Wilhelm Florin (theologian)

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Wilhelm Florin (born June 25, 1894 in Berleburg , † December 31, 1944 in Barmen ) was a German Protestant pastor . During his time as a school priest at the Evangelisch Stiftisches Gymnasium in Gütersloh (1929–1937) he was one of the few courageous opponents of National Socialism . As a member of the Confessing Church , he spoke out against racial ideology in lectures and publications and emphasized the importance of the Gospel as a “message to all peoples”.

Life

Wilhelm Florin was born in Berleburg as the son of Rector Eduard Florin and his wife Josephine Florin nee Rotberg. His ancestors on his father's side had been Protestant theologians in almost uninterrupted sequence since the 17th century; this tradition was consciously cultivated in the parental home. From 1908 to 1913 Florin attended the well-known traditional school Pforta near Naumburg. After graduating from high school in 1913, he began studying theology in Leipzig . During the First World War he was an infantryman on the Eastern Front in 1915/16. During an officer training course at home, he contracted blood poisoning and was unable to walk as a result. That is why he served in the Deputy General Command in Münster until the beginning of 1919 and was able to continue his theology studies at the same time. In 1919 he passed his exams in Münster, was vicar in Hörde from October 1919 to March 1920 , attended the seminary in Soest from April 1920 to March 1921 , and was assistant preacher in Bochum and Münster. He was in Bochum on May 22, 1921 ordained . On July 9, 1922, he was introduced to the office of parish priest in Schwerte. As head of the YMCA and the Bible study group for high school students, he dedicated himself to the young people in his congregation. In 1929 he left Schwerte and went to the Evangelisch Stiftische Gymnasium (ESG) in Gütersloh as a chaplain and religion teacher. There he offered Bible evenings primarily for the older students and was also head of the religious education seminar until its dissolution in 1934.

When a local group of the ethnic-neo-pagan German faith movement formed in Gütersloh in mid-1934 and Wilhelm Florin had to witness that Alfred Rosenberg's propaganda campaign against the church prompted former students to leave the church, he gave a public lecture in front of around 700 visitors in the Evangelical Club House in which he turned against racial ideology and emphasized that the gospel is a "message to all peoples". The following year, the lecture was published by Bertelsmann-Verlag and attracted attention far beyond Gütersloh. The mayor of Gütersloh reported in May 1935 that the small script had met with great approval in circles of the Confessing Church throughout Germany. When it came to maintaining the ESG as a Protestant school in 1935/36, Wilhelm Florin vigorously advocated this goal, but found little support from the German-Christian headmaster Friedrich Fliedner. In 1937 he therefore left the ESG and avoided further arguments. Florin found a new job in Barmen, where he became head of the mission seminar of the Rhenish Mission Society .

Fonts

  • Rosenberg's myth and evangelical belief. A municipal lecture Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1935.
  • From worldwide Christianity . Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1936.
  • The old testament in the mouth of Jesus . Bethel publishing house, Bielefeld 1946.

literature

  • Oskar Kühn: In memory of Pastor Wilhelm Florin . In: Wittgenstein. Leaves of the Wittgensteiner Heimatverein 1982, pp. 27–31.
  • Stephan Grimm: Wilhelm Florin . In: Gütersloher write history . Flöttmann Verlag, Gütersloh 2005.
  • Hans-Walter Schmuhl : The city under the swastika . In: Werner Freitag (ed.): History of the city of Gütersloh . Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 2001, pp. 403–447.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bauks: The Protestant pastors in Westphalia from the Reformation period to 1945 . Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld 1980.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Florin: Rosenbergs Myth and Evangelical Faith. A parish lecture . Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1935.
  2. ^ Oskar Kühn: In memory of Pastor Wilhelm Florin . In: Wittgenstein. Leaves of the Wittgensteiner Heimatverein 1982, pp. 27–31; Stephan Grimm: Wilhelm Florin . In: Gütersloher write history . Flöttmann Verlag, Gütersloh 2005.
  3. ↑ S. Hans-Walter Schmuhl : The city under the swastika . In: Werner Freitag (ed.): History of the city of Gütersloh . Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 2001, p. 429.
personal data
SURNAME Florin, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant pastor
DATE OF BIRTH June 25, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Berleburg
DATE OF DEATH December 31, 1944
Place of death Barmen