Hans Walter Krumwiede
Hans-Walter Krumwiede (born July 13, 1921 in Hanover ; † June 1, 2007 in Göttingen ) was Professor of Modern Ecclesiastical History at the University of Göttingen , where he played a key role in setting up the Department of Church History in Lower Saxony.
Life
Hans-Walter Krumwiede was born the son of an architect. He grew up in a pietistic parental home ( regional church community ) in Hanover. After 1933, his path, guided by the state, went from being a Christian scout to a youth leader in the Hitler Youth .
After graduating from high school, in 1940 he was immediately called up for military service. However, he soon received a serious wound, the consequences of which marked him for life. After more than a year in military hospitals, he was able to begin studying history , German , philosophy and general religious studies at the University of Munich in 1942 .
Adolf Hitler School and the “ White Rose ” became formative experiences for the young Krumwiede during the Nazi era. In addition, the Christian upbringing at home led him to confront the totalitarian, racist state and the struggle for the certainty of the right faith.
In 1945 he continued his studies in Göttingen. Here he received his doctorate in 1949 at the Philosophical Faculty. phil. PhD. His dissertation entitled Faith and History in Luther's Theology. Reinhard Wittram accompanied the development of historical thought in Germany (published 1952) . Further teachers in Göttingen were Hermann Heimpel and Hermann Dörries . While preparing to work on Luther's understanding of history, he came into contact with the Theological Faculty, where Hans Joachim Iwand sensitized him to Reformation theology. Krumwiede now studied theology and received his doctorate in 1955 with an investigation into the early history of the Fischbeck Monastery, founded in 955 ; in the same year he qualified as a professor at the theological faculty for the field of Church history in Lower Saxony. In 1957 he became a lecturer, in 1961 an adjunct professor and later a professorship for Church history in Lower Saxony. He remained loyal to the theological faculty of the University of Göttingen until he retired.
Impact history
The main focus of the scientific work of Hans-Walter Krumwiedes was the history of the Church of Lower Saxony. Since 1951 he was a member of the advisory board of the Society for Lower Saxony Church History, from 1963 to 1988 he edited its yearbook and from 1964 to 1990 he was deputy chairman of the society.
He was able to summarize the results of his many years of teaching in the two-volume Church History of Lower Saxony published in 1995/96 . In addition, his interest ranged from questions of the Reformation church orders to the efforts to reunify the churches in the 17th century to the conflicts in the church struggle of the 20th century.
Krumwiede kept busy with his youth during the era of National Socialism and his influence through family, environment and zeitgeist. Shortly before his death he published his memories of it with the subtitle "Between the Christ Cross and the Swastika". His experiences with National Socialist rule made him ask about the meaning of individual existence in his dissertation.
When asked how ethically reliable action is possible, Krumwiede found an answer in “Reformation personalism”, which was justified by Luther's doctrine of justification . Krumwiede found this personalism again in Dietrich Bonhoeffer. On the occasion of the Luther commemorative year (1983), he wrote Confidence in Faith and World Shaping with Martin Luther with a view of Dietrich Bonhoeffer for general understanding .
His research on church history focused on modern topics, including the relationship between state and church during the Reformation , the social question in the 19th century , the church struggle , the changeful relationship between Christians and Jews in Germany , the expulsion from the eastern regions and the German- Polish reconciliation gained particular importance.
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Hans-Walter Krumwiede: A youth under Hitler. Between the Christ cross and the swastika . BOD Norderstedt 2007
Fonts (selection)
- Faith and History in Luther's Theology. Investigation into the origin of historical thought in Germany . Evangelical Publishing House, Berlin 1952.
- Fischbeck Abbey on the Weser. Studies on Early History 955–1158 (= Studies on the Church History of Lower Saxony 9). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1955.
- On the formation of the sovereign church regiment in Electoral Saxony and Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1967.
- To the political path of the Germans. Lectures and essays 1964–1969 . Lutherhaus, Hanover 1969.
- History of Christianity. Modern times: 17th to 20th centuries . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1977; 2 1987.
- with Martin Greschat , Manfred Jacobs, Heiko Augustinus Oberman , Adolf Martin Ritter (eds.): Church and theological history in sources . Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1979/80 (and other editions).
- Confidence in faith and shaping the world with Martin Luther. With a view of Dietrich Bonhoeffer . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1983.
- The importance and responsibility of the expellees from the Charter 1950 to the “Ostdenkschrift” and the Synod “Expulsion and Reconciliation” 1965/66 to the present . ed. from the Eastern Church Committee of the EKD, WBV, Bamberg 1994.
- Church history of Lower Saxony . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1995/96 (one-volume new edition 2001).
- A youth under Hitler - between the Christ Cross and the Swastika . BOD, Norderstedt 2007.
Web links
- Literature by and about Hans Walter Krumwiede in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Krumwiede, Hans Walter |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Krumwiede, Hans-Walter (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German theologian, professor of modern church history |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 13, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hanover |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 1, 2007 |
| Place of death | Goettingen |