Marie Schmalenbach

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Marie Schmalenbach as a young woman

Marie Schmalenbach (* June 23, 1835 as Marie Emilie Huhold in Holtrup ; † March 10, 1924 in Mennighüffen ) was a German pastor's wife. She wrote poems and hymns.

Life

Marie Schmalenbach was born as the third of eleven children of the pastor and later superintendent of the church district Vlotho Ferdinand Huhold in Holtrup , today Porta Westfalica . Seven of her siblings died early. Marie spent a period of childhood and adolescence befitting her bourgeois daughters: she was probably a student at the Marienberg convent school near Helmstedt for a few years , spoke very good English and had a good knowledge of French and Latin.

After finishing school, she stayed in Hamburg for a few months in the spring of 1853 with her aunt and her maternal uncle. This very wealthy family hired an English teacher for their niece and introduced her to the cultural life of the big city. She attended concerts, theater and operas. In 1854 Marie was sent to the family of Pastor Möller in Lübbecke to learn how to run a middle-class household.

On January 21, 1857 , when she was not quite 22, Marie married Theodor Schmalenbach , then assistant preacher, later pastor and superintendent, with whom she first lived in Minden and from 1863 until his death on February 7, 1901 in Mennighüffen , now Löhne . The couple had five children.

Marie Schmalenbach was ailing for many years and visited the baths in Oeynhausen, Pyrmont and Norderney. Nevertheless, she outlived her husband by 23 years and died on March 10, 1924 at the old age of 88. The gravestones of Marie and Theodor Schmalenbach are at the church in Mennighüffen. Marie's tombstone bears the inscription of the third verse of her song “Brich in sweet light” (“Jesus Christ, only you are ... - ... that your word promises”).

plant

Marie Schmalenbach is the poet of the hymn "Brich in, Süßer Schein" (melody by Karl Kuhlo ), which was once very popular in Minden Ravensberg and was recorded under no. 572 in the Evangelical Hymnal (edition for Westphalia, Rhineland and Lippe).

Come on in, sweet glow , print version 1925
1 Come in, sweet glow of blessed eternity! Shine in our poor life
to give strength to our feet, joy to our souls.
2 Here work is early in the morning and late in the evening; Fear the eyes speak of
Distress from which hearts break; cold wind blows often.
3 Jesus Christ, you are only the light of our hope; introduce us and let's see
those ever green meadows that your word promises.
4 Eternity, shine brightly into time, that the little things become small for us
and the great seem great, blessed eternity.

What is less well known is that Marie Schmalenbach also wrote numerous poems, which were often printed in the women's magazine Martha and the conservative daily newspaper Der Reichsbote . In 1882 the Gütersloh publisher Heinrich Bertelsmann , also inclined to the revival movement and personally friends with the Schmalenbach family, published a collection of the poems under the title "Drops from the Wüstenquell". The 260-page volume was difficult to sell and was not a financial success for either the publisher or the author. After the death of her husband, she published his most important sermons in 1902.

In 1999 the Evangelical Church of Westphalia paid tribute to Marie Schmalenbach's life's work in an artistic glazing of the entrance hall in the Bielefeld regional church office by Susanne Precht: "Church music by Westphalian song poets".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Handwritten original printed in facsimile in Gerhard Rösche, Superintendent Theodor Schmalenbach - preacher, pastor and politician in the late period of the revival movement . In: Contributions to local history of the cities of Löhne and Bad Oeynhausen , issue 12, Löhne 1987, p. 79.
  2. ↑ Marie Schmalenbach: Drops from the desert source: poems. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1882.
  3. ^ Gospel sermons by Th. Schmalenbach, because. Superint. in Mennighüffen. Edited by Marie Schmalenbach, b. Huhold. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1902.
  4. ↑ Bernd Hey (Ed.): Church leadership in Bielefeld. 50 years of the regional church office on the old town church square . Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 2006, pp. 64–73, ISBN 3-89534-618-7

literature

  • Gerhard Rösche: Marie Schmalenbach. The author of the "Mennighüffener Lied" , in: Contributions to local history of the cities of Löhne and Bad Oeynhausen 11, 1986, pp. 23–43
  • Kerstin Stockhecke: Marie Schmalenbach. 1835-1924. Pastor's wife and writer from Westphalia (= religion in history. Vol. 2). 2nd Edition. Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 1994, ISBN 3-89534-120-7 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schmalenbach, Marie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Huhold, Marie Emilie (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pastor's wife and author
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH Holtrup
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1924
Place of death Mennighüffen