Johann Schiller (theologian)

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Johann Schiller

Johann Schiller , also: Johannes Schiller (* March 2, 1812 in Regensburg , † March 10, 1886 in Westheim (Palatinate) ) was a German Protestant pastor, theologian and writer.

Life

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Johann Schiller attended the humanistic grammar school in his hometown of Regensburg and , at the request of his parents, studied theology in Erlangen after graduating from school in 1831 . He was a fraternity member and preferred to devote himself to fencing rather than studying. Nevertheless, he successfully completed his studies in 1835. In the autumn of the same year he came to the Palatinate and initially took on a position as a private tutor for Pastor Machwirth in Kerzenheim . His first sermon also fell during this time, to which he was surprisingly invited by a Mennonite preacher whose sermon he actually wanted to attend as a listener. From 1838 he was parish administrator in Laumersheim , Iggelheim and Zell . In Mittelbrunn (Sickinger Höhe) he took up his first pastor's position in 1843. Here he married Margareta Küstner from Rüssingen, with whom he had seven children, and was the initiator and publisher of the Sickinger Bote , a people's calendar, whose circulation in 1851 was 40,000 copies. He was directed against all unchristian beings in church and state and made him a hated man in the Palatinate. Jobs as pastors in Herschberg and Iggelheim followed . In Iggelheim he drew the resentment of the population when he helped a mayor into his office who, as it turned out, was not up to his task. As a result, he was transferred to Westheim (Palatinate) against his will , where he began his work in 1854. For 32 years, until his death in 1886, he was pastor in Westheim.

Schiller was the founder of the Evangelical Association for the Palatinate in 1848 and was its board member until his death. He was also responsible for building the rescue house in Haßloch for poor and endangered children. He supported the construction of the Retscherkirche (Memorial Church) in Speyer. In this context, he was also the editor of a Retscher Almanac and ensured that the Retscher Association was revived. He was also one of the founders of the Diakonissenhaus in Speyer, for which he also published a deaconess calendar. As a sponsor of the youth, he gave many private lessons free of charge. He is also considered a sponsor of the later musicologist and local researcher Georg Heeger .

During the German Revolution of 1848/49 he was arrested by the insurgents. This happened on March 28, 1849. A day later he was taken to Neustadt and later brought to Kaiserslautern, where he was imprisoned for a few days. His community and other patrons were finally able to obtain the release. For his courageous, chivalrous and loyal behavior in the revolution, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of St. Michael I Class by King Maximilian II in 1851 .

Schiller was known beyond the borders of the Palatinate through his social commitment, but also through original and emphatic sermons.

From the age of 70, Schiller suffered from anemia due to a spinal cord disease. After having had a stroke twice during the sermon in Westheim in the last years of his life , he mostly had to stay in bed. He died after a third stroke on March 10, 1886 and found his final resting place on March 13, 1886 in a grave still preserved today in the Westheimer Friedhof.

Works

  • History of the united church of the Palatinate. 1849
  • Retscher Almanac. 1858
  • The parish of Westheim. Neidhard, Speyer 1870 digitized
  • Palatine memorabilia. 14 volumes

literature

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Formulation in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, see section Literature
personal data
SURNAME Schiller, Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schiller, Johannes (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant pastor, theologian and writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1812
PLACE OF BIRTH regensburg
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1886
Place of death Westheim (Palatinate)