Ludwig Roentgen

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Ludwig Roentgen (born November 29, 1755 in Neuwied ; † December 7, 1814 in Esens ) was a German theologian of the Enlightenment and writer .

Life

Ludwig Roentgen was born in 1755 as the son of the famous cabinet maker Abraham Roentgen and his wife Susanne Maria (née Bausch), the daughter of a shoemaker from Frankfurt am Main. In contrast to his older brother David Roentgen , he wanted to study theology from an early age, while David emulated his father and was even more successful than his father. For Ludwig, however, the watchmaker's apprenticeship was planned by his father, which led to Ludwig leaving his parents' house and being able to begin his theology studies with the support of patrons. Then he was tutor in Tübingen before he could take up a pastor's position in the Lutheran congregation in Neuwied in 1780. However, the congregation was in extremely poor condition and there was no money to pay for it, let alone the construction of a new church. So he went across Germany on a collection trip that took him via Bremen , Hamburg , Lübeck to Rostock , but also to Switzerland . In Lübeck he met the daughter of the Lübeck painter Johann Jacob Tischbein , Sophia Antoinette , whom he later married. His collection of collections proved to be a complete success, he was able to use it to settle the community debts and finance the building of the new church.

In 1783 he moved to East Frisia , where he initially took over a pastor's position in Petkum . The progressive considerations of the enlightened and highly educated clergyman found only limited support in the community, but this was different with the superiors. In 1793 he was therefore chief preacher of St. Magnus Church in Esens, superintendent and at the same time inspector of the Esens schools. Because of the good work he had done, he was promoted to the consistorial council and found more and more time for writing. His works included not only investigations into the Prussian religious edict, but also a history of the formation, reproduction, expansion and internal constitution of the Moravian Herrenhut Brethren . His father had already joined this Protestant free church in 1738. Another work by Ludwig Roentgen was Rhapsodies , a collection of readings from prose by his pen friend Jean Paul .

Roentgen was a believer in French culture. With this in mind, he also gave private lessons to those from East Friesland who were willing to learn, but also from England and France , which went as far as forming working groups that deepened special topics. They were able to fall back on his extensive private library. With the fall of Napoleon I it was over. His sympathy for France was now used against him, he was insulted, fell seriously ill and died on December 7, 1814.

His biography therefore remained unfinished and ended in 1780. His daughter Johanne wrote her personal memories of Ludwig Roentgen independently of her father , which were later published.

Roentgen was also a member of the Emden Masonic Lodge Pax et Concordia . He had eight children.

literature

  • Martin Stolzenau: East Friesland's extraordinary enlightenment theologian. In: Friesische Heimat 3rd supplement 2016 of the display for Harlingerland from March 12, 2016.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Roentgen, Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian of the Enlightenment and writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuwied
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 1814
Place of death Esens