Johannes Tonnesen

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Johannes Jacob Tonnesen (born February 3, 1882 in Aabenraa , † March 10, 1971 in Flensburg ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran clergyman.

education

Johannes Tonnesen was a son of Pastor Hans Tonnesen and his wife Meta, née Burmeister. His father was a Lutheran who was influenced by Grundtvig and who lived the pietism of the Moravian Brethren from Christiansfeld .

Tonnesen attended the Johanneum von Hadersleben , where he graduated from high school in 1902. He then completed his one-year military service and began studying theology in Erlangen . There, like his father before, he joined the “Theological Student Association”. He later moved to Berlin , where he met Adolf von Harnack . He spent the final semester in Kiel , heard from Otto Baumgarten and passed the official examination there at Easter 1907. He then learned at the seminary in Preetz , later at the one in Hadersleben. The training was specially designed for church service in Danish-speaking communities in northern Schlewig.

First posts

After ordination in 1909, Tonnesen worked as a pastor in Bedstedt at Lügumkloster and went to Hellewatt the following year . During this time of conflict between Prussia and the Danish minority, his father led the Schleswig Pastors' Association, which had existed since 1909. Tonnesen took part in the work of the association and was also involved in the "Association for German Peace Work in the Nordmark", headed by Johannes Schmidt-Wodder . So he wrote the first small articles for the journal "Nordschleswig" of the peace association. He stood up for the rights of Danish association members and criticized the politics of Prussia, which angered the authorities. In 1914 he was threatened with a punitive transfer.

During the First World War , Tonnesen wrote several articles for the magazine " Die Christliche Welt " by Martin Rade . Before the referendum in Schleswig , he advocated that North Schleswig not go to Denmark. When it became clear that the region was not expected to remain with Germany, Tonnesen feared hard national conflicts in the church and the division of the existing congregations into German and Danish. German- and Danish-minded believers could not prevent him from changing jobs.

Change to Rendsburg

At the end of 1919, Tonnesen moved to the Rendsburg Marienkirche as the main pastor . A little later he founded a cultural-political discussion group with Axel Henningsen , Claus Schacht and Ferdinand Möller, which District Administrator Theodor Steltzer joined. Steltzer helped set up a folk high school based on the Danish model, today's Nordkolleg Rendsburg . Tonnesen taught here on a voluntary basis.

Due to his journalistic skills, Tonnesen took over the editing of the newspaper "Die Landeskirche" in 1920. As a non-partisan newspaper, it was supposed to replace previously rival newspapers. In 1921 he tried unsuccessfully to found a "Brotherhood of Schleswig-Holstein Pastors". He received harsh criticism from Lutheran Orthodox from Flensburg and Breklum and was not satisfied with the new constitution of the regional church, which from his point of view was too episcopal and not close enough to the people. For these reasons he gave up the editorial office in early 1923. In return, he published the weekly newspaper "Der Schleswigholsteiner" for the Schleswig-Holsteiner Bund, for which he had led a local group in Rendsburg since 1920. Due to differences of opinion with the board of the association regarding the rights of the Danish minority in southern Schleswig, he ended this activity in October 1926.

Changing activities and Confessing Church

In 1928 Tonnesen applied for leave from the pastor's service. During this time he joined the Berneuchen movement as head of the Rendsburg Adult Education Center . In 1930 he was appointed professor of Schleswig-Holstein folklore and borderland studies at the Pedagogical Academy in Altona , which only existed until 1932. In May 1932 he took over a pastor's position at the Kreuzkirche in Ottensen . As a reaction to the Altona Blood Sunday , he worked with Hans Asmussen to develop the Altona Confession in a five-person commission . After the “Brown Synod” of September 1933, he joined the newly founded “Emergency and Working Group of Schleswig-Holstein Pastors”. At the 1st Synod of Confession in July 1935 he was elected to the State Brotherhood of the Confessing Church . After the Council of Brothers decided during the 2nd Synod of Confessions in August 1936 to distance itself more clearly from the state church regime, Tonnesen resigned together with Johann Bielfeldt , but did not leave the Confessing Church. Then he established contacts with numerous pastors who were not yet members of the confessional community, which was very much in the interests of the State Brotherhood Council. In 1938 he and other pastors appealed to the fraternal council to resign because of the failed church policy and to cooperate with the regional church office.

Tonnesen wanted to work as a pastor in a rural church for the last few years. At the beginning of 1944 he followed a call to the village church in Innien and worked here beyond retirement age until 1953. Then he went to Flensburg and worked here until the end of 1961 as a volunteer hospital chaplain for the deaconess institution . Since he had always remained in contact with the congregation in Hellewatt, he gave sermons there from time to time after 1953, including in 1968 at the 850th anniversary of the church.

Tonnesen was buried in the Adelby cemetery.

Historical classification

Tonnesen was one of the most noticeable pastors in Schleswig-Holstein's church history in the phase after the First World War and during the time of National Socialism . He felt equally committed to the culture of the Danish and German populations and used both languages ​​in word and writing until the end of his life. At first he worked in the politically neutral “Indre Mission” of his father, but as a student he turned to the problems of the state and the people. He himself said that he was too busy with Grundtvig to be able to become a pietist. This is an indication that he did not want to limit his work to the church area.

It was characteristic of Tonnesen that he wanted to create forces for a reorganization of politics and religion based on the nationality . He was criticized for this in the early 1920s, and this was also the reason for his criticism of the reorganization of the regional church in 1922. He tried to unite the values ​​located by the people in an idealized national past with the demands they made at the time . The ideological guidelines were given by publicists who wrote after 1921 for the “Schleswig-Holsteinische Blätter” edited by Tonnesen. These included Arthur Moeller van den Bruck , Othmar Spann , Wilhelm Stapel and Johannes Schmidt-Wodder .

After the First World War, Tonnesen followed the tradition of the young conservatives. This was also evident in the Altona Confession, which was based on young conservative thinking. A final judgment about his work and especially about his historical-theological foundation is missing. Even if he later got into conflict with the National Socialists, the goals of the young conservatives before 1933 were linguistically and emotionally very similar to the program of the NSDAP . In contrast to many young conservatives who joined the National Socialists in 1933, Tonnesen developed into one of their most consistent opponents in Schleswig-Holstein.

family

Tonnesen married on August 24, 1909 in Hoptrup Marie Catherine Lei (born February 17, 1882 in Vonsild ; † July 9, 1926 in Rendsburg ). She was a daughter of the court tenant Hans Lei. From this marriage came three sons and two daughters.

On December 21, 1930, Tonnesen married Katharina ( Käthe ) Margarethe Sohrt (born February 10, 1903 in Flensburg). Her father August Friedrich Marcus Sohrt was a rector of the St. Nikolai boys' school in Flensburg. From this marriage two sons were born.

Fonts

  • God's claim to authority and subject , in: Wilhelm Knuth, Karl Hasselmann , Christian Thomsen, Johannes Tonnesen, Hans Asmussen : "Wake up, wake up, you German country". Four lectures on the Altona Confession with an explanatory preliminary remark , Hamburg: Agentur des Rauhen Haus 1933, pp. 53–68 (online at geschichte-bk-sh.de) .
  • The changeability of Gustav Frenssen , in: Johannes Lorentzen (Hrsg.): The Nordmark im Glaubenskampf. An answer from the Church to Gustav Frenssen , Breklum: Missionsbuchhandlung 1936, pp. 11-17; reprinted in: Karl Ludwig Kohlwage , Manfred Kamper, Jens-Hinrich Pörksen (eds.): “You will be my witnesses!” Voices for the preservation of a denominational church in urgent times. The Breklumer Hefte of the ev.-luth. Confessional community in Schleswig-Holstein from 1935 to 1941. Sources on the history of the church struggle in Schleswig-Holstein. Compiled and edited by Peter Godzik , Husum: Matthiesen Verlag 2018, ISBN 978-3-7868-5308-4 , pp. 175–182.
  • What the North Says! , in: Johannes Lorentzen (Ed.): The Nordmark im Glaubenskampf ... , Breklum 1936, pp. 69–74; reprinted in: Karl Ludwig Kohlwage, Manfred Kamper, Jens-Hinrich Pörksen (eds.): “You will be my witnesses!” ... Compiled and edited by Peter Godzik, Husum 2018, pp. 226–231.
  • The parish church as the pastors ' hope , in: The parish church , Issue 1, Altona [5. January] 1934, pp. 11-14.

swell

  • Brother Council of the Confessional Community (ed.): What is right before God. First Confessional Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schleswig-Holstein on July 17, 1935 in Kiel , Westerland / Sylt: Office of the Confessional Community 1935.
  • Presidium of the Confession Synod (ed.): Church! Second Confessional Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schleswig-Holstein on August 18, 1936 in Bredeneek / Preetz Castle , Westerland / Sylt: Office of the Confessional Community 1936.

literature

  • Paul M. Dahl: Experienced church history. The time of the church committees in the Ev.-Luth. State Church of Schleswig-Holstein 1935–1938 . Manuscript completed in 1980, revised for the Internet and edited. by Matthias Dahl, Christian Dahl and Peter Godzik 2017 (online at geschichte-bk-sh.de) .
  • Johann Schmidt : What is right before God, Kiel-Holtenau 1981 , in: Kurt Juergensen , Friedrich-Otto Scharbau , Werner H. Schmidt (ed.): Praise God that is our office. Contributions to a key word (commemorative publication Johann Schmidt) , Kiel 1984, pp. 9–21 (online at geschichte-bk-sh.de) .
  • Friedrich Hammer : Directory of the pastors of the Schleswig-Holstein regional church 1864–1976. Edited by the Association for Schleswig-Holstein Church History , Neumünster: Wachholtz 1991, p. 391.
  • Volker Jakob: Tonnesen, Johannes . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 350-354.
  • Klauspeter Reumann: The church struggle in Schleswig-Holstein from 1933 to 1945 , in: Schleswig-Holstein Church history. Vol. 6/1: Church between self-assertion and external determination , Neumünster 1998, pp. 111–451.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Volker Jakob: Tonnesen, Johannes . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 350-351.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Volker Jakob: Tonnesen, Johannes . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 351.
  3. ↑ Volker Jakob: Tonnesen, Johannes . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 351-352.
  4. ↑ a b Volker Jakob: Tonnesen, Johannes . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 352.
  5. ↑ a b c Volker Jakob: Tonnesen, Johannes . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 353.
  6. ^ Biogram Wilhelm Knuth (online at geschichte-bk-sh.de)
personal data
SURNAME Tonnesen, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tonnesen, Johannes Jacob (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pastor
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Aabenraa
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1971
Place of death Flensburg