Caspar Loener

Caspar Löner , Caspar Löhner or Kaspar Lö (h) ner (* around 1493/95 in Markt Erlbach ; † January 6, 1546 in Nördlingen ) was a German hymn composer , Roman Catholic theologian and Lutheran reformer .

Life

From the school in Heilsbronn Monastery , Löner (also spelled Löhner) moved to the University of Erfurt , where he was enrolled in 1508. It is questionable whether he also studied in Wittenberg (from 1517) and accompanied Martin Luther on his journey to the papal legate in Augsburg in 1518 . In 1520 he became parish vicar in Nesselbach and preacher in the Birkenfeld monastery . Possibly the Wittenberg Reformation already attracted him at this time. He performed the church acts in German and had German songs sung.

Pastor in courtyard

The cathedral provost of Würzburg, Margrave Friedrich von Brandenburg , caused (due to complaints from the abbess von Birkenfeld and the monastery visitator , the "Weisers" Johann (es) Leiterbach from the monastery Ebrach) the transfer of his chaplain to Hof , where his reformatory Alignment became more and more evident. Löner took a stand against the Zwickau prophets and other enthusiastic currents and contributed to calming the situation during the Peasants' War , the riots of which threatened to spread from Plauen to the region, so that militant speeches continued. Provost Friedrich, who repeatedly opposed his ruling brothers Kasimir and later Georg on religious issues , took advantage of the uncertain situation to depose the Lutheran preaching chaplain Löner. He went to Wittenberg in 1526 and took over a pastor's office in Oelznitz in 1527 . In 1528 he returned home because the new and convinced Protestant Margrave Georg allowed him to return to Hof at the request of the community. Supported by Nikolaus Medler , his Reformation activity began at the St. Michael Church .

He introduced the German Mass in the dean's office in Hof on September 5, 1529, drafted the order of worship and wrote a catechism . His church order was the model for Medler's later church order in Naumburg . It was rich in forms and wanted to see the official acts of the church integrated into the worship service. The hymn book he created was also novel. He had previously had a number of his own songs appear in print under the title Gantz newer geystlicher Teutscher Hymnus und Gesang . 37 of his songs are known, all of which have an instructive note. His catechism was written under the title Teaching the Faith or Christian Child Breeding in 72 Questions and Answers, and was printed in Nuremberg in 1529. Despite a certain influence from Luther and Andreas Althamer , he had his own features in the catechetical design. He also took part in the negotiations on the Brandenburg-Nuremberg Church Order. The hostility to which he was exposed in Hof, however, made his situation more and more difficult.

In Hof he married the mayor's daughter, Margarethe Felitscher. Löner was the father of Johann Josua Löner , who also became a Lutheran pastor, and the great-grandfather of the famous theologian and hymn poet Josua Stegmann .

In July 1531 he and Medler were expelled from the city at the instigation of Captain Christoph von Beulwitz , previously bailiff von Thierstein . Margrave Georg appointed Stephan Agricola as his successor, who pushed the Protestant idea forward even against oppositional forces.

Oelsnitz, Naumburg and Nördlingen

While Medler went to Wittenberg, Löner became superintendent in Oelsnitz in 1533 . During the Reformation in the Duchy of Saxony, he preached in Leipzig and was to be called there, but this was not realized. In 1542 he came to Naumburg Cathedral as a preacher and two years later, on the recommendation of Philipp Melanchthon, he was appointed superintendent of St. George's Church in Nördlingen . There he was able to fully develop his organizational gifts and also created a church service, a catechism and a new hymn book for Nördlingen. While the church order was similar to the Hofer, the catechism was redesigned in 128 questions and expanded with seven catechism songs. But even there he had to overcome some resistance.

Aftermath

In his birthplace Markt Erlbach, a street and a primary and secondary school are named after Löner.

literature

• Carl Bertheau :  Löner, Caspar . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, pp. 152-155.
• Ludwig Enders: Casp. Löner's letter book. In: Contributions to Bavarian Church History. 1. Vol., 1894/95, ZDB -ID 5865-8 , pp. 215-227, pp. 269-275, Vol. 2, 1896, pp. 34-43, pp. 89-94, pp. 132– 137, pp. 261-265, pp. 301-309, Jg. 3, 1897, pp. 85-91.
• Christian Geyer: The Hofer hymn books of the XVI. and XVII. Century. In: Contributions to Bavarian Church History. 4th vol., 1898, pp. 63-94, pp. 102-123.
• Christian Geyer: From the history of the Reformation in Nördlingen. Main lecture given at the 2nd regional festival of the Evangelical Federation in Bavaria on this side of the Rhine on August 28, 1901 in Nördlingen. Beck, Noerdlingen 1901.
• Real Encyclopedia for Protestant Theology and Church . Volume 11: Donation of Constantine - Luther. 3rd improved and increased edition. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1902, pp. 589-593.
• Ernst Dietlein : The city of Hof in the dawn of the Reformation. Festschrift for the 400th anniversary of the Reformation of the city of Hof ad Saale in 1929. Kleemeier, Hof 1929.
• Hans Schönemann: Nikolaus Medler in the correspondence from Caspar Löner. In: Axel Herrmann, Arnd Kluge (eds.): Nikolaus Medler (1502–1551). Reformer - Pedagogue - Mathematician (= 7th special publication of the North Upper Franconian Association for Nature, History and Regional Studies). Hof (Saale) 2003. ISBN 3-928626-44-2 .
• Association for pastors in the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony e. V. (Hrsg.): Pastors' book of the church province of Saxony. Volume 5: Biograms Kn – Ma. Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3-374-02137-6 , p. 426.
• Ludger Stühlmeyer : The new conception of Protestant church music. Caspar Löner as a patron of church music in Hof. In: The music history of the city of Hof . Bayerische Verlagsanstalt, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-89889-155-4 , pp. 76-99.

Web links

• Publications by and about Caspar Löner in VD 16 .
• Wolfgang GP Heinisch: Caspar Löhner - Life and Work (PDF).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Max Döllner : History of the development of the city of Neustadt an der Aisch up to 1933. Ph. C. W. Schmidt, Neustadt a. d. Aisch 1950, OCLC 42823280 ; New edition to mark the 150th anniversary of the Ph. C. W. Schmidt publishing house, Neustadt an der Aisch 1828–1978. Ibid 1978, ISBN 3-87707-013-2 , pp. 100, 129 and 184 f.
2. ↑ Max Döllner (1950), pp. 129 and 153 f.
3. ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Song collections Löners and Streitberger. In: The music history of the city of Hof . Bayerische Verlagsanstalt, Bamberg 2010, p. 93.
4. ↑ Brief portrait on the website of the Caspar Löner Elementary and Middle School in Markt Erlbach.