Theo Fehn

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Theo Fehn (born August 24, 1910 in Speyer ; † September 1, 1984 in Kirchheim an der Weinstrasse ) was a German pastor of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate and bell expert and appraiser.

The bell expert Theo Fehn at work.

Life

Theo Fehn, son of the master watchmaker Friedrich August Fehn from Speyer and his wife Anna Maria geb. Hörtling, attended the humanistic grammar school in Speyer from 1921 to 1930 . At the University of Heidelberg he first studied medicine for three semesters in 1930/31, but then switched to Protestant theology , which he continued in Berlin and Rostock . In 1935 he entered the Palatinate Church Service and was parish administrator in Mühlheim an der Eis , Klingenmünster , Weingarten and Göllheim. After constant hostility from the party organs of the NSDAP , he switched to the service of the Alsatian Church on May 1, 1942. After taking over a representation in Brumath , he was appointed pastor at the Johanneskirche in Weißenburg , where Fehn stayed until the end of World War II. Soon after the end of the war, he returned to the Palatinate Church, initially as parish administrator in Speyer (November 1946 - early October 1947) in Parish 1 at the Heiliggeistkirche in Speyer, where Pastor Emil Lind had been suspended from duty. From 1948 until his retirement, Fehn was pastor in Tiefenthal near Grünstadt .

He spent his retirement from 1974 until his death in 1984 in Kirchheim an der Weinstrasse .

In 1946 Fehn became a bell expert for the Palatinate Church and worked on the advisory committee for the German bell system. He gave many valuable impulses and suggestions for the bell system in the replacement phase of the post-war period , which are still valid today. His knowledge and skills in this area flowed together in the bell of the Memorial Church of the Protestation in Speyer and is still widely recognized today.

The German Bell Museum keeps "documents on bell history and history, including such important sources as the estate of Theo Fehn" in its archive.

Theo Fehn's uncompromising and uncompromising advocacy of what he had recognized to be the truth, his resistance to a rigid, official-led administration of the church, which in his opinion did not sufficiently take into account the theological aspect of its tasks, brought the young theologian into constant contradiction Supervisor. In his parish in Weißenburg, where he was valued and admired, he made no secret of his rejection of the Nazi regime's injustice. So at the end of the war he almost became a victim of the SS's last cleansing operations .

Fehn was a talented preacher who knew how to inspire his congregation, also thanks to his diverse artistic abilities and his openness to people's problems. The music, especially his love of the organ, are an important aspect of understanding the theologian Fehn, whose dispute and will to assert himself were also connected with his lifelong struggle against his own physical problems.

The bronze plate on Theo Fehn's grave in the cemetery in Speyer

Theo Fehn's urn was buried in the family grave in the cemetery in Speyer. The bronze grave slab, cast by the Rincker bell and art foundry in Sinn, bears the inscription: Campanae suaviter cantent laudem benigni Dei .

Gertrud Fehn (1916–2013), Theo Fehn's wife, published after 1991 extensive materials on Fehn's biography and work from the estate.

Works (selection)

  • The bell expert . Edited by Gertrud Fehn. Badenia-Verlag, Karlsruhe 1991–1997.
    • Vol. 1: On the reconstruction of the German bell system from the point of view of Theo Fehn. (1991), ISBN 3-7617-0284-1 .
    • Vol. 2: A look behind the scenes. (1992), ISBN 3-7617-0292-2
    • Vol. 3: The Bochum cast steel bells and Theo Fehn. (1997), ISBN 3-7617-0337-6
    • Review: Martin G. Nickol: Lived for the sound of bells . In: Die Rheinpfalz No. 287 of December 11, 1997, culture regional .
  • Little bell tale. Advice and tips on how to get bells for Protestant pastors. Ed.: Protestant regional church council of the Palatinate. Willy Elfert, Speyer 1947.
  • Wake up, you spirit of the first witnesses !: Three sermons from Pastor Theo Fehn . Verlag Evangelische Buchhandlungen Rudolf Senftleben, Kaiserslautern 1947.
  • Siren and bell. A picture of life in self-testimonies and documents. Edited by Gertrud Fehn. Badenia-Verlag, Karlsruhe 1989, ISBN 3-7617-0271-X
  • Bell sounds from the Palatinate . Audio CD, Merkton (Sony Music) 1993 (as audio cassette ).
  • The ringing of the Protestation Memorial Church in Speyer am Rhein: 45 years of ringing the bells 1959 - 2004: a documentation on the occasion of the centenary of the Memorial Church . Edited by Gertrud Fehn. Self-published, Kirchheim an der Weinstrasse [2004].
  • Recovering and consecration of the peace bell in the Protestant church in Klingenmünster: in memory of April 14th and 18th, 1937 . Johann Schmitt, Landau / Pfalz 1937.

literature

  • Fehn, Theo . In: Marie-Joseph Bopp: The evangelical clergy and theologians in Alsace and Lorraine from the Reformation to the present . Verlag Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch 1959. P. 151, No. 1333.
  • Biundo, Georg: The evangelical clergy of the Palatinate since the Reformation: (Palatinate Pastor's Book) . Publishing house Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch 1968. (Genealogy and national history).
  • Martin G. Nickol: Lived for the sound of bells. Theo Fehn: Third volume of the biography and catalog raisonné published . In: Die Rheinpfalz No. 287 of December 11, 1997, Kultur Regional .
  • Andreas Ganter: Passion for the sound of bells . In: Die Rheinpfalz No. 6 from January 8th 2011, your weekend at home in the Palatinate .
  • Christoph Picker, Gabriele Stüber, Klaus Bümlein a. a. [Ed]: Protestants without protest. The Protestant Church of the Palatinate under National Socialism. Publishing house Speyer u. a., Speyer u. a. 2016.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Registration of Theo Fehn in the Rostock matriculation portal
  2. ↑ June 1, 1935 - August 31, 1935
  3. ↑ September 1, 1935 - December 31, 1937
  4. ↑ January 1, 1938 - April 15, 1941
  5. ↑ April 16, 1941 - October 6, 1941.
  6. ↑ May 1, 1942 - September 14, 1942
  7. ↑ September 15, 1942 - January 19, 1945.
  8. ^ Emil Lind, with whom Theo Fehn was friends despite theological differences, belonged to the group of German Christians . Although not a party member, he was suspended from service and imprisoned by the French military government in Landau / Palatinate because of, among other things, his work On the National-Church Unification of German Christians . He was a student and friend of Albert Schweitzer , whose life and work he described in numerous publications (for the Schweitzer – Lind correspondence, see: Klaus Bümlein, Armin Schlechter (ed.): Emil Lind and Albert Schweitzer. A Palatinate pastor and Schweitzer friend between 'Reverence for Life' and 'National Church' . Verlagshaus Speyer, Speyer 2019.)
  9. ↑ Theo Fehn: The bell expert. Badenia Verlag, Karlsruhe 1991. Vol. 1, p. 436, Ed .: Gertrud Fehn, 1991, ISBN 3-7617-0284-1 .
  10. ↑ See video on Youtube: For the 100th birthday of Theo Fehn - Bell CD of the Speyer Memorial Church .
  11. ↑ DGM - HISTORY. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 10, 2012 ; Retrieved June 12, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Fehn was one of the first organists of the post-war period to support the organ music of modern composers such as Marcel Dupré and Olivier Messiaen .
  13. ↑ Theo Fehn suffered from the effects of polio all his life.
  14. ↑ Eng. (The) bells may gently sing the praises of the good God .
  15. ↑ Gertrud Fehn was the daughter of Eugen Héraucourt, pastor in Niederhochstadt since 1927 .
  16. ↑ Evangelisches Zentralarchiv ( Memento from January 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 12, 2012
  17. ↑ books.google.de , accessed on June 12, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Fehn, Theo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pastor of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate as well as bell expert and expert
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Speyer
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1984
Place of death Kirchheim an der Weinstrasse