Theodor Zöckler

Theodor Zöckler (* 5. March 1867 in Greifswald ; † 18th September 1949 in Stade ) was evangelical - Lutheran pastor in Stanislau in Galicia . He founded the Zöckler institutes there and was church president of the Evangelical Churches A. and HB in Lesser Poland from 1924 to 1939.

Life

Origin and studies

Theodor Zöckler was a son of Otto Zöckler , who later became professor of theology and a representative of a pietistic theology. He studied Protestant theology in Leipzig , a. a. with Franz Delitzsch , who got him excited about the mission to the Jews . He was a member of the Christian student union Wingolfsbund .

Pastor and establishment of the institutions in Stanislau

In 1891 he went to Stanislau in Galicia, Austria, and became pastor of the Protestant German-speaking parish of the Evangelical Superintendentur AB Galizien . He initially devoted himself to the mission to the Jews.

In 1896 he founded the Bethlehem House as a diaconal residential facility for initially 12 orphans. He built a factory for agricultural machines and in 1898 a German school. In 1913 a nursing home was set up. So their reputation as " Bethel des Ostens" and Zöcklers as " Bodelschwingh des Ostens" was established, and he became the generally recognized leader of the Galician Germans . In addition to his charitable work, he turned out to be a protagonist of ecumenism who had excellent contacts with other denominations .

Escape to Linz and Switzerland

During the First World War , Zöckler and his family fled first to Linz and later to Switzerland.

Again working in Stanisławów and superintendent

In 1919 it was finally possible to return to Stanisławów, which now belonged to Poland . The German parishes in Poland formed the Evangelical Church A. u. HB in Lesser Poland . During the development of the church and school system, he succeeded in doing this in the spirit of the Inner Mission . He received support from the German Reich .

In 1923 Theodor Zöckler was elected the new superintendent and church president of the Evangelical Church A. and H. B. in Lesser Poland. Since 1925 he supported the establishment of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church A. B. for the Ukrainian population of Galicia.

The beginning of the war meant the end of Zöckler's institutions. The Polish police arrested Superintendent Zöckler; but he was released on September 16, 1939.

Relocation to the Wartheland

At Christmas 1939 he was resettled like all Galician Germans in the " Wartheland ". In 1943 he returned briefly to Stanislau. In January 1945 the hasty escape from the approaching Soviet army took place.

Activity in Stade

Zöckler came to Stade . In 1946, with the support of former shop stewards , he founded the auxiliary committee of the Galician Germans A. u. H. B. in the Diakonisches Werk der EKD e. V. The association granted help to the Galicia-German refugees scattered all over Germany, if they were in need. “Initially, the tasks were pastoral, material and cultural care for the refugees scattered all over Germany. B. Visiting service, family reunification, help with accommodation, advice on the intention to emigrate, etc. "

He died there in 1949.

family

Theodor Zöckler was married to Lilie Bredenkamp. They had six children:

• Paul Zöckler
• Martha Zöckler (1897–1980) was a nurse and deaconess in Stanislau and from 1946 to 1967 superior of the DIAKO Ev. Diakonie Hospital Bremen .
• Elisabeth Zöckler
• Martin Zöckler, later pastor
• Lena Zöckler

Zöckler institutions

The institutions in Stanislau / Stanisławów were built by Theodor Zöckler since 1896. They included a Bethlehem orphanage , a factory for agricultural products, an elementary school and a grammar school, a training center for vicars Martineum with Paulinum , residential buildings and other buildings, most recently 20 houses. There was also a German church.

In the summer of 1939, the institutions came under pressure from the Polish authorities: "The Stanislauer Anstalten founded by D. Zöckler see themselves forced to dismiss pupils because the Polish authorities have now retroactively imposed taxes on the German evangelical works of love for six years."

In autumn 1939, after the city was occupied by Soviet troops, the institutions were closed by an order from Marshal Voroshilov. They fell into disrepair in the following years.

Today the factory is used again to manufacture agricultural machinery. The school buildings are also used as a school, in one part there is a museum on the history of the schools.

After the war the deaconess mother house "Ariel" Zöcklerische Anstalten was founded in Göttingen-Weende as a continuation of the institutions in Stanislau.

Honors

Zöckler and his work are still highly valued in Ivano-Frankivsk , what was then Stanislau. In 2007 a street was named after him. There is a plaque for him on one of the schools. Personally, he was held in high esteem among Ukrainians, and some called him "Kyr Theodor".

His grave in the Stader Horstfriedhof has been preserved (2019).

In 1937/1938 he received the Nicolaus Kopernicus Prize for “Germanness in Poland” from the Silesian Friedrich Wilhelms University in Breslau

Fonts

As a writer

• From Jechiel Lichtenstein's Hebrew Commentary on the New Testament. Leipzig 1895.
• The Diaspora is a witness. no year
• Inner mission in the diaspora. 1896.
• with August Wiegand: The Evangelical Aid Association for Inner Mission in the Diaspora, ie among the scattered fellow believers: An overview of its work and its tasks. Püschel, Plau 1908 ( ² 1912).
• The Evangelical Children's Home in Stanislau: A look back and a cry for help. Institution management, Stanislau 1912.
• The Germanness in Galicia. Heimat und Welt / Duncker, Weimar 1915 (2nd edition: Heimat- und Welt-Verlag, Dresden 1917).
• Christian Theophilus Lucky. In: Seeds of Hope. 60. Leipzig 1917, pp. 2-8.
• with Wilfried Lempp: Help that the fire does not go out! Wimmer, Linz 1929.
• with Wilfried Lempp: May we continue like this? Evangelical Institutions, Stanislau 1933.
• Memorandum concerning the Evangelical-Ukrainian movement in Malopolska (July 19, 1933). In: The Protestant Church in Austria, Belgium, Poland, Alsace-Lorraine, Transylvania, Spain, Hungary, Ukraine. Vol. II.
• Christmas prayer of the evangelical institutions in Stanislawow, Poland. Evangelical Children's Home, Stanislau 1935.
• The inheritance and other stories. Luther-Verlag / HG Wallman, Posen / Leipzig 1936 (2nd edition: Lutherverlag, Posen 1942).
• The man without a certificate of baptism: He's leading me on the right street. Story from Galicia. Luther-Verlag / HG Wallman, Posen / Leipzig 1936.
• What an old book can do: A story from Galicia. Luther-Verlag / HG Wallman, Posen / Leipzig 1936.
• 25 years of deaconess work in the Polish Carpathian country: Sarepta. Retrospect and Prospect. Evangelical Aid Association for Inner Mission in the Diaspora; Gallneukirchen, Upper Austria, Kirchnüchel, Ostholstein. Mrs. Blaßl, 1938.
• The love of Christ as the driving force of the inner mission. Evangelical Central Association for Inner Mission in Austria, Vienna 1917.
• The broken glasses (= after work. H. 19). Christian Publishing House , Constance 1954, OCLC 73621028 .

As editor

• Evangelical Community Gazette in Stanislau. (1904–1939)
• Annual reports of the evangelical institutions in Stanislau.

literature

• Maria Klanska: Theodor Zöckler and the Galician Germans . In: Studia Germanica Posnaniensia. 24, 1999, ISSN  0137-2467 , pp. 103-120.
• Wilfried Lempp: Theodor Zöckler and the task of witnessing the evangelical diaspora (=  God witnesses 63, ZDB -ID 845002-x ). Verlag "Junge Gemeinde", Stuttgart 1961, OCLC 73414800 . (The author worked for Zöckler for several years.)
• Rudolf Mohr: Bodelschwingh of the East. 80 years German high school in Stanislau. In: The Common Way. 96, 1999, ISSN  0938-6343 , pp. 36-37.
• Erich Müller: Zöckler and the Union of Christian Germans in Galicia. In: Yearbook Weichsel-Warthe . 45, 1999, ZDB -ID 533266-7 , pp. 88-94.
• Roland Walloschke: Zöckler's work against emigration and the history of the federal government. In: Zeitweiser der Galiziendeutschen. 37, 1999, ZDB -ID 507473-3 , pp. 52-58.
• Christian Erasmus Zöckler: Theodor Zöckler's standpoint - work and resistance in National Socialism. Superintendent Zöckler's vain memoranda of church policy. In: Zeitweiser der Galiziendeutschen. 39, 2001, ZDB -ID 507473-3 , pp. 92-99.
• Christian Erasmus Zöckler: How did the Zöckler'schen Anstalten come about in Stanislau? In: Zeitweiser der Galiziendeutschen. 35, 1997, ZDB ID 507473-3 , pp. 38-44.
• Christian Erasmus Zöckler: A life for the children: Theodor Zöckler and Lillie Zöckler. The Bethel of the East. Edition Epb, Bergisch Gladbach 2005, ISBN 3-937835-07-5 . (The author is a grandson of Theodor Zöckler.)
• Erasmus Zöckler: You should live! Theodor Zöckler: Founder of what was once the largest aid organization in Eastern Europe. Verlag des Gustav-Adolf-Werk eV, Leipzig 2011; ISBN 978-3-87593-116-7 .
• Lillie Zöckler: God hears prayer. The life of Theodor Zöckler (= from clear sources. 40, ZDB -ID 846474-1 ). Quell-Verlag, Stuttgart 1951. (The author, wife of Theodor Zöckler, reports on her husband's missionary and diaconal activities.)

Web links

• Literature by and about Theodor Zöckler in the catalog of the German National Library
• Aid Committee of the Galician Germans
• Erich Müller: Zöckler, Theodor . In: East German Biography (Kulturportal West-Ost)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ He also had in common with Bodelschwingh that both were students (like Zöckler's father) in the Wingolfsbund .
2. ^ Eduard Kneifel: History of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland. Self-published, Niedermarschacht 1964, p. 17.
3. ↑ Erich Müller: Zöckler, Theodor . In: Ostdeutsche Biografie (Kulturportal West-Ost); Retrieved April 2, 2012.
4. ^ Convention of the former Protestant Eastern Churches: Aid Committee of the Galician Germans
5. ^ Renate Meyer-Braun: Zöckler, Martha . In: Women's history (s) , Bremer Frauenmuseum (ed.). Edition Falkenberg, Bremen 2016, ISBN 978-3-95494-095-0 .
6. ^ Protestant press service , June 1939