Woldemar Gastpary

Woldemar Gastpary (born July 12, 1908 in Henryków near Zduńska Wola , † December 22, 1984 in Warsaw ) was a Polish Evangelical Lutheran theologian , pastor , rector of the Theological Academy , victim of National Socialism, synodal president and university professor .

Life

Gastpary studied Protestant theology at Warsaw University from 1927 to 1932 , graduating as a theology candidate. In 1932 he was ordained . Until the beginning of the Second World War he was employed in Tomaszów Mazowiecki as vicar and prefector . In 1939 he defended his theological doctoral thesis at the University of Warsaw . In 1940 he was sent to the prison in Piotrków Trybunalski and then held in the Oranienburg concentration camp and in the Dachau concentration camp until 1945.

After the war he worked as an administrator for the parishes of Tomaszów and Rawa Mazowiecka . From 1949 he was employed in the same position for Piotrków and Radomsko . In the years 1950 to 1954 he was installed as a senior in the Diocese of Łódź , from 1951 he was pastor in Tomaszów, from 1957 to 1965 pastor of the parish of St. Matthew in Łódź and a senior in the Warsaw diocese . In 1957 he was elected President of the Synod of the Evangelical Augsburg Church in Poland . From 1965 to 1981 he was rector of the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw.

In addition to his pastoral work, he conducted historical research on the history of Protestantism in Poland. In 1949 he became adjunct in the field of Protestant theology at Warsaw University (from 1953 Christian Theological Academy), 1955 deputy professor and 1957 lecturer . From 1965 to 1981 he was the rector of this academy. In 1966 he was appointed associate professor , in 1967 he became head of the chair for historical theology and in 1972 full professor . As a member of the Polish Ecumenical Council , he was a member of the Presidium and participated in the cooperation between the Polish Ecumenical Council and the Evangelical Church in Germany .

Gastpary was a member of the Christian Peace Conference and participated in the All-Christian Peace Assemblies of 1964 and 1971 in Prague .

He published 150 papers, including some monographs and academic papers . As an employee of the Scientific Society of the Catholic University of Lublin , he also participated in the publication of the Catholic Encyclopedia . In 1979 he received an honorary doctorate from the Humboldt University in Berlin .

Works

• Bishop lad and the Polish cause. 1st edition Union-Verlag, Berlin 1979.
• Biskup lad i sprawa Polska. Wyd. Novum, Warszawa 1972.
• Protestantyzm w Polsce w dobie dwóch wojen światowych. Nakładem Chrześcijańskiej Akademii Teologicznej, Warszawa.
• The Thorner Affair, or The Thorner Tumult 1724. Warsaw 1969.
• The history of Protestantism in Poland from the middle of the 18th century to the 1st World War. Warsaw 1977.
• Protestantism in Poland during the period between the two world wars. 2 parts, Warsaw 1978, 1981.

literature

• Janusz Narzyński : Article Woldemar Gastpary. In: Catholic Encyclopedia , V. Scientific Society of the University of Lublin, Lublin 1989.
• Jan Szturc : Evangelicals in Poland. Biographical dictionary from 16. – 20. Century. Augustana-Verlag, Bielsko-Biała 1998, p. 82.

Web links

• Literature by and about Woldemar Gastpary in the catalog of the German National Library