Peter Rosenberg

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Peter Rosenberg (born June 28, 1871 , † June 10, 1919 in Riga , Latvia ), Latvian Pēteris Rozenbergs , was a Latvian Lutheran pastor. He is considered an evangelical confessor and is mentioned on the Riga Martyrs Stone.

The dates in this article are based on the Julian calendar for the period up to 1918 unless otherwise noted.

Life

Before the Latvian War of Independence

Peter Rosenberg first attended the Latvian elementary school, then the German city high school in Riga. He graduated from the Theological Faculty of Tartu University and was ordained on December 3, 1901.

After that, Peter Rosenberg was first pastor in Roop . As early as autumn 1902 he served this community on a provisional basis, on May 2, 1903, after his election and confirmation by the consistory, he was presented to the provost Karl Schlau , the church mayor and the church guardians and then officially assumed the office.

During the Russian Revolution of 1905 , Rosenberg stayed with his congregation despite the danger to the country pastors. At a meeting he faced revolutionary speakers. His demeanor was so decisive that the revolutionaries had to flee from the staunch parishioners.

In December 1905 the almost 700-year-old local castle Groß-Roop , one of the oldest secular buildings in the Baltic States, was burned down with the help of petroleum. The parish church attached to the castle remained intact. Majorate Johann Baron Rosen had the castle rebuilt immediately.

In November 1906 Rosenberg ran unsuccessfully for the office of pastor of Marienburg .

In July 1907, Peter Rosenberg was appointed Lennewarden parish pastor by the Lennewarden patrons with the unanimous consent of representatives of the farming community. On Sunday, September 30th, Rosenberg delivered his farewell sermon in front of a large audience in Roop. Rosenberg was considered popular, his departure was regretted. His successor was Erwin Gross from October .

On Monday, August 3rd, July / August 16, 1909 greg. , Rosenberg said a prayer at the rededication of the reconstructed Groß-Roop Castle.

From March 1911 he was pastor of the Latvian part of the Riga Martins parish. He was unanimously elected by the administrators, namely the elders Lyra, Reimers and Kopp, the patron Dr. jur. A. von Balmerincq, the Livonian general superintendent Th. Gaehtgens, as well as the senior man and the dock man of the Great Guild .

His work reached its climax in this position. It was a suburban community consisting mostly of industrial workers. So far the pastor had lived in the country. The social conditions in the large industrial city shocked him. In his view, alcoholism was a major cause of many problems. So he began intensive abstinence work, which was inextricably linked with building up the community. He succeeded in winning personalities for church work.

Donations made by him on New Years 1912 and 1914 were mentioned in the Rigaschen Rundschau .

In the First World War he tried to mitigate the consequences of the war for the population. So he took care of the Latvian refugees and raised large amounts of money from the government in Saint Petersburg , for which his Latvian ethnicity was very useful. He saw to it that a hospital was set up, in which the wounded could be cared for, and which was maintained by the community. He was also able to use his good relationships so that he could forward messages from prisoners of war.

The occupation by the German army was stressful for him. In 1918, the Preachers Synod wanted to send Wilhelm II a telegram in which they wanted to thank him for the “liberation” of the country. Peter Rosenberg protested against this because he felt bound to the tsar by his oath.

During the war of independence

The occupation of Riga by the atheist Bolsheviks during the Latvian War of Independence was also very stressful for Peter Rosenberg. The pastorships selected a few confidants who were to negotiate with the Bolsheviks about the use of the churches. Rosenberg was one of these people. This task was risky. The negotiations were not very successful for Rosenberg. An attempt to arrest him failed.

Before his eventual arrest on April 2, 1919, he told his wife:

"If my head should fall too, be convinced that the other will strengthen the faith."

This statement should prove to be true after his death. Before he was taken away after his arrest, he sang “ Jesus, go ahead ” with his family . To his prayer, which he now said, also belonged the word of the cross Lk 23,34  NIV :

"Father, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing."

He was detained in the central prison. Rosenberg was eloquent so that he could assist the other prisoners in German, Latvian and Russian. On May 20th he was to be brought to Wenden and brought before the tribunal there. When his escort brought him to the station, his train had already left.

On May 22nd, he was to be brought back to the railway. However, there was no longer any train running because Riga had been retaken by the Baltic State Army that day . He could go home a free man. He found his pastorate locked and uninhabited. His wife had collapsed under the traumatic experience and was sent to a mental hospital. As a result, no one had taken care of his children, which is why they were sent to relatives in the countryside. The pastor was able to get into the building through a broken window. The first thing he did then was to look for his wife. He could find her. Their joy at the reunion made further treatment unnecessary, so that the couple could move back into the pastorate.

This luck was ruined by the typhus infection that the pastor contracted in prison under the poor conditions of detention. The disease broke out and threw Rosenberg into a long agony. His good constitution prevented a quick death until Peter Rosenberg finally succumbed to the fever on June 10th.

funeral

Peter Rosenberg was buried on Saturday, June 14, 1919. The visitors were numerous. Provost Erdmann gave the funeral speech. In addition, Rosenberg's fellow student pastor Giehm from the Johanniskirche, the head of the church choir, teacher Eiche, Bredermann as a member of the community committee, the community elder von Roop, lawyer Lasdinsch from the Latvian aid committee, the head of the Riga Christian Mission Apalit, Dr. Jankowski from the Latvian Red Cross and the student Jaunsem from the "Lettonia" corps.

swell

literature

  • Oskar Schabert : Baltic Martyrs Book. Furche-Verlag, Berlin 1926, p. 180 ff. ( Digitized version, the report is based on the notes of Peter Rosenberg's wife, M. Rosenberg, née Dihrik).
  • Harald Schultze and Andreas Kurschat (editors): "Your end looks at ..." - Protestant martyrs of the 20th century. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 978-3-374-02370-7 , Part II, Section Russian Empire / Baltic States , p. 545.
  • Kārlis Beldavs: Mācītāji, kas nāvē gāja. Luterisma mantojuma fonds, Riga 2010, ISBN 978-9984-753-56-0 (Latvian).

Portrait photo

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roop. in Rigaschen Rundschau No. 105 of May 10, 1903, online at Pastor Rosenberg | issueType: P
  2. ↑ Marienburg. Election of pastors. in the Düna newspaper No. 252 of November 2, 1906, online at Rosenberg | issueType: P
  3. ↑ Latest local news. in the Düna newspaper No. 158 of July 11, 1907, online at Rosenberg | issueType: P
  4. ^ Roop. Choice of pastors in the Rigaschen Rundschau , No. 234, October 8, 1907, online at Rosenberg Pastor | issueType: P
  5. ^ Roop. Change of pastors in the Düna-Zeitung , No. 233, October 6, 1907, online at Rosenberg Pastor | issueType: P
  6. ↑ Groß-Roop Castle. A nice, simple celebration in the Düna-Zeitung , No. 181, August 10, 1909, online at Pastor Rosenberg | issueType: P
  7. ↑ On the Latvian pastor of Martinskirche in Rigaschen Zeitung No. 50 of March 3, 1911, online at Rosenberg | issueType: P
  8. ↑ New Year 1912. in Rigaschen Zeitung No. 302 of December 31, 1911, online at Rosenberg Rosenberg Rosenberg Rosenberg Pastor Rosenberg | issueType: P
  9. ^ New Year 1914. in Rigaschen Zeitung No. 301 of December 31, 1913, online at Rosenberg Rosenberg Rosenberg Pastor Rosenberg | issueType: P
  10. ^ Oskar Schabert : Baltic Martyrs Book . Furche-Verlag, Berlin 1926, p. 181 f. ( Digital version, the report is based on the notes of Peter Rosenberg's wife, M. Rosenberg, née Dihrik)
  11. ^ The funeral of the pastor of the Martins congregation Peter Rosenberg. In Rigaschen Zeitung No. 20 of June 18, 1911, online at Peter Rosenberg | issueType: P
personal data
SURNAME Rosenberg, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rozenbergs, Pēteris (Latvian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Evangelical Lutheran pastor, confessor in Latvia
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1871
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1919
Place of death Riga