Hermann Bergengruen

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the German Protestant pastor, peace activist and co-founder of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen see Hermann Hartmut Bergengruen .

Hermann Bergengruen (* 8 June ^July / 20 June  1872 ^greg. In Riga , Livonia Gouvernement , Russian Empire ; † May 22, 1919 in Riga, now Latvia ), also written Hermann Bergengrün , with full name Hermann Walter Bergengruen , Latvian Hermanis Bergengrūens , was a German-Baltic theologian. He is considered a Protestant martyr and is recorded on the Riga Martyrs Stone.

The dates in this article are based on the Julian calendar for the period up to 1918 unless otherwise noted.

Life

Youth and education

Hermann Bergengruen attended the grammar school department of the Riga city high school. He passed his Abitur examination in December 1892 . After studying theology, Bergengruen passed the ecclesiastical examination “pro venia et ministerio” (“for teaching and service”) as a pastor in May 1899. In 1901 the Riga City Mission was founded and he became its first inspector. He also served as city vicar. He was considered humorous and at the same time serious about important things. On February 17th, ^Jul. / March 2, 1902 ^greg. he was ordained in the Riga St. Petrikirche by the city provost Theophil Gaehtgens. Senior Pastor Emil Kaehlbrandt and Pastor Oskar Schabert assisted .

On November 19, 1902, he was accepted into the literary-practical citizen association . On December 5, 1902 he was accepted into the Society for History and Archeology of the Baltic Provinces of Russia . In October 1903 he was elected chairman of the Evangelical Sobriety Association . He was also in the administration of the Sprost Service Foundation, the literary-practical citizen association .

Pastor in Wenden

In July 1907, Hermann Bergengruen was elected pastor of the German township in Wenden in Livonia. There he was also a senior teacher at the private school. His marriage was considered happy, his work successful, and he himself grateful. However, it has been handed down that even at this time he was thinking about the way in which suffering would come into his life and whether he would then be able to cope with it. The anticipated misfortune began with a serious and long-lasting illness in his wife, which occurred when their children were young. Bergengruen did not complain about this, even expressing gratitude for the spiritual lessons he was able to draw from these experiences.

In 1915 he was exiled to Siberia for 18 months because he was considered suspicious as an ethnic German and Protestant clergyman during the First World War , although there was no evidence of an anti-Russian attitude. There was also no official reason. The accommodation was very poor, and Bergengruen was under police supervision, which restricted his freedom of movement. In this situation, too, he showed no bitterness. The circumstances were in stark contrast to what he was used to as a highly educated European, but which he wore with humor. He used the less varied daily routine in the remote place contemplatively. He believed that exile was God's punishment for his sins. He thought similarly about why God had sent the scourge of world war to the world. He tried to continue the pastoral work for his community by post. The letters had to be written in Russian.

The revolutions of 1917 allowed Bergengruen, like all those who were exiled for political reasons, to leave Siberia.

Livonia was conquered by German troops, which finally allowed Bergengruen to return to Wenden in May 1918, where he was gratefully received by his community. His sermons from this time can be considered creeds and showed how the seclusion of his exile had connected him to God.

Exile in Riga

At the time of the Latvian War of Independence , in December 1918, when the Bolsheviks were approaching Wends, a large part of the community fled to Riga, which seemed safe as it should be defended at all costs. Hermann Bergengruen found it difficult to answer the question of whether he should stay with the few who stayed behind in Wenden or whether he should join the majority of his community. He chose the latter. The military pressure of the Bolsheviks on Riga increased so that many fled from this city too, including the new Latvian government. People who stayed in Riga suffered mentally from the flight of the others. This moved Bergengruen to stay in town. After the escape of the pastor of the Petri congregation, he therefore took over his post. He expected the worst and openly stated that he would like to go on living. In his life-affirming attitude, he answered the congregation's complaints about the difficult time with the fact that they were suffering with Christ, referring to 1 Pet 4:12-19  LUT . He saw his sufferings as a natural part of Christian life, not as a special martyrdom.

On April 6, 1919, Hermann Bergengruen prepared in the sacristy of the Petrikirche for the upcoming service, during which he wanted to serve Theodor Hoffmann as Lord's Supper. He was arrested by the Bolsheviks, who had meanwhile taken control of Riga, and taken away, heavily guarded. His wife and children were arrested in their apartment in a timely manner, so that they met at the police station, where they could spend an hour together between the occupiers and criminals. Hermann Bergengruen expressed his gratitude to God for everything positive that he had been able to experience until then. He said goodbye to his wife with the words:

"Whatever may come, never get bitter."

Detention

Hermann Bergengruen was imprisoned together with his 13-year-old son outside the city in a large cell in the Riga Central Prison, in which the pastors Erhard Doebler , Alfred Geist , Theodor Hoffmann, August Eckhardt and Eberhard Savary were also held. All the hostages of the Bolsheviks were imprisoned here. The younger children of Bergengruen were released, and his wife was taken to the Matthai prison. Hermann Bergengruen and his wife learned nothing of each other's fate.

On April 20, Bergengruen's wife was unexpectedly released. Now she could secretly write to her husband. Nothing in writing has been preserved directly from this correspondence, as the letters were destroyed at Bergengruen's request in order to avoid serious dangers for himself, his wife and those who delivered the letters. It is known that the pastor did not complain about his fate in his letters either; rather, he expressed his gratitude for God's guidance and meant

"That nothing beats our strength what God asks of us."

In the letters his concern was with his relatives and fellow prisoners; At the beginning there was always a Bible verse that was supposed to encourage. He admonished his wife:

"Never take the joy out of children's lives."

He tried to comfort and please his fellow inmates and held devotions for them.

From the next cell in which the women were housed, he and the other prisoners, Marion von Klot , heard the song "I don't know the way either, you know it" in the evening. The prisoners expected an amnesty on May 1st, but this did not materialize. They were torn between hope and fatefulness.

On May 10th, Doebler wrote in one of his letters that morning and evening services were being held daily in all cells.

Bergengruen's letters increasingly took on the style of farewell letters; he adapted to his situation. His wife was able to meet him again in the churchyard, where he had to dig graves for the many who had died of typhus . His wife concluded from his gaze that he had already turned away from this world.

execution

On May 22, 1919, the prison was about to be stormed by a raiding party of the Baltic State Armed Forces , about which the prisoners knew nothing. Shortly before the Bolsheviks withdrew from Riga, the commissars entered the cell heavily armed and forbade any movement or word. Then some nobles were brought out. The iron door was closed again. After a moment of concerned silence, Eckhardt prayed aloud for those who had been removed. Before the end of the prayer the door was opened again. Now some pastors had to step out, including Bergengruen, Doebler, Hoffmann, Eckhardt and Savary. Hermann Bergengruen and 32 fellow prisoners (see the list below) were led in an orderly manner through the long corridors under heavy guard to the prison yard. Soldiers of the Red Army, who formed the guard, were posted there and now shot all those who were taken out.

Immediately afterwards the soldiers and commissioners fled. A little later, an armored car from the Landeswehr made its way to the prison, and the prisoners' relatives followed him into the courtyard. They were shocked by the sight they saw.

For his funeral, Hermann Bergengruen had chosen Psalm 103 (see Ps 103.1-22 LUT ), a song of  praise and thanksgiving, as well as Lk 18.13  LUT , the prayer of the publican (see Pharisees and publicans ).

literature

• Oskar Schabert : Baltic Martyrs Book. Furche, Berlin 1926, p. 137 ff. ( Digitized version ), whose sources:
  • Written records of Hermann Bergengruen's wife, Charlotte Bergengruen, née Bornhaupt
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church Gazette No. 5, Riga 1925
  • Personal memories of Oskar Schabert
• Günther Schulz (Ed.): Church in the East. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1996, ISBN 3-525-56385-X , p. 16 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
• Bernd Moeller , Bruno Jahn (ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia of Theology and the Churches (DBETh). Saur, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-598-11666-7 , p. 118 ( limited preview in Google book search).
• Harald Schultze, Andreas Kurschat (eds.): "Your end looks at ..." - Protestant martyrs of the 20th century. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 978-3-374-02370-7 , Part II, Section Russian Empire / Baltic States , p. 519.

Web links

• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia. 1914.
• Portrait photo of Hermann Bergengruen (bottom row, second picture from left)

Individual evidence

1. ^ At the Stadtgymnasium in the Düna-Zeitung , No. 289, December 21, 1891 ( Bergengrün Hermann | issueType: P )
2. ↑ Notes. in the Rigaschen city sheets , No. 1, January 9, 1892 ( Bergengrün Hermann | issueType: P )
3. ↑ Personal news in the Düna newspaper , No. 112, May 21, 1899 ( Bergengrün Hermann | issueType: P )
4. ^ Notes in the Rigaschen Zeitung , No. 10, March 7, 1902 ( Bergengrün | issueType: P )
5. ↑ From the minutes of the lit.-Prakt. Citizens' association in the Rigas city sheets , No. 1, January 9, 1903 ( Bergengrün | issueType: P )
6. ^ Society for history and archeology of the Baltic provinces of Russia in the Düna newspaper , No. 2, January 3, 1903 ( Hermann Bergengrün | issueType: P )
7. ↑ The Evangelical Sobriety Association in the Düna newspaper , No. 224, October 2, 1903 ( Bergengrün | issueType: P )
8. ↑ The literary-practical citizen connection in the Rigaschen Zeitung , No. 249, October 26, 1907 ( Bergengrün Hermann | issueType: P )
9. ↑ turn. Election of pastors. in the Rigaschen Zeitung , No. 159, July 12, 1907 ( Bergengrün | issueType: P )
10. ↑ Inlandsnachrichten in the Düna-Zeitung , No. 170, July 25, 1907 ( Bergengrün | issueType: P )
11. ↑ Dorpat. Hermann Guleke's funeral. in the Rigaschen Zeitung , No. 50, March 1, 1912 ( Bergengrün | issueType: P )