Martin Voelkel

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Martin Voelkel (born August 1, 1884 in Berlin ; † May 21, 1950 there ) was a German pastor and leader of the New Scouts , who was important for the entire youth movement . He was also a member of the Confessing Church since 1935 . He worked in the Karlshorst community from around 1930 until his death .

Life

Voelkel attended the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium and studied theology in Berlin and Tübingen. After passing the first exam, he first became vicar in Alt-Landsberg, and from 1910 he was pastor in various Berlin parishes.

Voelkel was influenced by young conservative ideas, especially Thomas Mann's considerations of the apolitical were important to him. Voelkel aimed at a revival of the idea of the empire , with metaphysical approaches, partly decidedly Christian ideas of the sacrum imperium and George's vision of the New Kingdom being combined.

For the New Pathfinders, knight, castle, grail idea, fight and allegiance were important key concepts:

“Noble bodies and souls faithful to death, illuminating the dirtiest corner with beauty and educated enough to fill every space; grown together in comradeship with the people, and at the same time gorgeous leaders; proud in the ornament of the storm helmet, and humbly with the helmet off to prayer. Here the new image rises. […] And from the depths of the woods a young generation lifts believing eyes to this star, because the compass in its chest shows it the way to such full and heroic humanity. This is the white knight who is now setting out again to redeem the world through his kingdom. "

Voelkel propagated the dispensability of vows and programs: “In our hearts we wear the covenant mark, which unmistakably shows us our direction; and the believing battle cry rang out from the lips: 'Long live the new kingdom!' "

Passive resistance in the Third Reich

Although Voelkel, like most clergymen of his time, had a German-national conviction and belonged to the traditional soldier club Stahlhelm , he was not considered reliable enough in church circles. For example, in a newspaper article in the newspaper Der Attack he was accused of having insulted "the heroes of the world war" - in his sermon in the church in Karlshorst he had pointed out the spread of sexually transmitted diseases by soldiers.

When the National Socialists came to power, criticisms and hidden attacks on the pastor intensified, and requests for a transfer were even made in the parish council. Despite all the problems, spying and harassment, Voelkel stayed in his community. In 1936 he had six swastika flags removed from his church, prayed for imprisoned followers of the Confessing Church, organized baptisms of people of different faiths in his church and in a funeral speech on June 6, 1944, paid tribute to the services of a Jewish doctor. The liberation of Berlin, which began in Karlshorst, probably protected him from harsher sentences.

Fonts

  • Here knight and empire . Collected Essays, 1923

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Voelkel: Here knights and empire! From: The White Knight, special issue broadcast, issue 6/1921. Quote from Werner Kindt (Ed.): Documentation of the youth movement . Volume I: Basic scripts of the German youth movement . Diederichs, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 372.
  2. ↑ Quoted from: Florian Malzacher, Matthias Daenschel: Youth Movement for Beginners. 2nd Edition. Südmarkverlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-88258-131-X , p. 75.
  3. ↑ Hans-Rainer Sandvoss: Resistance in Lichtenberg and Friedrichshain (= resistance 1933–1945. Volume 11). German Resistance Memorial Center, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-926082-03-8 , p. 239 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Voelkel, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant pastor
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 1950
Place of death Berlin