Johannes von Merz

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Emil Stumpp Johannes von Merz (1926)

Johannes Merz , later von Merz (born February 24, 1857 in Schwäbisch Hall , † May 4, 1929 in Stuttgart ) was a Protestant theologian and church president of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg .

Life and work

After finishing school, Merz studied philosophy in Tübingen (where he became a member of the Normannia Association ), which he obtained in 1894 with a doctorate. phil. completed. Then he was vicar in Cannstatt until 1886 , before spending a year in Italy with the travel grant of the German Archaeological Institute . In 1887 he became pastor in Ludwigsburg and from 1894 clergyman assessor at the Evangelical Consistory in Stuttgart with the rank and title of senior consistorial councilor.

After the constitution for the Evangelical Church in Württemberg came into force in 1924, Merz became the first Church President of the Württemberg Church. He held this office until his death in 1929. His successor was Theophil Wurm , who in 1933 accepted the title of regional bishop.

Awards and honorary positions

In 1909, von Merz received an honorary doctorate from the Protestant theological faculty of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen ( D. theol. Hc). In addition to his full-time work in the consistory and as church president, he also held several honorary offices. He was among other things from 1895 editor of the Christian Art Journal for Church, School and House and board member of the Christian Art Association and from 1899 editor of the General Church Gazette. He was also a member of the committee of the Gustav-Adolf-Werk in Württemberg, delegate to the ministerial department for secondary schools (1899-1922), member of the disciplinary court for evangelical clergy (1911-1924) and member of the administrative board of the Württemberg Bible Institute . He was also the Württemberg representative at the Stockholm World Church Conference in 1925.