Johann August Hermes

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Johann August Hermes, engraving by CC Glassbach (1770)

Johann August Hermes (born August 24, 1736 in Magdeburg , † January 6, 1822 in Quedlinburg ) was a German Protestant theologian and clergyman of the Enlightenment period .

Life

Hermes was the son of pastor Tobias Hermes of the Sankt-Jakobi-Kirche in Magdeburg. From 1750 Hermes attended the Kloster Berge monastery school , where he studied under the pietistic Johann Adam Steinmetz . In spring 1754 he moved to the University of Halle and stayed there for almost three years. At the end of 1756, under the impression of the danger of war, he went to Elmshorn to see relatives. Less than a year later, on July 6, 1757, he was ordained as pastor for the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in the Schwerin Cathedral . He initially held two positions as assistant preacher and came to Waren in 1761 as a prepositus and preacher . This good position made it possible for him to become active as a writer and he began to publish the weekly contributions for the promotion of godliness . He made himself vulnerable, however, by his progressive writings and in 1773 attracted an investigation by the consistory , to which he replied with a frank declaration against those who avoided finding errors in his writings .

Hermes evaded possible consequences by accepting a call to the preacher position in Jerichow at Easter 1774 . In 1777 he moved to Ditfurt as chief preacher . His manual of religion earned him greater prominence and ultimately a call as chief preacher and consistorial councilor at St. Nikolai Church in Quedlinburg . He also became a school inspector for the grammar school there. In 1787 he also obtained the position of adjunct of the court preacher at the Quedlinburg Abbey under Abbess Sophie Albertine of Sweden , and in 1799 the position of court preacher .

Hermes was honored with festivities in 1807 for his 50th anniversary in office in Quedlinburg. On this occasion, the theological faculty of the University of Helmstedt awarded him the theological doctorate . Shortly afterwards, after the monastery and the consistory were finally dissolved in 1808, he was retired as a preacher with a handsome pension and appointed superintendent under a new consistory in the Kingdom of Westphalia , which now encompasses Quedlinburg . As his strength waned, Johann Heinrich Fritsch was put aside to support the superintendent in 1815 at his own request.

Publications (selection)

Fonts
  • Weekly Contributions to the Promotion of Godliness , 2 volumes, Wismar 1771–1772.
  • Johann August Hermes, prepositus and first preacher to truth in Mecklenburg, frank declaration against those who avoid finding errors in his writings: especially against a more recent opponent in the doctrine of the satisfaction of Christ , Koppe, Rostock and Leipzig 1773.
  • Handbook of Religion , 2 volumes, Himburg, Berlin 1779.
  • Sermons on the evangelical texts on Sundays and feast days throughout the year for the promotion of domestic devotion , 2 volumes, Nicolai, Berlin 1781–1782.
  • Communion book , Himburg, Berlin 1783.
  • ed. with Christian Gotthilf Salzmann and Gottlob Nathanael Fischer : Contributions to the improvement of Christian public worship , Leipzig 1785–1788.
  • Textbook of the religion of Jesus , 2 volumes, Quedlinburg 1798.
Hymns

Four hymns by Hermes were published in the hymnbook he compiled and edited for public worship in the Quedlinburg Abbey (several editions from 1787), including:

  • I don't live for this earth.
  • Oh, see him suffer, bleed, die.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hermes, Johann August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and hymn poet
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1736
PLACE OF BIRTH Magdeburg
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 1822
Place of death Quedlinburg