Wilhelm Preger

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Wilhelm Preger (born August 25, 1827 in Schweinfurt , † January 30, 1896 in Munich ) was a Lutheran theologian, teacher and royal Bavarian senior consistorial councilor.

Life

Wilhelm Preger, son of a businessman, spent his youth in Schweinfurt. There he attended grammar school and began studying theology at the University of Erlangen in 1845 .

In Erlangen he also joined the Christian student union Uttenruthia , today in the Schwarzburgbund , in 1847 the Berlin Wingolf in the winter semester of 1845/46 . During his studies he was particularly influenced by Johann Christian Konrad von Hofmann . In 1849 Preger left the blossoming theological faculty to go to Berlin for a year .

Wilhelm Preger passed the theological entrance exam with distinction and was then called to the seminary in Munich . As the successor to Christoph Ernst Luthardt , he was appointed city vicar and teacher for Protestant religious studies and history at the Maximiliansgymnasium in Munich in 1851 and was initially put on an equal footing with high school professors. In 1868 he was promoted to "real high school professor". From 1857 to 1889 he taught in the same position at the royal Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Munich . In addition, he also gave religious instruction at the Munich Business School for seventeen years .

For Wilhelm Preger, who was interested in many things, the city of Munich was the ideal place to develop and train. Through the Munich art movement of his time, his sense of all things beautiful and good received support and nourishment through the relationship with the Luther painter Gustav König and the engraver Julius Thäter , in which spirit and artistic endeavor entered into a fruitful symbiosis. During his early years in office, the relationship with Karl von Burger was very beneficial.

In addition to his professional activities, Preger was able to pursue extensive scientific activities. His scientific studies in numerous individual investigations turned first to secular history, due to his subjects of religion and history, but soon turned to church history in more detail. His "Textbook of Bavarian History" from 1864 became popular and in 1895 reached its 13th edition.

In 1868 he was recognized for his work by the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences and made an extraordinary member, and in 1875 a full member.

After the publication of his first volume of the “History of German Mysticism” the Theological Faculty of the University of Erlangen awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1874: “Propter singularem eruditionem sagacitatem dexteritatem qua quum pridem Matthiae Flacii vitam ac doctrinam tum nuper Mysticorum mediae aetatis Germanicorum exation rationem investigate enarravit ".

Furthermore, Preger became a member of the Protestant senior consistory in 1890 and in this position he was also awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of St. Michael .

In 1856 Wilhelm Preger married Wilhelmine, the daughter of the royal government director Meyer; the marriage resulted in two sons and two daughters. On the morning of January 30, 1896, he suffered a fatal stroke on his way to work. Adolf von Stählin , also Uttenreuther , gave his funeral speech .

In addition to the two artists mentioned above, Preger's close circle of friends also included the senior consistorial president Stählin , senior consistorial advisor Karl von Burger, pastor KH Caspari and the theosophist Julius Hamberger .

Preger openly expressed his Christian convictions in his professional encounters as well as in private circles and was tolerant of those who thought differently. As a teacher, he had the ability to tell vividly and deliver impressive presentations. Even students who later distanced themselves from his teachings have retained personal respect for him.

Works (selection)

  • The history of the doctrine of the clergy based on the history of the doctrine of justification , 1857
  • Textbook of Bavarian History , 1864; 11th edition 1888 ( digitized version ); 13th edition 1895
  • Outline of Bavarian history. 7th edition Deichert, Erlangen 1884 ( digitized version ).
  • M. Flacius Illyricus . 2 volumes, 1858, 1861
  • Heinrich Suso's letters , 1867
  • The development of the idea of ​​man through world history. Lecture , Munich 1870.
  • The Pope's infallibility and the weakness of the ecclesiastical opposition in Germany. By a theologian of the Protestant Church in Bavaria , Munich 1871.
  • The story of mysticism , 3 volumes, 1874, 1881, 1893
  • Psalm booklet. Biblical psalms in German songs , Rothenburg odT 1886.
  • Luther's dinner speeches from 1531 and 1632 , 1888

literature

  • Victor Michels :  Preger, Wilhelm . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 53, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1907, pp. 107-113.
  • Realencyklopädie for Protestant Theology and Church. Volume XVII, p. 1 ff.
  • G. Fischer: History of the discovery of the German mystics Eckhart, Tauler and Seuse in the 19th century . Pp. 80 ff., 103 f., 112 f., 116 ff., 1931.
  • Bernhard Forssman (ed.): You were Uttenreuther. Life pictures of former Erlangen students . Philistine Association of Uttenruthia, Erlangen 1993.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leopold Petri (ed.): Directory of members of the Schwarzburgbund. Fourth edition, Bremerhaven 1908, p. 160, no. 388.
  2. ↑ Directory of members of Wingolf 1937 (death panel); Complete directory of Wingolf, 1991
  3. ↑ Annual report on the k.Maximilians-Gymnasium in Munich for the school year 1850/51
  4. ↑ last published in the 22nd edition, revised by Otto Kronseder, 1927

Web links

Wikisource: Wilhelm Preger  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Preger, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian, teacher and royal senior consistorial councilor
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Schweinfurt
DATE OF DEATH January 30, 1896
Place of death Munich