Peter Wilhelm Behrends

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Peter Wilhelm Behrends

Peter Wilhelm Behrends (born July 27, 1773 in Neuhaldensleben , † October 27, 1854 in Alvensleben ) was a Protestant pastor, church and local historian.

Behrends was the founder of the Ludgeri Association , a member of the Thuringian-Saxon Association for the Study of Patriotic Antiquity a. Preservation of its monuments, Halle, (1825), Altmark Association for Patriotic History and Industry , Salzwedel, (1840), Historical Association for Lower Saxony , Hanover, 1843; Collaboration with: Theologische Annalen und Nachrichten , Fiedler's pastoral newspaper of the clergy in the province of Saxony, Rhenius ecclesiastical monthly for the province of Saxony, Neuhaldensleber Wochenblatt .

Life

After taking lessons in catechism and reading, Behrends attended the Neuhaldensleber city school. After his confirmation at Easter 1787, he decided to study theology. The acquisition of knowledge in the ancient languages ​​Latin, Greek and Hebrew created good conditions for this. In addition, Behrends was already interested in local history at this time.

An inheritance from Frankfurt's uncle Philipp Friedrich Behrends formed the material basis with whose help Behrends began studying in Halle an der Saale in 1792 . His teachers included the historian Georg Christian Knapp as well as the practical theologian August Hermann Niemeyer . In addition to philosophy, he devoted himself to natural history lectures, especially those of the circumnavigator Johann Reinhold Forster . He formed a theological circle with fellow students, a discussion group as it were. Behrends stayed away from the student unrest that flared up in Halle at that time - professors caught in crossfire were driven out of the city after their windows had been smashed. He preferred to go on extensive hikes during his studies and beyond. The longest journey of his life led to the Thuringian Forest.

In 1795 he passed his exam at the Magdeburg Consistory "with applause" and gave his examination sermon in the cathedral. Through personal relationships, he took over the office of rector and first teacher in the Oebisfelde city ​​school in 1796 . There he initiated school reforms and transformed the school into a community school with an annual examination. In addition, he published a description and history of the district of Oebisfelde.

In 1800, through his sponsor, the Walbeck Prussian War Council, Behrends acquired the first pastor's position in Volkmarsdorf west of Oebisfelde and married the pastor's daughter Sophia Dransfeld from Wegensted. Wilhelm Leopold Behrends was born in Volkmarsdorf, who later became the manor manager in Flechtingen. Behrends was the father of a total of four sons and two daughters.

Behrends leased most of his land and limited his gardening activities to arboriculture. I - he remembers - " left the errands for the most part to my wife, who also dealt with the matter with great zeal ."

On the other hand, Behrends had the church building in Volkmarsdorf renovated " which still stood there in the genuine taste of the earlier centuries to build and improve what was necessary without harming the ancient ". He also turned his attention to the Volkmarsdorf school system.

In 1806 Behrends was appointed to the parish of Nordgermersleben with Tundersleben and Klein Rottmersleben. Because of the Napoleonic turmoil, he was able to move to Nordgermersleben in 1807.

In 1809 he had the church renovated and devoted himself to running the school, dividing the increasingly small class into two. And provided new school books. He let the church parish co-administer the church finances and set up the office of an accountant, to which the local court hosts took turns. Behrends devoted himself to the establishment and maintenance of a parish archive. He collected files and documents.

In 1812 the return of the Napoleonic troops led to a new war emergency. The military road from Braunschweig to Magdeburg ran directly through Tundersleben. Troops from all nations passed through. An army camp was set up in Bornstedt , and the surrounding areas were used to make contributions. Nordgermersleben and Behrends also remembers: A French " NCO once, because I had to reject his exaggerated demands, furiously put a sword on my chest ". With the defeat of the French army in Russia and its retreat in 1813, a victory and peace festival was celebrated in Nordgermersleben in 1816. A victory plaque and a flag were made for this festival.

Behrends founded a preachers' association for the exchange of views between neighboring office colleagues and a theological reading society and became a member of various history societies. At the same time he wrote articles for a number of church magazines.

The then controversial Prussian ecclesiastical union of the Lutheran and Reformed Church in 1820 was lively welcomed by Behrends in Nordgermersleben. In 1823 he attacked with the text About the origin, the content and the general introduction of the new church agendas in the flaring agendas , which triggered benevolence at the court and resulted in a reward in the form of the promise of a free position for his son Franz Eduard at the Pedagogy of Our Lady in Magdeburg as well as the award of the Royal Prussian General First Class Decoration.

In 1824 and 1826 Behrend's most important and extensive work, the two-volume Neuhaldenslebischen Kreischronik, was published. The king encouraged this by purchasing 100 copies and distributing them in schools. The municipal authorities of Neuhaldensleben also approve and appoint Behrends an honorary citizen of the city.

Behrends also wrote a description of the Holy Land and an order of worship. For this, too, he received a gold medal from the Prussian court. Behrends has also maintained contact with the neighboring town of Helmstedt since the 1820s. For more than 30 years, he has been taking baths in the local Gesundbrunnen, which are so good for him that "during this time he neither needed a doctor nor a pharmacist."

In 1832 he visited Helmstedt and examined the documents and antiquities of the city and the Ludgeri monastery. St. Ludgerus was regionally considered the first Christian missionary. According to Behrends, Ludgerus was baptized at the Helmstedt spring. With this certainty, he founded the Ludgeri Association in Nordgermersleben in 1840 with the aim of erecting a monument. In 1845, the large metal cross at the Ludgeriquelle in Helmstedt was erected with diverse support. It bears the inscription: St. Ludgerus was baptized here in 798. This step was echoed in both Protestant and Catholic circles.

In 1846, Behrends celebrated his 50th anniversary in office. He finished his job and handed the pastoral office over to his son Franz Eduard, the pastor of Dönstedt .

In 1852 he left Nordgermersleben together with his daughter and settled in the village of Alvensleben as an old resident, where he died on October 27, 1854 at the age of 81 "of old age". He was buried in Nordgermersleben on October 30th.

Works

  • Description and history of the district of Öbisfelde, Königslutter 1798; Digitized
  • History of the city of Neuhaldensleben, Königslutter 1802;
  • 1802; Description and history of the church cantons Alvensleben, Eichenbarleben and Erxleben, Calvörde, Oebisfelde, Mieste and Walbeck, Neuhaldensleben and Groß Ammensleben
  • Chronicle or contemporary history of the former. Cistercian monastery Althaldensleben, Zerbst 1811;
  • About the origin, the content and the general introduction of the new church agenda for the court and Berlin Cathedral, v. a Protestant preacher, Magdeburg 1823;
  • Neuhaldensleben district chronicle or history of all places of the district Neuhaldensleben in Magdeburg, edited from archival sources. v. PW ~, pastor of Nordgermersleben. First part. The business the city of Neuhald. u. of the former Althald monastery. Neuhaldensleben 1824
  • Neuhaldensleben district chronicle or history of all the places of the district Neuhaldensleben ... Second part. The business the monasteries Hillersleben u. Marienborn, Hundisburg Castle, Alvensleben, Altenhausen, Erxleben u. Bartensleben, Sommersburg, Ummendorf, Hötensleben u. Harbke, also the other manors, villages, churches, parishes, etc. other memorials of the district, Neuhaldensleben 1826;
    • Reprint I-II 2004
  • Brief description of the holy land, Helmstedt 1829;
  • General early Christian Protestant church agendas for parish priests ... based on the Prussian, to suggest similar ecclesiastical forms in the Herzogthume Braunschweig a. in ... Germany, Helmstedt 1832
  • (anonymous): The three holy kings or the star wise men from the Orient, Helmstedt 1833;
  • "Mittheilungen des Thuringian-Saxon Antiquities Association", Halle:
    Liber bonorum monasterii S. Liudgeri Helmonstadensis, m. historical-topographical remarks, 1834;
  • Diplomatarium monasterii Sancti Liudgeri prope Helmstede. First abb. The documents of the XII. u. XIII. Century. 1836;
  • Addendum to the Diplomatarium. 1836;
  • Second Abth. 14th century documents, 1837;
  • Third Abth. Documents of the XV. Century, 1839
  • "Braunschweigisches Magazin":
    history of the former imperial direct free u. exempten Benedictine male monastery St. Ludgeri in front of Helmstedt, written from documentary sources.
  • - First division. The older period until 887, 1837 St. 38-40
  • - Second division. The beginning of the Middle Ages, 887-1160, 1842, nos. 9-14
  • - Third department. The time of the height of the Middle Ages 1160-1436, 1846, nos. 38–49;
  • - Life of St. Ludgerus, Apostle of the Saxons a. Business of the former imperial u. Free Imperial Monastery of St. Ludgeri zu Helmstedt, edited from archival sources. m. Fig. Of the old monastery u. City seal u. hist. Umschlag, Neuhaldensleben, 1843;
  • The celebration of the 50th anniversary of office d. Protestant pastor's PW ~ zu Nordgermersleben… along with the addition of a small church chronicle of the parish Ndg., directory d. Writings of the jubilee, final appendix about his participation in the introduction d. ecclesiastical union u. Agende in the Königl. - Prussian lands. Neuhaldensleben 1846;
  • History of the family from Kalvörde ~, Neuhaldensleben 1848;
  • Bibliography in: The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the office of Protestant Pastor PW ~, Neuhaldensleben 1846, pp. 87–92

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Behrends, Peter Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant pastor, church and local historian
DATE OF BIRTH July 27, 1773
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuhaldensleben
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 1854
Place of death Alvensleben