Wilhelm von Keppel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wilhelm von Keppel , also Kepfel , was a German Baptist and hymn poet of the 16th century. Before his conversion to the Reformation Anabaptist movement, Keppel worked as a Catholic pastor.

In 1561, Keppel was captured for the first time in Cologne with other members of the Cologne Anabaptist community, but was soon released again. A year later he was arrested again together with his friend Georg Ladenmacher and then detained and tortured in one of the towers of the city of Cologne . In September 1562 he was transferred to the dungeon of the Cologne prison, where he could share a cell with the shopkeeper. Despite continued torture, both of them maintained their Anabaptist views on what the death penalty should be. Georg Ladenmacher was finally drowned in the Rhine . Wilhelm von Keppel, however, immediately after the execution of the death penalty revoked the shopkeeper and was thus able to secure his own survival. However, he was permanently banned from the city .

The time of imprisonment he and his friend Georg Ladenmacher lived through together and the martyrdom of his friend he later described in a 45-verse sacred song , which is partly based on Martin Luther's A new song we lift up . His song was included in song collections of the Anabaptist movement, for example in Ein Schön Gesangbüchlein around 1570 and in the formation of several beautiful Christian chants from 1583. Both men are also named in the Martyrs' Mirror .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Keppel, Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kepfel, Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Baptist and hymn poet
DATE OF BIRTH 16th Century
DATE OF DEATH 16th Century