Karl Alt

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Karl Alt (born August 12, 1897 in Nuremberg , † June 16, 1951 in Munich ) was a German Protestant theologian and author.

Life

The son of the architect Friedrich Alt († 1910 ) - his mother died shortly after his birth - first went to Nuremberg, then from 1911 in Erlangen to high school, where the orphan grew up with an older sister. After a war injury in World War I , which left the right arm permanently disabled, he studied theology at the universities of Erlangen and Tübingen from 1916 to 1920 .

From 1921 he was city vicar in Augsburg , from 1923 pastor at the Dreifaltigkeitskirche in Kaufbeuren . There he devoted himself to the research and presentation of the local church history, with which he also earned the doctorate at the philosophical faculty of the University of Erlangen. The theological faculty in Erlangen later awarded him an honorary licentiate in theology.

From 1929 he was the chaplain at the sanatorium in Ansbach .

In July 1934 he, who was close to the Confessing Church , became pastor at the Luther Church in Munich-Giesing , where pastoral care in the Stadelheim correctional facility was one of his official duties. Many death sentences were carried out in Stadelheim prison during the Third Reich ; Critics of the National Socialist regime were among those convicted . Alt was also responsible as a pastor for those sentenced to death of the Protestant denomination. He reported on these experiences in his 1946 book "Death Candidates".

The prisoners he looked after included Hans and Sophie Scholl from the “ White Rose ” resistance group , who were sentenced to death by the People's Court on February 22, 1943 together with their companion Christoph Probst . Alt reported in the book mentioned about his visits to the Scholl siblings shortly before their execution, which was carried out on the same day:

“After a brief greeting and a firm handshake, he [= Hans Scholl] asked me to read him two passages from the Bible: the 'Song of Love' from I Corinthians, Chapter 13 and the 90th Psalm: 'Lord God, you are our refuge for and for. Before the mountains were made and the earth and the world were created, you are God for ever and ever. ' (...) The cell for poor sinners expanded into the holy temple of God. They imagined the wings rustling of the angel of God to be heard, which were preparing the souls reconciled children of God up out into the hall of bliss. "-" shedding Without a tear, they also celebrated [Sophie Scholl] the sacred banquet, to the watchman to the The cell door knocked and she was led out. "

As the last Bible verse before her execution, Alt chose a word from Jesus from the Gospel of John : "No one has greater love than that he gives up his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

Karl Alt died at the age of 54. The consequences of his war injury from the First World War and probably also the difficult hours in Stadelheim had shattered his health.

Appreciation

Marc Rothemund's film " Sophie Scholl - The Last Days " (2005) contains the scene of Karl Alt's pastoral visit to the convicted woman. He prays with her and gives her the blessing. Alt is played by Walter Hess (actor) , who was advised on the portrayal by a Munich pastor.

In the discussion about renaming the Münchener Strasse named after Hans Meiser (the former bishop of the Lutheran regional church in Bavaria during the Nazi era was the author of massive anti-Semitic remarks), Karl Alt was also named as an alternative namesake. The street was finally named after Katharina von Bora in 2010 .

Works

  • Kaufbeuren Kaiserbriefe from the years 1545 to 1551. A contribution to the interim policy of Charles V , Kaufbeuren o. J. [1927], 14 pp.
  • The Latin school of the free imperial city of Kaufbeuren and its most famous rector, Magister Dr. Jakob Brucker. A contribution to the history of Swabian schools and scholars , Kaufbeuren (United Art Institute) 1929, XIV and 136 pp. [At the same time: Erlangen, Univ., Diss., 1926 under the title: Jakob Brucker, a schoolmaster of the 18th century]
  • Anabaptists in and from Kaufbeuren , Munich 1931, 31 pp.
  • Do you want to get well? . Counseling and consideration for the sick in body, soul and spirit, Halle / Saale 1932.
  • That Christ is proclaimed. Lutheran testimonies from the Bavarian regional church. Published by Karl Alt, Ansbach (Brügel) 1934, 164 pp.
  • Reformation and Counter-Reformation in the free imperial city of Kaufbeuren (individual works from the church history of Bavaria. Volume 15), Munich 1932, XVI and 139 pp.
  • Death row inmates. Experiences of a pastor in the Munich-Stadelheim prison with numerous men and women sentenced to death in the Hitler Empire , Munich 1946
  • Crossing borders - Munich-Stadelheim prison between 1934 and 1945. The Protestant pastor and contemporary witness Karl Alt accompanies those sentenced to death up to their execution - texts - letters - conversations. Edited by Werner Reuter, foreword / afterword, revised new edition based on the original edition: Karl Alt, Death Candidates (1946), Verlag Ökologie und Pädagogik, Munich 1994

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Old, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and author
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH June 16, 1951
Place of death Munich