Theodor Schäfer (theologian)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Philipp Heinrich Wilhelm Theodor Schäfer (born February 17, 1846 in Friedberg (Hesse) , † February 24, 1914 in Rotenburg (Wümme) ) was a German , Protestant pastor and theologian . He is considered a pioneer in the care of the disabled.

Theodor Schäfer
Steinwand on the grounds of the TSBW

Life

Theodor Schäfer was the eldest son of Johann Peter Schäfer , who had founded an institution for the blind in Friedberg and ran it until he was 81. While studying theology in Gießen (1864–1866), Erlangen (1866–1867) and Leipzig (WS 1867/68) Theodor Schäfer joined the Gießen , Erlanger and Leipzig Wingolf . He interned twice with Wilhelm Löhe for a total of six weeks , a formative experience for him and his later profession. After graduating, he spent a year in the Friedberg seminary (1868–1869).

He then worked from May 1869 to August 1870 (like Bodelschwingh before ) as pastor of the German Protestant community in Paris . Because of the beginning of the war he came back to the German Reich in August 1870 and became an inspector in the Alsterdorfer Anstalten headed by Heinrich Matthias Sengelmann .

On September 5, 1872, Schäfer took over the position of director and head of the Schleswig-Holstein deaconess institution in Altona , which had been founded five years earlier . He worked here for 39 years until he retired in 1911. He died three years later in Rotenburg (Wümme). He was buried next to his wife in the Deaconess Cemetery in Altona .

family

His father was the social reformer Johann Peter Schäfer.
His mother was the teacher's daughter Henriette ("Jettchen") Anthes from Lich , (* October 6, 1816 in Erda, † June 2, 1899 in Friedberg)

At the end of August 1871, Schäfer married Christiane Berg (* 1847 in Kirchheim / Teck ). The couple had three children. She died in 1889. In 1892 he married Cornelia Maria Siemssen (* 1866 in Hamburg , † 1946). The church painter Rudolf Schäfer is the third child from his marriage to Christiane Berg.

plant

In addition to his work in the Diakonissenanstalt, Schäfer worked closely with Theodor Hoppe , the director of the Oberlin House in Potsdam, particularly for the care of the physically handicapped. After studying the "Cripple Welfare" in Denmark, which was already much more advanced at the time, he conducted a general survey of cripples in 1897 with the assistance of the district offices in Schleswig-Holstein. It was found that there were at least 3475 crippled adults and 1292 crippled children under the age of 16 in Schleswig-Holstein. Deeply shocked by these numbers, he built the first cripple home for children in Schleswig-Holstein (in Altona) just one year later, on October 2, 1898. 11 children were initially housed there; In 1901 there were already 30. In 1902 a home for physically handicapped children and young people was built on the “Alten Eichen” site in Stellingen . From 1899 to 1909 Schäfer published the yearbook of the care for cripples .

Schäfer had already developed a lively journalistic activity and gave diaconal science a place within practical theology . He published the book Guide to Inner Mission and the three-volume work The Female Diakonia , which was long considered a standard work.

Together with Johann Samuel Büttner , Hanover, and Emil Wacker, Flensburg, he was considered a political authority at the turn of the century. Together with Friedrich Naumann, he worked out fundamental socio-political views. In everything, however, he remained connected to his ecclesiastical mission.

His work was characterized by the effective combination of sober expertise with methodical action and a strong believing, passionate commitment to the "cripple work".

Addendum

An excerpt from the book of cripple welfare :

"The district council of Husum Reg.-Bez. On May 1, 1901, Schleswig unanimously decided to authorize the district committee to accommodate cripples in suitable cases at district expense in an institution, preferably in the Altona cripple home. This resolution, which was extremely gratifying for the cripple affair, initially in Schleswig-Holstein, has already borne fruit for the district itself. If one proceeds in this way purposefully and spontaneously from the circles, on the one hand the poor frail people do not need to wait for help until a statutory general compulsory obligation regulates the care of the cripples, on the other hand the statutory regulation will come into effect the more circles voluntarily move with it then also those who are still lagging behind learn to fully grasp their tasks. With such a resolution, which district will be the next in our province? What about outside of Schleswig-Holstein? News very welcome! "

As expected in his book, disability welfare was legally regulated by the Prussian state in 1920 through the Prussian Cripple Welfare Act. It made care for the physically handicapped a compulsory task of the state welfare associations and gave the homes a secure financial basis by granting state care allowances.

The Diakonissenanstalt in Altona was destroyed during the Second World War.

Honors

In 1897 the University of Rostock awarded Schäfer an honorary theological doctorate .

The Theodor Schäfer Vocational Training Center in Husum bears his name, as does the Theodor Schäfer Damm in Hamburg.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wilhelm Baur: Memoirs . Schlapp, Darmstadt 1911 (= Hessische Volksbücher, Vol. 10/11), p. 327.
  2. ↑ Siemssen family table

Publications (selection)

  • The female diakonia in its entirety (3 vols.). Stiftungsverlag, Potsdam (2nd edition) 1887–1894.
  • Guide for the inner mission, initially for vocational instruction in institutions of brothers, deacons and deaconesses . Agency of the Rough House, Hamburg (2nd edition) 1889.
  • In the service of love. Sketches for the deaconess business . Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1895.
  • Wilhelm Lohe. 4 lectures about him and rays of light from his works . Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1909.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schäfer, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schäfer, Philipp Heinrich Wilhelm Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and pioneer in the care of the disabled
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Friedberg (Hesse)
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1914
Place of death Rotenburg (Wümme)