Ludwig Harms

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Ludwig Harms

Georg Ludwig Detlef Theodor Harms (nickname Ludwig , but he was called Louis throughout his life ) (born May 5, 1808 in Walsrode , † November 14, 1865 in Hermannsburg ) was a German Protestant theologian. He is known as the "awakening of the heath" . As one of the most important Christian revival preachers of the 19th century, he made Hermannsburg in the Lüneburg Heath , where he founded a mission house ( Hermannsburg Mission ) in 1849 , the most important center of the revival movement in Lower Saxony.

Life

Youth and education

Göttingen memorial plaque for Ludwig Harms

Ludwig Harms was born as the second son of Pastor Hartwig Christian Harms. His mother was Lucie Dorothee Friederike Harms, b. Heinze. In 1817 the family moved to Hermannsburg . From 1825 he went to the secondary school in Celle. After taking his Abitur in Celle , Harms studied Protestant theology in Göttingen from 1827 to 1830 . His studies forced him to deal with the Enlightenment , the leading intellectual current of his time. When reading the verse John 17, 3 "This is eternal life that they recognize you, who you are the only true God and whom you have sent, Jesus Christ" he came to the realization in 1830 that it was not enough, religiously and to be good, to live sensibly and to act correctly, but that it is important to have Jesus Christ as the center of life and to bear witness.

Professional background

After passing his exams with distinction, Ludwig Harms worked from 1830 to 1840 as a private tutor for the Chamberlain von Linstow in Lauenburg (Elbe) . During this time he held Bible studies and in 1834 founded the Lauenburg Mission Society .

After Harms passed two more theological exams but had no prospect of a pastor's position, he helped his father in Hermannsburg. Then in 1840 he again took up a position as private tutor for the Pampel family of land builders in Lüneburg . In Lauenburg and Lüneburg he encountered slums, moral neglect and child misery. For this reason, visits to the poor, sick and prisoners were a natural consequence of his faith, a move that was by no means common at the time.

To support his sick father, he returned to Hermannsburg at the end of 1843 . Harms was appointed assistant preacher to relieve his father and ordained to the ministry on November 20, 1844 . In 1846 he succeeded in turning the Hermannsburg parish into a "mission parish" as the "aid association" of the Celle mission association . The revival in Hermannsburg began with his church services , parlor meetings in the rectory, home visits and pastoral care . At the request of the community, Ludwig Harms was appointed pastor in Hermannsburg by the consistory in Hanover after the death of his father in 1849.

Sunday evening with Louis Harms (H. Barmführ)

Since 1846 Ephiphanias ( Epiphany annually on January 6) at irregular intervals since 1851 once each to Johannis (June 24), is organizing the mission festival, already up came to the about 6,000 people. The most famous visitors include the Hamburg merchant Johann Hinrich Nagel (1810–1900) and Elise Averdieck (1808–1907), who later founded the “Bethesda” deaconess mother house in Hamburg. To this day, mission festivals are celebrated in the park of the mission seminary on the weekend around June 24th.

Harms had a great talent for lively storytelling. On Sunday evenings, the villagers gathered in the hall of the rectory to listen to him. His stories entertained, taught and edified at the same time. The poet Ludwig Uhland has therefore called him the most popular preacher since Martin Luther. Local history offered him living material. His stories are published in the anthologies "Honnig" (Low German) and "Golden apples in silver bowls" .

Harms spoke many languages. In addition to his mother tongue German: Latin, Greek (New and Old Greek), Hebrew, Italian, English and French.

Work in Hermannsburg

Hermannsburg Mission Festival with Louis Harms (H. Barmführ 1908)

On October 12, 1849, Harms founded the Hermannsburg Mission Institute with the opening of the mission seminar. He appointed his brother Theodor (1818–1885) as inspector . The first twelve seminarians began their studies in what is now the "Ludwig Harms House".

Mission ship Candace oil painting Alexander Scherzer (1861)

The participants in the first seminarist course , who had passed their theological examination in front of the consistory in Stade in 1853 , were ordained for missionary service . The first 16 missionaries (including eight craftsmen and farmers) were sent by Ludwig Harms to serve in the mission and left on October 28, 1853 with the mission ship Candace . The Candace , which was launched in Harburg on September 27, 1853, was financed with donations from friends of the mission, whom Harms had addressed primarily with his special way of preaching. The Hamburg merchant Nagel stood out here in particular. Until it was sold in 1874, the ship served 13 voyages. (The ship's original pennant is now on display in the Ludwig-Harms-Haus in Hermannsburg.)

Ludwig Harms led the work overseas from the parish office as a mission director. After the attempt to get to Ethiopia failed, the missionaries went ashore in Port Natal (today Durban ) / South Africa in 1854 and began missionary work among the Zulu . In the same year the Hermannsburger Missionsblatt was published for the first time, which still informs interested parties about the work of the mission. A missionary agency was also founded in 1856 to support missionary work.

Grave of Ludwig Harms in the Hermannsburg cemetery

Harms has also looked after released juvenile prisoners. From 1858 he provided them with accommodation and work.

In 1862 the mission seminar moved to the “New Mission House”, where it is still located today and where young people are still being trained for missionary service. Missionary work in India began in 1864 while Ludwig Harms was still alive .

Physically very weak, Ludwig Harms died on November 14, 1865, after giving his last sermon on November 5 in St. Peter-Paul Church in Hermannsburg . He was buried in the Hermannsburg cemetery. His grave has been preserved to this day. The work of the Hermannsburg Mission is today from the Ev.-luth. Missionswerk in Niedersachsen (ELM), to which the three Lutheran regional churches of Hanover , Braunschweig and Schaumburg-Lippes joined forces in 1977 .

Fonts

  • Gospel sermons. (1858), Verlag der Lutherischen Buchhandlung, Groß Oesingen 1992.
  • Epistle sermons. (1862), Verlag der Lutherischen Buchhandlung, Groß Oesingen 1995.
  • In true love and intercession, Collected Letters 1830–1865. Edited by Hartwig F. Harms and Jobst Reller, sources and contributions to the history of the Hermannsburg Mission, vol. 12, LIT-Verlag 2004.
  • Theodor Harms (Ed.): The Psalter. Explained. Druck und Verlag des Missionshauses, Hermannsburg 1868, Kessinger Publishing Reprint 2010, ISBN 978-1-160-69416-2 and ISBN 978-1-167-71713-0 , Nabu Press Reprint 2012, ISBN 978-1-274-33987- 4 ; 2nd edition 1870, 5th edition 1900, edited by Thomas Karker, Bremen 2012 (PDF).
  • Hartwig F. Harms (Ed.): From the sermon workshop of Pastor Louis Harms: 79 unpublished sermons from the years 1834–1861. Verlag Ludwig-Harms-Haus, Südheide-Hermannsburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-937301-86-0 .

Honors

literature

  • Hugald Grafe: The popular sermon of Ludwig Harms. A contribution to the history of preaching and piety in the 19th century . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1974
  • Ernst-August Lüdemann (Hrsg.): Vision Church worldwide - 150 years of Hermannsburg Mission and Evangelical Lutheran. Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM). Hermannsburg 2000.
  • Ernst-August Lüdemann (Ed.): Ludwig Harms Greetings to all my children, the white and the black, letters from a mission director to South Africa 1861–1865. Hermannsburg 1998.
  • Jobst Reller, Hartwig F. Harms: Lived love and clear words. Louis Harms - Hermannsburg pastor and missionary founder. Verlag Ludwig-Harms-Haus, Hermannsburg 2008.
  • Jobst Reller: Heidepastor Ludwig Harms - founder of the Hermannsburg Mission. Hänssler Verlag, Stuttgart 2008.
  • Julius August Wagenmann:  Harms, Ludwig . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, pp. 612-614.
  • Wilhelm Rothert : General Hanoverian biography. Volume 2: In the Old Kingdom of Hanover 1814–1866. Adolf Sponholtz Verlag, Hannover 1914, pp. 206-218.
  • Herwart Bartels:  Harms, Georg Ludwig Detlef Theodor. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , pp. 687 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Harms, Ludwig (Louis). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 545-553.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Theodor Harms : Description of the life of Pastor Louis Harms. Groß Oesingen 2003, ISBN 3-86147-255-4 .

Web links

Commons : Ludwig Harms  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Archives of the Hermannsburg Mission .
  2. ↑ Ludwig Harms: Insights into the workshop of a revival preacher , Idea , article from April 21, 2017.
  3. ↑ Ernst Bauerochse: Your goal was the Oromoland. Beginning of the Hermannsburg missionary work in Ethiopia. Münster 2006, p. 15.
  4. ↑ Ludwig Harms in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints .
personal data
SURNAME Harms, Ludwig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harms, Georg Ludwig Detlef Theodor (full name); Harms, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian, revival preacher
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Walsrode
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1865
Place of death Hermannsburg