Theodor Paulsen

Theodor Paulsen (born August 31, 1839 in Albersdorf , † December 28, 1921 in Altona ) was a German theologian and school founder.

Live and act

Theodor Paulsen was the son of a pastor. He first attended elementary school and from 1852 the grammar school in Eutin , where he received his Abitur in 1858. He then studied Protestant theology and philosophy at universities in Kiel , Berlin and Erlangen . After he had passed the second theological exam, he worked as an assistant teacher at the Meldorfer School of Academics . From October 8, 1865, Paulsen worked as a compastor for the local rural community and moved to Marne on March 22, 1868 , where he took over the post of chief pastor. In addition to his pastoral work, Paulsen offered private tuition: he prepared boys for high school for a fee, girls could attend courses in literary history free of charge. In 1876 Paulsen founded a three-class secondary school for girls.

On March 22, 1884 Paulsen received one of two pastoral posts in Nienstedten . As a compastor, his sphere of activity also included Blankenese , Dockenhuden , Sülldorf and Rissen , which at that time were not yet independent. A short time later he took over the school supervision of the southern part of the Pinneberg district . On January 7th, 1891 Paulsen was appointed provost of the Propstei Pinneberg. Since he knew the church conditions in Blankenese well due to his previous activities, he campaigned against the will of the parish of Nienstedten to establish an independent congregation in Blankenese. For this reason, he had already pushed ahead with the construction of the Blankenese church in 1896 , which was largely realized through donations. The Blankenese parish was founded in 1902.

In addition to his work as a pastor, Paulsen also held the office of school inspector for the Pinneberg district, where up to 400 teachers were employed. The teaching profession is “the highest one can imagine,” said Paulsen. He attended numerous schools and was demanding and critical of the visitations. He urged teachers to teach in a pedagogically qualified manner.

Paulsen chaired the school commission, which decided on April 1, 1904 to put the long-established private elementary school in Nienstedten, based on Schulkamp, ​​under state management and to expand it. In addition to a new gym, which was built in 1912, teacher training was strengthened and suggestions from the educational reform movement were incorporated. In addition, a library was created that was also available to adults and was well received. Paulsen initiated the establishment of a waiting school here for school-age students, which was opened in 1913.

Paulsen was one of the co-founders of a school for secondary daughters in Blankenese in 1890 , which was run privately. This school, which Paulsen called his “favorite child”, was taken over by the state in 1904 and developed into today's Marion-Dönhoff-Gymnasium . In addition, Paulsen gave the decisive impetus for a secondary school in Blankenese and took over the provisional management when it opened in rented premises on October 10, 1892. Paulsen campaigned for Walther Kirschten to be elected headmaster in 1894. During his 28-year tenure, Kirschten successfully continued to develop the school. Today the school is known as the Blankenese Gymnasium on Kirschtenstrasse. In 1898 Paulsen co-founded a private school for girls in Hamburg-Groß Flottbek . In 1909 it was given the status of a lyceum and was taken over by the state in 1915. This school is today's Hochrad high school . Theodor Paulsen retired on October 1, 1913. When in 1915 the headmistress of the Lyceum in Groß-Flottbek was unable to work due to a serious illness, Paulsen temporarily ran the school despite the retirement after initial concerns.

Theoder Paulsen died at the end of 1921. His grave can be found in the Blankenese cemetery in Sülldorf .
Propst-Paulsen-Straße has been a reminder of the former theologian and school founder since 1928.

His daughter Elisabeth (1879–1951) became a poet and married the artist and publisher Ernst Fuhrmann .

literature

• Bodo Schümann: Paulsen, Theodor . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 3 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-8353-0081-4 , p. 291-292 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bio + Grab-Bild (p. 45) Theodor Paulsen pdf
2. ↑ Thomas Krämer: From the disappearance of a poet: attempt on Elisabeth Paulsen. in: Kritische Ausgabe 2002 ( [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )