Ludwig von Gerdtell

Friedrich Siegfried Heinrich Ludwig von Gerdtell (born February 4, 1872 in Braunschweig , † 1954 ) was a German theologian and publicist.

Life

Ludwig von Gerdtell was born into a Prussian noble family, father and grandfather were officers in Potsdam Guards Regiment . He did not follow this tradition and first studied law, then theology with a focus on New Testament science. From 1902 to 1908 he worked as a travel secretary for the German Christian Student Association . In 1908/09 he did his doctorate at the University of Erlangen with the work of Rudolf Euckens Position on Early Christianity . He came to the conclusion that the statements of the New Testament and the state church contradicted each other . Between 1905 and 1928 he published six works in the series, which he founded, burning questions of the world view for thinking modern people who critically deal with dogmas and interpretations. He decided to reform the church on the basis of the New Testament and was close at times to the Baptists , but mostly to the Christadelphian congregations . He came into contact with the Disciples of Christ in America and influenced this association. A little later, under the direction of Dean E. Walker, an organization was founded in the USA that wanted to support Gerdtell's efforts.

Gerdtell was a staunch opponent of Adolf Hitler's policies and has openly spoken out against them since the 1920s. In January 1934, while shopping in the local tobacco shop in Schöneiche near Berlin, he said that Hitler was synonymous with war. He was then denounced by a neighbor. Only because of the courageous intervention of the community police officer Max Dittrich was it possible for Gerdtell to flee that night and avoid being arrested the following day. He fled to the USA via Switzerland, Italy and England, and his belongings were confiscated. With Walker's mediation, he was able to become a lecturer at the Department of Religion at Butler University in Indianapolis . After the Second World War , the European Evangelistic Society was created based on the US model .

Fonts

• Rudolf Eucken's Christianity. For educated people of all classes , Becker, Eilenburg 1909
• Exreich Chancellor Michaelis as a dark man. A contribution to the fight against the Luther legend , Diesseits-Verlag, Schöneiche 1928 (Burning questions of the world view, no.6)

literature

• Karl Kupisch: Students discover the Bible: The history of the German Christian Student Association (DCSV). Hamburg: Furche-Verlag, 1964, p. 51f.

Web links

• Presentation of the European Evangelistic Society (English)
• History of the Institute for Early Christianity
• Presentation of Gerdtell and his movement at worldconvention.org (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Haejung Hong: The German Student Christian Federation (DCSV) 1897-1938. P. 40