometimes he also received support from the authorities. Bishop Johan Nordahl Brun von Bergen declared that the freedom of the press also allows the same thing to be presented orally as long as it does not result in rebellion, which is not to be expected from Hauge's simple Christianity.

Hauge was a charismatic preacher. His message was severe in mentioning sin and its consequences, but warm and deep in describing communion with God. He was personal and direct as he challenged the individual to make a decision and move to a godly life. He spoke not only about religious topics, but also about ways to improve agriculture and the general living conditions of the mostly very poor Norwegian rural population. He saw economic success as a sign of God's grace, so he encouraged some farmers to found colonies in previously unpopulated parts of Troms , etc. a. in Balsfjord . In 1800 Hauge traveled to Copenhagen to present his reform proposals. His hopes for contacts with the leading ranks of the government were not fulfilled. But he took the opportunity to look at industrial plants near the capital. Back in Norway he established various companies from 1801, including a grain trade in Bergen, mills, small industrial companies such as brickworks, paper mills and a printing company and a newspaper in Kristiansand . He also used the water power of a waterfall. The spinning mill he set up in Drammen is still in operation today. These companies were run by specialists selected by him among his supporters; Hauge visited her when he came by on his preaching trips. With the income from these companies he financed his own preaching activities and those of his followers.

Detention

Hauges house in Gut Bakkehaugen

In 1804, Hauge was accused of undermining state authority through his unauthorized preaching. He was locked in a tight, damp cell in Christiania (Oslo) and was in solitary confinement for three years. He was banned from reading and writing for years. When there was a famine in 1809, people remembered his economic successes. Hauge was given the task of organizing the construction of salt mines because, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, not enough salt from the Lüneburg saltworks and other production facilities in Germany reached Norway to preserve fish and meat. In the following years Hauge, although officially a prisoner, organized relief for the poor in Christiania. From 1811 he lived under house arrest on an estate near the capital that his brother had bought for him . However, he was not finally released until Christmas 1814 in return for a fine of 1000 Reichstalers to the poor fund. The trial against him was the longest running case in Norwegian history, with over 600 witnesses heard.

Major political upheaval took place in Norway during his time in prison. During the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark's power was severely weakened, while Sweden grew stronger. In the Peace of Kiel on January 14, 1814, King Frederik VI. forced to cede Norway to Sweden. Christian Frederik , the son of the Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Danish governor, summoned 21 leading men of Norwegian politics to Eidsvoll on February 16, 1814 , who drafted the Eidsvoll constitution , which was passed on May 17, 1814 . There were also four Haugians among them. Even after Norway lost its hoped-for independence to Sweden, Haugians were represented in the Storting .

Later life and death

After his acquittal in 1814, Hauge did not resume traveling. He stayed at Gut Bakkehaugen and married his housekeeper Andrea Andersdatter Nyhus. There he received visits, preached and wrote several writings, including his 1816 autobiography Beskrivelse over Hans Nielsen Hauges Reiser, vigtigste Hendelser og Tildragelser (description of Hans Nielsen Hauges travels, most important transactions and events). Andrea died at the end of 1815 giving birth to their son Andreas, the only one of his children to grow up. After the death of his first wife, Hauge married Ingeborg Marie Olsdatter in 1817; the children of this marriage did not survive childhood.

Hauges tombstone on Gamle Aker kirkegård in Oslo.

In the last years of his life, Hauge also gained support from the official church and politics. After word got around that alcohol abuse was declining and yields were growing in communities where Haugians lived, economists sought him out to find out about economic improvements. Later he bought Gut Bredtvedt in Groruddalen near Oslo. He died there in 1824, shortly before his 53rd birthday, of the consequences of his imprisonment. He was buried in the Gamle Aker kirke cemetery in Oslo.

progeny

His son Andreas Hauge (1815-1892) was raised by his stepmother. He became secretary of the Norwegian Mission Society founded in 1842, pastor and from 1868 provost in Skien . He composed hymn book songs and edited several hymn books. From 1865 he was a member of the Norwegian Parliament for one legislative period. In 1875 he received the Order of Saint Olav .

His son Hans Nilsen Hauge (1853–1931) was also a pastor and member of parliament (1895 and 1898). 1903-1905 he was Minister for Education and Church in the last Norwegian Parliament before the separation of the personal union with Sweden and the independence of Norway.

Work and afterlife

Theologically, Hauge remained entirely within the framework of Lutheran Pietism, as summarized in the catechism of Erik Pontoppidan , the most important textbook in the entire Danish state. Hauge understood his vocation as an individual appeal to the individual. The whole of life should be under the control of the Holy Spirit and the external way of life should be based on the moral rules of the Bible . Christian life should be

His teaching spread through his tireless preaching activity, the formation of groups of friends with whom he stayed in contact through letters, but above all through his writing. It can be assumed that 100,000 people read his books in the years 1797–1801 alone, a ninth of the total population of Norway. His work comprises a total of 33 books, in addition to theological treatises, collections of sermons and a hymn book published in 1799 for the meetings of the Haugians. In addition, around 500 letters have been preserved.

The Haugian movement he initiated spread within the Lutheran churches in Norway and Denmark, mainly in rural areas and the poorer social classes. The individual groups of friends were connected to one another, exchanged views on religious issues and helped each other in economic need. Hauge soon encouraged his followers to go on preaching tours, sell his books, and write their own tracts . Social differences should not play a role within the movement and women and men should have equal rights.

The Haugian Awakening Movement was the first independent popular movement in Norway. In addition to the religious content, it led above all to an upswing in agriculture, which was recognized during Hauge's lifetime. Encouraged by Hauge's example, others also dared to introduce modern techniques and set up small factories. Alcohol abuse decreased significantly. Education also made progress thanks to his influence: literacy among the people increased. In 1812, Hauge's supporter Christopher Grøndahl founded the first Norwegian publishing house . Hauge himself contributed financially to the establishment of Oslo University in 1813. Nonetheless, the movement remained on the verge of illegality for a long time. It was not until 1842 that his successors Hauges achieved complete rehabilitation and the exemption from the conventicle poster , which allowed them to travel legally and hold meetings. Only then did he come closer to the state church.

Despite his criticism of many pastors and, in his eyes, false doctrines of the state church, Hauge did not turn away from it and also urged his followers to remain in the church. During his travels he attended the local church on Sundays. After the conventicle poster was lifted , the Haugians worked with the Church of Norway in internal and foreign missions. The Norwegian Mission Society was founded in 1842, for which Hauges Sohn worked for years, including the publication of the magazine Norsk Missionstidende .

The Hauge Institute was founded in 2005 to discover Hauge's ethical thoughts, inventiveness and organizational forms as inspiration for the modern economy.

At the Kreuzkirche in Bergen , of which he was part of the parish, there is a relief reminiscent of him.

Remembrance day

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Andreas Aarflot: Hans Nielsen Hauge . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon. (Norwegian).
  2. ↑ History of the Haugians (English)
  3. ↑ Thorvaldsen: A Prophet Behind the Plow, Hans Nielsen Hauge and his Ministry. P. 5f.
  4. ↑ Thorvaldsen: A Prophet Behind the Plow, Hans Nielsen Hauge and his Ministry. P. 2.
  5. ↑ a b Societies of Friends (English)
  6. ↑ a b c d biography on haugeinstitute.org (English)
  7. ↑ Thorvaldsen: A Prophet Behind the Plow, Hans Nielsen Hauge and his Ministry. P. 7.
  8. ↑ Thorvaldsen: A Prophet Behind the Plow, Hans Nielsen Hauge and his Ministry. P. 16.
  9. ↑ Thorvaldsen: A Prophet Behind the Plow, Hans Nielsen Hauge and his Ministry. P. 13f.
  10. ↑ Thorvaldsen: A Prophet Behind the Plow, Hans Nielsen Hauge and his Ministry. P. 15.
  11. ↑ Thorvaldsen: A Prophet Behind the Plow, Hans Nielsen Hauge and his Ministry. P. 6.
  12. ^ Hauge Institute homepage
  13. ↑ Hans Nielsen Hauge in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
personal data
SURNAME Hauge, Hans Nielsen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian lay preacher
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1771
PLACE OF BIRTH Tune, Østfold near Fredrikstad , Norway
DATE OF DEATH March 29, 1824
Place of death near Oslo