Heyno Gottschalk

Heyno Gottschalk († 1541 in Oldenstadt ) was the last abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Oldenstadt from 1506 to 1531 . He is important as "an early and careful reader, mediator and translator of Luther's writings over a period of 20 years".

Oldenstadt monastery church

Life

After his election as abbot, Heyno Gottschalk was a respected personality within the Bursfeld monastery reform movement (in 1523 he became a diffinitor, i.e. an administrative officer of the Bursfeld congregation ). In Oldenstadt, the writings of the Carthusian Jacob von Jüterbog , in which he encouraged contemplative piety, were read intensively. Heyno himself finally turned from church reform to the Reformation . Since the beginning of the 1520s he was one of the most avid readers of Luther's writings. 113 Luther writings with Gottschalk's handwritten notes are still preserved in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel . As early as 1523, for reasons of conscience, he refused to take part in the dressing up of nuns in the Lüne monastery. He was in correspondence with the reformer Martin Luther. This is evidenced by a reply from Luther dated February 28, 1528. After Luther had advised him in this letter to stay in the monastery because of his age and to continue monastery life in a Reformation manner, he initiated the dissolution of the monastery for reasons of conscience: 1529/1531 he gave the monastery to the duke. Under his leadership, Oldenstadt was the first monastery from the Bursfeld congregation to go over to the Reformation.

Afterwards Gottschalk stayed with his library on the monastery grounds until the end of his life in 1541. When he died he had only 24 thalers left, the rest he had given away to poor people. Here he was serious about both Benedictine piety and the Lutheran ideal of self-reliant attention to fellow men.

Document: Martin Luther's letter to Heyno Gottschalk

“To the venerable father in Christ, Mr. Heino, Abbot of Alt-Uelzen, whom I respectfully appreciate.

Grace and peace in Christ Jesus our Lord! Venerable and venerable man in the Lord! I was happy to receive your letters, those short and small, but joyful and enjoyable. They are testimonies not only of the faith and truth awakened in your spirit through Christ, but also of another, unnamed abbot, an old man who is equally venerable in Christ. In his name you ask me for advice and consolation on a question of conscience.

First of all, I thank God, our Father, through Jesus Christ, who wanted his word to be glorified in this corner of the earth too, and I ask that he complete in you what he began so extremely benevolently and generously as well also in all of us. Amen.

As for the question, I believe that this man [for Gottschalk's protection it is pretended to come from a third person] can certainly stay with rich fruit in the monastery, since the matter is that He is not compelled to do indecent masses or to do some other work that is contrary to faith, and it is possible for him to serve the brothers, whether they want to go or stay. He serves them in Christ by reading the Scriptures with the brothers, or by observing the canonical times of prayer (in such a way that they omit anything impure that has been mixed between the Psalms and scriptures and prayers for the collection) and the meal the Lord celebrates. For what harm does membership of the monastery do if the freedom of the [Holy] Spirit rules? Paul dictates that Christians can eat with an unbeliever; and even if he [the Christian] eats sacrifices [meat] to idols, he can do so with a clear conscience [cf. 1st Cor. 10,27ff.].

After all, we do not want to advise the old men to leave the monastery because outside they could easily become a burden to others and it would be difficult to find people who care for them in a way that is appropriate to their dignity, and they have in this cold the charity needed. Within the monastery they are not a burden to anyone, they do not need any outside help. In addition, they can also serve the salvation of others, which they can hardly or certainly not outside. For this reason, you should warn the best man to stay where he is and do what he does in the freedom of the Holy Spirit. In this way he would achieve much in the world not only for himself, but also for his brothers, and through everything he would serve Christ to the very best and with a clear conscience long for and expect his return. Because I lived like that for a while, too, and I would have lived like that until today if the brothers and the condition of the loser had allowed it.

The grace of Christ be with you all and pray for us and all of God's Church!

Wittenberg, penultimate day in February 1528

Your servant

Martin Luther"

Aftermath

In 1992 in Schloss Holdenstedt near Uelzen and in 1999 in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel, an exhibition with the books from Heyno Gottschalk's possession took place. The "Abt-Heyno-Straße" in the Uelzen district of Oldenstadt has been a reminder of him since 2009.

literature

• Gerhard Ebeling: Luther's pastoral care. Theology presented in the variety of life situations in his letters ; Gütersloh 1999; P. 53 f.
• Helmar Härtel: Note: Heyno Gottschalk while reading. An Oldenstadt abbot between reform and reformation. Information on the Wolfenbüttel exhibition “Monastery and Reform” ; 1999.
• Gerhard Osten: The Benedictine Monastery Oldenstadt ; in: Uelzener contributions 3, Uelzen 1970, pp. 31-132.
• Martin Tamcke: The mediation of Reformation theology according to Uelzen from its beginnings to Uelzen's farewell on July 17, 1577 ; in: Uelzener contributions 14, Uelzen 1998, pp. 91–110.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Maria von Katte: Provenances ; Duke August Library Wolfenbüttel.
2. ↑ Latin original letter in: WA Briefe 4,390f. No. 1228; German translation by Gunther Schendel