Walter Tlach

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Walter Tlach (born September 3, 1913 in Zuffenhausen ; † September 25, 2004 in Herrenberg ) was a Protestant pastor , dean and director of studies.

Live and act

After graduating from high school, Tlach studied Protestant theology in Tübingen from 1932 to 1937 . In the “Third Reich”, Tlach was an active member of the Confessing Church , after initially being enthusiastic about Adolf Hitler . He belonged to the closest circle of supporters of the Württemberg regional bishop Theophil Wurm . After serving as vicar in Tuttlingen, he worked as an assistant for practical theology with Karl Fezer at the University of Tübingen until the outbreak of war . From 1945 to 1948 Tlach was a repetitionist at the Evangelical Monastery in Tübingen and from 1948 to 1953 theological teacher at the seminary of the Rhenish Mission in Wuppertal. From 1953 to 1960 he headed the Evangelical Young Men’s Work in Württemberg, today's Evangelical Youth Work in Württemberg . Between 1960 and 1970 he was pastor in Birkach (Stuttgart) and Schönberg (Stuttgart) and from 1963 dean in the Protestant church district of Heidenheim . From 1970 until his retirement in 1978, he was the first director of studies to co-founded the Albrecht Bengel House in Tübingen. On behalf of the Essen pastor Wilhelm Busch in Württemberg, Tlach suggested that every year on Corpus Christi, following the example of the “Tersteegensruh Conferences” from 1956, “central events to strengthen the faith” - the later “Ludwig Hofacker Conferences” - be held.

Tlach is convinced that the message of Jesus crucified alone is the center of the church. He therefore worked beyond his offices and tasks and raised his warning voice when he saw undesirable developments and wrong turns in the church area: for example at church conventions or at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Tlach raised critical questions about the concept of " demythologizing " the New Testament, represented by Rudolf Bultmann and continued by Ernst Käsemann in Tübingen . He was skeptical of any attempt to idealize or spiritualize biblical motifs. Therefore he tried in his interpretations to make a tangible, "grounded" reality plastic, to which the Hebrew language of the Old Testament also led him. As much as it was important to Tlach that God or Jesus Christ acted and acted in visible reality, Tlach was alien to a purely anthropocentric orientation towards this world. He did not stop at the verbal protest against wrong turns in theology and church, but smuggled cash and Bibles into Eastern Bloc countries at personal risk: in 26 trips there after 1972, he brought around one million Deutschmarks through the Iron Curtain . In Bulgaria in particular, he held Bible studies and distributed Christian literature, which was strictly forbidden at the time. In his retirement he continued teaching at the theological seminary of the Liebenzell Mission for a number of years .

Private

Tlach was married to Elfriede from 1948. The couple had three children and lived in Herrenberg- giltstein from 1978 until his death .

Publications

  • Reply to Ernst Käsemann . Theological supplement to the information letter no. 14 of the confessional movement "No other gospel", n.d.
  • The Gospel of the Anarcho-Marxists and the Gospel of Jesus Christ , Albrecht-Bengel-Haus Association, Tübingen 1978.
  • with Michael Dieterich and Wilfried Veeser: Biblical border questions: In the area of ​​"New Spirituality" , Hänssler Verlag , Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 978-3-77511133-1 .
  • Hope - the oxygen of life . In a word, to the company of Konrad Eißler. Verlag der Liebenzeller Mission , Bad Liebenzell 1989, ISBN 978-3-88002402-1 .
  • The last war. Crises and wars of our time in the light of biblical prophecy , Hänssler Verlag, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 978-3-77511676-3 .

Literature (selection)

  • Fritz Grünzweig with Traugott Thoma (ed.): God's eternal loyalty: well-known personalities report from their lives , Verlag der Liebenzeller Mission , Bad Liebenzell, 1989, ISBN 978-3-88002392-5 .
  • Hans-Dieter Frauer: He was targeted by the Gestapo: Walter Tlach is dead. At the age of 91, one of the great old men of the Evangelical Church died . Evang. Press service, Stuttgart October 4, 2004.
  • Martin Pfander: Prehistory and early years of the Albrecht Bengel House in Tübingen . In: Gerhard Maier (ed.): Hold on to hope. Festive offering for Walter Tlach on his 65th birthday by the teachers and students of the Albrecht Bengel House in Tübingen and his friends . Hänssler Verlag , Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1978, pp. 167-209.
  • Siegfried Hermle: The Evangelicals as a counter-movement . In: Siegfried Hermle, Claudia Lepp, Harry Oelke (eds.): Upheavals: German Protestantism and the social movements . Göttingen 2007, pp. 325-352.
  • Karin Oehlmann: Walter Tlach - From the initiator of the Ludwig Hofacker Conference to the founding director of the Albrecht Bengel House. A biographical sketch . In: Siegfried Hermle / Jürgen Kampmann (eds.): The evangelical movement in Württemberg and Westphalia, beginnings and effects (Contributions to the Westphalian Church History, 39), Bielefeld 2012, 305-314.
  • Karin Oehlmann: Blumhardt-Jünger or Buttlar'sche Rotte - the scandal surrounding the Neresheim Cross Brotherhood. A memory of Walter Tlach on his 100th birthday . In: Blätter für Württembergische Kirchengeschichte 113 (2013), 289–314.
  • Karin Oehlmann: Faith and the Present. The development of church political networks in Württemberg around 1968 (work on contemporary church history. Series B: Representations - Volume 062), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2016, ISBN 978-3-525-55777-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rolf Scheffbuch: How did it come about? Church developments in Württemberg since 1951 . Part 2. In: Lebendige Gemeinde , 12, 1998 , lg-online.de
personal data
SURNAME Tlach, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant pastor and director of studies
DATE OF BIRTH September 3, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Zuffenhausen
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 2004
Place of death Herrenberg