Karl Witte (Bishop)

Signature of Karl Witte

Otto Karl Emil Witte (born May 6, 1893 in Aken ; † February 18, 1966 in Hamburg ) was a German Protestant theologian and regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Hamburg state .

Life

The son of a pastor, completed his first basic and high school education in Berlin . He frequented the University of Berlin since 1911 , switched to the University of Halle-Wittenberg in 1913 , returned to Berlin and passed his first theological exam there on August 14, 1914. During his studies he became a member of the Association of German Students in Berlin . As a participant in the French campaign of the First World War , he was wounded and, after recovering, passed his second theological exam in Berlin on June 25, 1918. In 1921 he went to Oranienburg as an assistant preacher, took on the fourth preaching position there in 1920 and renounced his theological ambitions in 1921 for private reasons.

After his marriage in 1921, he moved with his family to Hamburg, where he took over the management of the Fichteschule. In 1926 Witte became head of the Hamburg city mission , in which activity he was so theologically involved that in 1933 he received an honorary theological doctorate from the University of Rostock . In the following year he was reinstated in his rights as a theologian, teaching systematic theology and the New Testament in the same year at the philosophical faculty of the University of Hamburg . In the time of National Socialism he was declared politically unreliable, so that he was excluded from teaching in Hamburg from 1936 and lost his offices in the mission.

From 1941 Witte worked on behalf of St. Andrew's Church and was employed there as a pastor after the Second World War in 1946. From 1948 he worked as a lecturer at the church college. After it was affiliated to the University of Hamburg as the theological faculty in 1954, he was given a teaching position for New Testament and practical theology, became chief pastor at St. Petrikirche on May 24 of the same year , deputy to the regional bishop of Hamburg in 1958 and on June 29, 1959 elected bishop of Hamburg. After its introduction on August 2, 1959, he became a full professor of theology at the University of Hamburg on March 29, 1960 and retired in 1964.

Grave slab in the Ohlsdorf cemetery

Act

Witte, who, as a participant in the First World War, also took part in the folkish debate in the post-war period, interpreted the concept of folkhood as part of divine revelation. However , he rejected the German Faith Movement , so that he got into conflict under National Socialism . As a conservative Lutheran, Witte taught as a practical theologian who was committed to the New Testament after the Second World War. Accordingly, he was a vehement opponent of the introduction of the ordination of women in his regional church and was able to prevent this during his tenure as regional bishop.

Fonts (selection)

Myth and Revelation. A pamphlet against the German religious movement . Berlin 1934.
Can a German be a Christian? Answer to Professor Hauer and the "German Heiden" . Hamburg 1935 / 36.4
Devotions for the young people. To be read every day in the house, home etc. School . Berlin 1948.
The day is so joyful. Speeches and sermons for Christmas . Hamburg 1961.
The Biblical Story Told To Children . Hamburg / Munich 1964.
The Lord Christ has risen . Hamburg 1966.

literature

Rainer Hering: Witte, Karl. In: Franklin Kopitzsch , Daniel Tilgner (Ed.): Hamburg Lexikon. 3rd, updated edition. Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-8319-0179-1 , p. 531.
Rainer Hering: Witte, Otto Karl Emil. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 12, Bautz, Herzberg 1997, ISBN 3-88309-068-9 , Sp. 1427-1439. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Individual evidence

↑ Louis Lange (Ed.): Kyffhäuser Association of German Student Associations. Address book 1931. Berlin 1931, p. 249.
↑ Women in the pulpit? The disputes over women's ordination and equal rights for theologians in the Hamburg regional church - PDF. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .

Web links

Literature by and about Karl Witte in the catalog of the German National Library
Portrait of Karl Witte in the German Digital Library

predecessor	Office	successor
Theodor Knolle	Senior Pastor at St. Petri in Hamburg 1956–1964	Carl Malsch
Volkmar Herntrich	Regional Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Hamburg State 1959–1964	Hans-Otto Wölber

personal data
SURNAME	Witte, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Witte, Otto Karl Emil (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH	May 6, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH	Aken (Elbe)
DATE OF DEATH	18th February 1966
Place of death	Hamburg

[1] Louis Lange (Ed.): Kyffhäuser Association of German Student Associations. Address book 1931. Berlin 1931, p. 249.

[2] Women in the pulpit? The disputes over women's ordination and equal rights for theologians in the Hamburg regional church - PDF. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .