Karl Zeiß (theologian)

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Karl Zeiß (born April 15, 1912 in Langgöns , † January 10, 1994 in Gießen ) was a German Protestant theologian . He became known as the "Olympic pastor" and is considered a pioneer in sports pastoral care .

Zeiß studied Protestant theology in Gießen from 1931, moved to Halle for a year in 1933 and passed his first exam in Gießen in 1934. He received his ordination in 1937 in Wiesbaden-Dotzheim , where he worked as a pastor until 1939. He became a member of the Giessen Wingolf in 1931 , the Hallenser Wingolf in 1933 and of the Arminia Dorpatensis in 1935. In the Giessen Wingolf, as a Fuxmajor of the connection , he organized a group of students who stood in opposition to the "leadership claim" of the Reich Church leadership and who finally took part in the illegal preachers' seminars of the Confessing Church in Frankfurt am Main. These were under the threat of non-recognition of the exam by the regional church leadership, which had already been brought into line, and the refusal of a later ordination as a pastor.

After serving in the military and being a prisoner of war, he became a pastor in Münster near Butzbach , moved to Nieder-Erlenbach / Nieder-Eschbach in 1948 and worked at the Matthäuskirche in Frankfurt am Main from 1956 until his retirement in 1977 . From 1954 to 1988 he was a member of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau , and at times also of the EKD Synod .

At the end of the 1940s, Zeiß and Provost Ernst zur Nieden began to promote the importance of sports pastoral care through lectures. He initiated the sports conferences of the Evangelical Academies, which still take place today. Zeiß held the first Protestant church service on the occasion of a major sporting event during the motorcycle race on the Schottenring in 1952. Based on this experience, the church leadership sent Karl Zeiß, a pastor, for the first time to the soccer world championship in Bern in 1954. So the “ miracle of Bern ” found pastoral care Assistance instead.

Zeiß finally became known nationwide when the EKD Council entrusted him with the organization of pastoral care for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich based on his decades of experience ; he was in charge of the daily visitor services and the support of the athletes. This earned him his lifelong designation as the first "Olympic pastor". Since then, pastors have been sent to all Olympic Games.

Zeiss spent his retirement in Langgöns, his hometown.

Honors

On December 5, 1980, Zeiß was honored in Berlin with the Ludwig Wolker plaque , which was first awarded by the German Sports Association . Since then, it has been awarded every two years to people who have made an outstanding contribution to the ethos and human dignity in sport. In 1989 he received the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon. His home community Langgöns made him honorary citizen in 1992 and named a sports hall after him in 1995.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Dienst : Between Science and Church Politics: on the importance of university theology for the identity of a regional church in the past and present . Peter-Lang-Verlagsgruppe, 2009 ISBN 978-3631583654 , p. 49
  2. ^ Karl Dienst : Politics and Religious Culture in Hesse and Nassau between 'State Change' (1918) and 'National Revolution' (1933): Causes and Consequences , Peter Lang Publishing Group , Frankfurt 2010 ISBN 978-3631604694 , p. 228

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Zeiss, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian, Olympic pastor
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Langgöns
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 1994
Place of death to water