Heinrich Tilemann

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Heinrich Johannes Cornelius Tilemann (born June 18, 1877 in Norden ; † March 22, 1956 in Oldenburg ) was President of the Upper Church Council of the Evangelical Church in Oldenburg .

Life

Heinrich Tilemann was born in Norden in 1877 as the son of Pastor Tilemann. After obtaining his baccalaureate , he studied from 1895 to 1899 theology in Erlangen , Leipzig , Berlin and Goettingen . At the University of Erlangen he joined the Christian student union Uttenruthia in the Schwarzburgbund , in Göttingen the Schwarzburgbund fraternity Germania . On September 15, 1899, he passed the first theological exam. He then studied another year in Leipzig and was there at the Faculty of Arts with a thesis on Francis of Assisi doctorate . He passed the second theological exam on April 20, 1903 in Hanover . Tilemann initially worked as a prince educator for the sons of Prince Georg zu Schaumburg-Lippe . After his ordination in Hildesheim on October 29, 1905, he became a parish collaborator at the Marktkirche in Hanover . In 1906 he moved to St. Jacobi in Göttingen as a parish collaborator . He was then appointed second court and palace preacher and consistorial assessor in Hanover. In 1912 he was appointed director of studies at the Loccum monastery , where he led the seminary. During his term of office the renovation of the monastery also fell on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the foundation. On December 10, 1916, he was appointed the first spiritual member of the upper church council and first court preacher in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg . On May 1, 1917, he took up this position in Oldenburg. After the November Revolution of 1918, he turned to questions relating to the reorganization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg. On October 21, 1920, he was elected President of the Upper Church Council of the Evangelical Church in Oldenburg. Tilemann held this office until January 31, 1934. He shaped essential parts of the Oldenburg church constitution of November 12, 1920.

In 1924 Tilemann was awarded an honorary doctorate by the theological faculty of the University of Göttingen , after having received the title of licentiate from this faculty in 1916 .

Tilemann came into conflict early on with the National Socialists , who had established the state government in Oldenburg as early as 1932. The main aim of his resistance was to preserve the freedom of the church in relation to the state and to defend the freedom of conscience for Christians. In autumn 1932 the conflict came to a head, the Kwami affair, on the occasion of a lecture event given by the black African pastor Robert Kwami in the Lamberti Church in Oldenburg. The incumbent Gauleiter of Weser-Ems, Carl Röver , immediately rushed with racist tirades against Kwami and the event planned for September 20, 1932. The NSDAP called on the Oldenburg State Ministry to stop the African pastor's appearance. The parish passed the matter on to the Oberkirchenrat Heinrich Tilemann, who publicly stated that he had "never had reservations about letting certified Christian personalities from the pagan world have their say among us." Despite the public threats from the ruling National Socialists the event was held on September 20, 1932 as planned. When Röver did not withdraw his threats, the Oberkirchenrat, headed by Tilemann, initiated legal proceedings against the Gauleiter. Suddenly the official shorthand of Röver's speech disappeared, there were problems with the hearing of the witnesses and the Oldenburg State Ministry intervened in the judicial investigation of the events. In the end, the proceedings were discontinued at the end of December 1932 as part of a Christmas amnesty. The Kwami affair ended under the first National Socialist state government in Oldenburg, which caused a stir not only across Germany but also in the international press, just a few weeks before Adolf Hitler came to power .

As a reaction to the interference of the NSDAP in church affairs, the General Preachers' Association, the professional representation of the pastors, presented a series of theses on Christianity and racial doctrine, which received national attention. The energetic resistance of the Oldenburg church superiors to the accusations of the National Socialist state government had consequences for Tilemann, who was so harassed by the National Socialists after the seizure of power in the Reich that he submitted his resignation in mid-January 1934 and took up office with effect from January 31, 1934 provided. Tilemann had seen himself prompted to take this step when, after the seizure of power, he no longer received the support from the elected organs of the regional church that he needed in his resistance to the regime's intervention in all areas of society. When Tilemann finally disqualified the ordinances of Reich Bishop Müller on January 17, 1934 before the regional church committee as "not constitutional, legally untenable and practically not feasible", the regional church committee withdrew the president of the Evangelical church in Oldenburg from trust. Johannes Volkers was appointed his successor , who served until 1944.

At the time of the Second World War , Tilemann made himself available for representation positions in the parish offices of the city of Oldenburg. After the collapse of the Third Reich, however, Tilemann was not reinstated in his old office, which he had lost not least because of his indomitable resistance to the interference of National Socialism in the freedom of the Church. With effect from December 31, 1947, Tilemann was retired. He became involved in the school committee of the Oldenburg city council and was one of the founders of the Oldenburg University Weeks.

family

Tilemann was married to Ilse geb. Stölting (1886–1923), second marriage to Anna, geb. Lauw (1899–1936) and in third marriage with Helma geb. Tillmanns (* 1897).

Works

  • Speculum perfectionis and Legenda trium sociorum. A contribution to the source criticism of the history of Francis of Assisi. Leipzig 1901. (Diss.)
  • Diary pages of a German doctor from the Boer War. Munich 1907.
  • Studies on the individuality of Francis of Assisi. Leipzig 1914.
  • Where does the English self-esteem come from? Hanover 1915.
  • State and Church. Oldenburg 1918.
  • The Reformation and the Religious Moral Forces of the German People . o. O. 1918
  • History and history class. Oldenburg 1922
  • Sowing time, sermons and speeches from the years 1914–1924. Oldenburg 1924.
  • Of the blessings and dangers of historical education. Oldenburg 1927
  • The Augsburg Confession and the Protestant Parish. Oldenburg 1930.
  • State and Church under the sign of the national revolution. Berlin-Steglitz 1933
  • Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff. In: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 40, 1943, pp. 200–220.

literature

  • Klaus Schaap: Oldenburg's way into the “Third Reich”. In: Sources on the regional history of Northwest Lower Saxony. Issue 1. Oldenburg 1983.
  • Kokou Azamede: transculturations? Ewe Christians between Germany and West Africa, 1884–1939. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2009.
  • Christoph Reinders-Düselder: History of the City of Oldenburg 1830–1995 . Isensee publishing house 1996.
  • Heinrich Höpken: Tilemann, Heinrich. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , pp. 753-755 ( online ).
  • Heinrich Iben: The preachers of the Duchy of Oldenburg since the Reformation. Volume 2, Oldenburg 1941.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Goebel (ed.): Directory of members of the Schwarzburgbund. 8th edition, Frankfurt am Main 1930, p. 141 No. 3250.
  2. ^ The "Kwami Affair" on the website of the North German Mission, accessed on July 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Reinhard Rittner: Religion, Church and Society in the City of Oldenburg around 1930. In: Oldenburger Jahrbuch. 103, 2003, pp. 85-106, here p. 95.
  4. ↑ Reinhard Rittner: Sketches from the more recent Oldenburg church history. In: Britta Konz, Ulrike Link-Wieczorek (ed.): Vision and responsibility. Festschrift for Ilse Meseberg-Haubold. Münster 2004, pp. 106–119, here p. 109.
  5. ^ A b Heinrich Höpken: Heinrich Johannes Cornelius Tilemann. In: BLO III, Aurich 2001, pp. 401 - 403. PDF

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Tilemann, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tilemann, Heinrich Johannes Cornelius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian, President of the Upper Church Council in Oldenburg
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH north
DATE OF DEATH March 22, 1956
Place of death Oldenburg (Oldb)