Leopold Otto

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Leopold Otto

Leopold Martin Otto , self-designation Leopold v. Otto (born November 2, 1819 in Warsaw , † September 22, 1882 in Warsaw) was a Lutheran theologian , exponent of Lutheran orthodoxy in Poland and a hymn poet . Despite his German origins, he was described as an enthusiastic “Polish patriot” and “father of Polish evangelism”.

He wrote a book about the German Evangelical Congregation of the Augsburg Confession in Warsaw.

Live and act

Leopold Otto was born the son of the painter and officer in the Great Army Jakob Otto and Thekla Költz. In 1839 he graduated from the practical pedagogical high school in Lissa and in 1840 began studying economics at the University of Dorpat . From 1841 to 1844 Otto also studied Protestant theology and philosophy at the University of Berlin .

On March 17, 1844 he was ordained as a clergyman in the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland . Then Otto went to the vicariate in Kalisch and in 1844 took over his first pastor's position in Petrikau .

In 1849 Otto moved to Warsaw , where he stayed until 1866. This was followed by a pastor's position in Teschen until 1875 , before he returned to Warsaw, where he stayed until his death.

Leopold Otto was married three times. In his first marriage he married Emilie Isabella Marie Linde († 1857) in 1850, the daughter of Samuel Gottlieb Linde , the creator of the Polish dictionary.

Leopold Otto was a deeply devout Christian, an educated theologian, and a very popular preacher. As an Orthodox Lutheran, he fought against rationalism in his church and especially his exponent, the general superintendent Adolf Theodor Julius Ludwig . He and his colleagues succeeded in banning the Bromberg Catechism and the rationalistic hymn book of 1842 from church life.

In 1881 Pastor v. Otto questioned a continuation book in his dedication for his book printed in Warsaw in 1882 about the congregation of the Augsburg Confession in Warsaw (he died in 1882).

Otto was also considered the "father of Polish evangelism", who took the view that the Augsburg church, which was still German in its linguistic garb, had to be transformed into a Polish one in order to be able to carry out missions in the Polish-Catholic people. He represented his ideas from 1863 to 1882 in the Polish monthly magazine Zwiastun Ewangeliczny ("Evangelical Messenger"), which he edited . His followers - among them the general superintendent Juliusz Bursche - tried to transform the Augsburg church into a clearly Polish one, but did not achieve the hoped-for success.

Leopold Otto was an enthusiastic “Polish patriot” (against Russian tsarism) and an almost fanatical activist. As a champion of the Polish January uprising 1863–1864 , he took part in its preparations. His almost conspiratorial meetings, which were often held in the underground rooms of the St. Trinity Church in Warsaw, did not go unnoticed by the Russian authorities: In October 1861 he was arrested and held in the Warsaw Citadel. On the intercession of Count Aleksander Wielopolski , head of the civil administration, he was released, but he left Warsaw. He was proposed by the Prussian side for service in the East Prussian Masuria and served the Silesian part of the population in Teschen from 1866 to 1875 . In 1875 he went to Warsaw as the second pastor, where he died in 1882. His successor in Teschen was Theodor Karl Haase , who successfully replaced Otto's Polish-national activity among the Polish-speaking Lutherans with a Silesian-regionalist ("Schlonsakische") policy more oriented towards the German national parties.

Works

  • Treatises:
    • The Jesuits in Poland
    • The Lord's Prayer. Nine Sermons , 1855
    • The Law of God in Ten Sermons , 1863
  • Journal Articles:
  • Translations:
  • Hymns:
    • Contribution to the history of the Evangelical-Augsburg congregation in Warsaw , Leopold v. Otto, pastor, 1882

Six of his numerous hymns were included in the 1956 hymn book of the Evangelical Augsburg Church.

Honors

  • Leopold Otto was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the University of Leipzig in 1865 .
  • His home parish in Warsaw erected a memorial for him in the Protestant cemetery on September 28, 1887.

literature

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Leopold v. Otto, Pastor 1882 Contribution to the history of the Evangelical-Augsburg congregation in Warsaw
personal data
SURNAME Otto, Leopold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Otto, Leopold Martin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lutheran theologian and hymn poet
DATE OF BIRTH November 2, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsaw
DATE OF DEATH September 22, 1882
Place of death Warsaw