Ludwig Christian Gottlieb Strauch

Ludwig Christian Gottlieb Strauch (born July 24, 1786 in Hamburg ; † March 27, 1855 ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran clergyman and chief pastor at the St. Nikolai Church in Hamburg .

Career

After attending the learned school of the Johanneum in Hamburg, Strauch studied theology and philosophy at the University of Göttingen . He completed his studies with a PhD. phil. from. He became a teacher at his previous school, first as an assistant teacher, then as a full teacher and finally as a professor, and in this activity he also found opportunities to preach. Due to his talent as a preacher, he became senior pastor at Hamburg's St. Nikolai Church in 1819. After August Jacob Rambach's death in 1851, Strauch succeeded him in the position of senior in the Hamburg Ministry of Spiritual Affairs .

Positions and arguments

Strauch was a co-founder of the Hamburg Protestant Mission Association and the Gustav Adolf Foundation . In matters of religion, he resolutely represented the classical teachings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, but was open to people of different faiths. After the Hamburg Mission Association had merged with others to form the North German Mission Society in 1836 , in which Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed Christians were involved, Strauch defended this union against the radical Lutheran Matthias Heyn, who had resigned in protest.

However, Strauch began a solid quarrel with Johann Gottfried Gurlitt , an advocate of theological rationalism and head of the Johanneum's school of scholars, hence Strauch's teacher. Gurlitt, disappointed by former students who had broken away from rationalism and joined new evangelical currents, gave his high school graduates a fiery speech in 1822 in favor of rationalism, in which he sharply attacked the representatives of the Orthodox Lutheran direction and the revival movement . Strauch, who was officially present as the main pastor, felt personally offended and complained to the Hamburg Senate. The dispute received national interest; Gurlitt printed his speech. The majority of the rationalist-minded Senate did not agree with Strauch, but made statements that were misleading for both sides. Strauch then wrote a pamphlet in which he stated his position again.

family

Strauch, son of a grain manager, was married to Marie Charlotte Wilhelmine von Mengershausen; the marriage resulted in nine children.

Honors

• Honorary doctorate in theology from the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin , 1839

Fonts (selection)

• To correct the judgment on a speech given here and in print on the recommendation of the use of reason in the study of theology . Langhoff, Hamburg 1823 (pamphlet against Johann Gottfried Gurlitt)
• Proof of justification for and from LCG Strauch, Pastor to St. Nicolai , Tramburgs Erben, Hamburg 1838 (pamphlet against Matthias Heyn)

literature

• Ingrid Lahrsen: Between awakening and rationalism. Hudtwalcker and his circle , Wittig, Hamburg 1959
• Hans Schröder, AH Kellinghusen: Lexicon of Hamburg writers up to the present , vol. 7, section 3949, pp. 325–327

Web links

• Literature by and about Ludwig Christian Gottlieb Strauch in the catalog of the German National Library