Otto Erich Strasser

Otto Erich Strasser , also Otto Erich Strasser-Bertrand (born July 31, 1888 in Sigriswil , † December 17, 1985 in Bern ) was a Swiss Protestant clergyman and university professor .

Life

family

Otto Erich Strasser was the son of Pastor Arnold Strasser and his wife Ida (née Hopf). He was the nephew of the physician Hans Strasser and the pastor Gottfried Strasser , as well as a cousin of the psychiatrist Charlot Strasser .

He was married to Marguerite Brun, daughter of Auguste Wabnitz (1837-1913), professor of theology at the University of Toulouse in Montauban , in his first marriage since 1912 . In his second marriage he was married to Auguste Wabnitz's niece, Madeleine (née Bertrand).

education

Otto Erich Strasser matriculated as a theology student at the University of Bern and continued his studies at the University of Heidelberg and Montauban . He finished his studies with that of Wilhelm Hadorn excited licentiate Capito's relations with Bern .

Career

In 1912 he was ordained and he became pastor of the German-speaking community of Pruntrut . From 1920 until his retirement in 1985, he was pastor of the Friedenskirchgemeinde in Bern and during this time he taught Swiss church history and the history of French Protestantism as a private lecturer at the University of Bern from 1928 to 1958 ; In 1929 he became associate professor for church history at the University of Neuchâtel .

Theological and literary work

As a pioneer of ecumenism, Otto Erich Strasser built bridges between churches and cultures. He belonged to the Groupe des Dombes , a fraternity of Bernese Reformed and French Catholic theologians around Abbé Paul Couturier and pastor Richard Bäumlin .

In his academic work he dealt with reformatory union efforts, among others with Wolfgang Capito , the lively relationships between Protestantism in French and German and the ecumenical community between Catholics and Protestants in prayer, theological exchange and practical solidarity.

He was co-editor of the magazines Der Kirchenfreund ( Reformatio from 1952 ) and Der Saemann . In the journal Zwingliana he published the essays The last efforts of the Strasbourg theologians Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito to bring about a union between the German Lutherans and the Swiss Reformed (1934/1); Answers from Alexandre Vinet to ecclesiastical questions of our time (1935/2); The Consensus Tigurinus (1949/1); Bern on the Way of the Cross ecumenical meeting during the Reformation period (1971/2).

He summarized the sum of his lifelong occupation with French Protestantism in the handbook The Church in its History , in which he described the eventful events in the life of the Protestant Church in France in 18 chapters.

honors and awards

• In 1934 the University of Lausanne appointed Otto Erich Strasser Dr. hc

Fonts (selection)

• Capito's relations with Bern . Leipzig, Heinsius 1928.
• Origin and tasks of the regional church and communities . Bern, bookstore of the Evangelical Society; 1940.
• Otto-Erich Strasser; Wilhelm Schlatter; Fritz Blanke : Church, community, sect . Bern 1940.
• Alexandre Vinet: His struggle for a life of freedom . Erlenbach-Zurich, Rotapfelverlag 1946.
• The Evangelical Church in France . Göttingen 1975.

literature

Otto Erich Strasser . In: Zwingliana - Contributions to the history of Zwingli, the Reformation and Protestantism in Switzerland , 17th volume, issue 1. Zwingliverein 1986.

Web links

• Rudolf Dellsperger : Otto Erich Strasser. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Otto Erich Strasser . In: Index Theologicus .