Ludwig Heinrich Grote
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Ludwig Heinrich Grote (born February 27, 1825 in Husum (near Nienburg) , † September 10, 1887 in Basel ) was a theologian and publicist who campaigned for the reestablishment of the Hanoverian monarchy after 1866 and was nicknamed "Welfenpastor" for this reason. received. His political work earned him several years' imprisonment and ultimately his flight into exile.
Life
Ludwig Grote was born on February 27, 1825 in Husum as the son of the pastor Friedrich Grote there. In 1843 he passed his Abitur at the Domgymnasium Verden . In the same year he began to study Protestant theology at the Georg August University in Göttingen . He was close to the Progress (student movement) and became a member of the Frisia country team . He became the Göttingen reporter for the newspaper published in Heidelberg for Germany's universities , which had dedicated itself to the goals of the Progress. In 1845 he moved to the Friedrichs University in Halle , where he met the writer Franz von Florencourt and the poet Max von Schenkendorf . A year later, Grote worked as a private tutor in Bern and in 1847 published a paper on the Bernese religious confusion. In 1848 Grote took a position as private tutor near Halle (Saale) . In the same year he joined the covenant of trust with God for king and fatherland , as he rejected the March Revolution . In 1849 he worked in Naumburg (Saale) and thought about emigrating to North America. In the spring of 1850 Grote passed the second exam. Then he was tutor to Philipp Spitta until 1853 . He passed the last exam in 1854 and entered the Loccum monastery as a hospes (Latin guest; term for the prospective pastors based on the Cistercians ) .
The "Guelph Pastor"
Two years later he entered the Hanover seminary and initially worked as a traveling assistant preacher in Langendorf , Hann. Münden , Mariensee , Wietzendorf . In 1860 he became pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hanover in Päse and married in the same year. Three years later he became a pastor in Hary near Hildesheim , as he was no longer tenable in Päse due to a theological dispute.
On June 24, 1866, he gave a sermon in which he described the Prussian invasion of Hanover as a punishment from God. This punishment was caused by the secularization tendencies in the Kingdom of Hanover . For this reason “God has now given our country into the hands of a dynasty of different faiths”. This statement referred to the fact that the Hohenzollern were Reformed denomination . At the end of his sermon, he described the Prussian invasion of Hanover as the result that the population no longer listened to “the voice of God and his holy church”.
On October 14th, Grote gave a second sermon, which was directed against the unification of the Church in Prussia . The union meant a common organization of all Protestant currents in one church , without the individual movements having to give up their faith. To the promise of the Prussian king that he would grant freedom of belief, Grote responded with the biblical quote from Psalm 146: 3: "Do not rely on the princes." He justified his skeptical attitude with the statements of Prussian canon lawyers, who in the long run side by side thought impossible by various Protestant currents in Prussia.
These sermons had the consequence that Grote should be suspended as pastor. In order to defend himself against the impending punishment, he published the text Two Contested Sermons from the year 1866 on November 1, 1867 . He argued that he could not be suspended because the Lutheran clergy of the Hanoverian regional church were not state officials like those of the church in Prussia, and thus the decree of December 3, 1866 that officials who were not loyal to Prussia should be suspended and the Can be removed from office, do not take effect. In worldly matters he gave the authorities full jurisdiction, but in spiritual matters he saw them with the church. In the afterword of this writing, Grote also massively attacked his compatriots. He accused them of hanging their flag according to the wind and called them "rabble people".
Prison, imprisonment, and life in exile
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In 1867 Grote published the two writings Was ist die Union? and fifty theses on the semisecular celebration of the introduction of the Union in Prussia . The latter document drew the public prosecutor's attention to Grote and, in early 1868, led to a four-week prison sentence and his impeachment. After his release from prison in June 1868, Grote held lectures on Leibniz in Hanover until the beginning of 1869 . On May 22, 1869, Grote set out for St. Dizier in France to look after the so-called “ Welf Legion ” with pastoral care. Grote stayed in France until August 10 and then stayed in Vienna , as he was wanted by an arrest warrant based on his publications in Hanover.
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In August 1870, Grote learned of an amnesty and returned to Hanover, assuming that this would also invalidate his arrest warrant. The arrest warrant had not been lifted, however, and so Grote fled again, this time to Leipzig . He was arrested in Kreiensen and later sentenced to imprisonment. On August 31, 1871, Grote began his sentence in the Lötzen fortress near Königsberg . On October 10th Ludwig Grote was transferred to a prison in Hanover under military guard. While he was in prison, his family tried to obtain a pardon without success.
After his release from custody, he was elected mayor of his homeland. This office was stripped from him by the court in 1872 when he was sentenced to 20 months in prison for insulting majesty. On May 30, 1874, Grote was released from prison.
A short time later, on April 22, 1875, Ludwig Grote began another prison sentence. He was sentenced to four months in prison for insulting Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck . According to his own records, Grote was received by the prison director, who informed him that, due to lack of space, he would have to give up his usual cell and make do with a smaller one. He was released on August 22nd.
In 1877 Grote was sentenced to another prison term based on an article in the newspaper Unter dem Kreuz . He evaded this punishment by fleeing to Geneva . In the same year the national liberal member of the Reichstag, Braun, gave him the following words in his book Contemporaries in the chapter “The Guelph Pastor and His People”: “Pastor Grote knows how to hit the people's tone like few. [...] He starts a hymn and it ends with a Guelph Marseillaise [...] A prayer or a sermon is followed by a satyr on the cuckoo, ie the Prussian eagle. "
On August 23, 1884, Grote visited the grave of the last Hanoverian king in Windsor, England, from Switzerland . In the same year he moved to Basel , where he spent the last years of his life. Ludwig Grote died in Basel on September 10, 1887.
Journalistic activity
Old Hanover folk calendar
The old Hanoverian people's calendar was brought into being by Grote in 1872 and first appeared in 1873. As a result of censorship and Grote's imprisonment, the calendar could only appear on a small scale or not at all in the following years. Grote was editor of the calendar until his death.
In 1898 the calendar was renamed the German-Hanover Calendar and published by the German-Hanover Party .
The purpose of the calendar was made very clear in Grote's words in the edition of 1885: “Even after his death (meaning King Georg August of Hanover) his old Hanoverian people's calendar should bear witness to the fact that Hanoverians are German men and not cowards, no deserters and are not traitors. "
Newspapers
In addition to the calendar, Grote was involved in the creation of three newspapers. On April 24, 1870, the German Volksblatt from Lower Saxony appeared in defense of law and truth , in which Grote campaigned for the independence of Hanover. With the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War , the paper was banned by the censors.
From October 1, 1876, Unter dem Kreuze - Kirchliches Volksblatt from Lower Saxony , was published every week with the aim of "defending the Christian foundations and divine orders in church and state."
The third newspaper Ramanken - Christliches Volksblatt for instruction and entertainment should cultivate the Hanoverian local patriotism.
Books and pamphlets (selection)
Ludwig Grote has also written a number of books and writings, most of which deal with church issues or his political work. The following should be emphasized:
- Bartholomäus Sastrow - a curious biography of the sixteenth century
- The latest calendar trial , pamphlet against the censorship of its calendar
- Fifty theses on the semisecular celebration of the introduction of the Union in Prussia
- Yellow and white songs , song collection
- Henry the Lion , biography
- Hie Welf , History of the Welfs
- Lukas Cranach - the painter of the Reformation , biography
- Martin Luther and his fellow campaigners - A collection of poems
- Open letter to Mr. Geh. Government Councilor Dr. Brüel and Pastor Dr. theol. Münkel , open letter in defense of his theological position
- Voices of a free man from prison , report of his prison term
- What is the union? The burning church question of the present
- Who is a slanderer? A question of conscience for the readers of the Hannoversche Sonntagsblatt , a pamphlet against censorship
- Who are the originators of the latest religious turmoil in the canton of Bern , First theological writing Grotes
- On the history of Hanover - files and voices from 1806
- Two contested sermons from 1866 , writing with which Grote defends himself against his impeachment
literature
- Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Sub-Volume 2: F-H. Winter, Heidelberg 1999, ISBN 3-8253-0809-X , p. 190.
- Carl Langen: Ludwig Grote, a German folk man. A picture of life and time , Harzig & Möller, Hanover 1912.
- Beate von Miquel: Protestant journalism on the move: press work in the Hannoversche Landeskirche 1850-1914. Hanover: Hahn 2003 ISBN 3-7752-6014-5 .
- Wilhelm Schneemelcher: Article “ Union ”, in: Hermann Kunst et al. (Ed.): Evangelisches Staatslexikon , Kreuz-Verlag, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-7831-0463-7 , Sp. 2665 ff.
- Alfred Wandsleb, Horst Bernhardi: Blue Book of the Fraternity Frisia zu Göttingen , Westholsteinischer Verlag, Heide in Holstein 1961 (supplement 1973)
Web links
- Literature by and about Ludwig Heinrich Grote in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Althannoverscher Volkskalender , Sulingen, Han., DNB 012648973
- ↑ German-Hanoverian People's Calendar , ed. from D. German-Hanoverian Party DNB 012648922
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Grote, Ludwig Heinrich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German theologian and publicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 27, 1825 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Husum (near Nienburg) |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 10, 1887 |
| Place of death | Basel , Switzerland |