Georg Daniel Teutsch

Georg Daniel Teutsch ( born December 12, 1817 in Sighisoara, † July 2, 1893 in Sibiu ) was in the 19th century bishop of the Evangelical Church Transylvania. He also worked as a teacher, theologian, historian and politician. Due to the national- political movements and economic development of the 19th century, a separation between the individual action areas is almost impossible.

Biography

Teutsch was on 12 December 1817 in Sighisoara (now Sighisoara, Mures county ) born as the second of four children of the couple, Benjamin Martin Teutsch and Mary Catherine, born white in a family of artisans.

He attended elementary school and high school in the mountain school from Sighisoara (now Lic teoretic Joseph Haltrich ), where he passed the Matura on 1 August 1837. Then he studied from autumn 1837 History and Protestant theology in Vienna to continue it a year later in Berlin. After the second year, he returned to Sighisoara to complete the study as an autodidact. He was tutor to the family Magyay in Karl Castle ( Alba Iulia ) and Baksay in Marossolymos ( Falkendorf, rum. Şoimuş ). At the same time he took advantage of the access to the Charles Burger Library ( founded by the Catholic Bishops Batthyány ) and the Brukenthalbibliothek in Sibiu, both rich in manuscripts and books on Transylvanian history.

In 1842 he returned to Sighisoara to the following year, on the 3rd - 4th January 1843 to complete his studies with a dissertation in the subjects of history, education and theology. He then became a teacher at the " Sighisoara mountain school," vice-principal in 1845 and rector from 1850 to 1863. Georg Daniel Teutsch joined in 1863 by the Magisterium of the parish, and was first pastor of the evangelical community Agnetheln. On September 19, 1867 he was appointed bishop of the Evangelical Church chosen in Transylvania. In this office he remained until his death.

Georg Daniel Teutsch married his first wife, Charlotte Berwerth 1845, who died a year later and his second wife whose sister Lucy. From this marriage several children were born, one of his sons, Friedrich Teutsch, was in the period from 1903 to 1932 itself also Saxonbishop.

Sphere of activity

His work can be divided into three major areas: teaching, theology and politics. His work was focused on the preservation of the cultural, economic and territorial autonomy of the "Saxon people." In order to achieve this, he has often turned to the history of the "Saxon people" from Transylvania, an area that he has throughout his career, regardless of its corresponding office, researched.

Teaching

His first profession of the teacher, he has practiced for 21 years at the Sighisoara mountain school, including 13 years as a director / principal of the school ( 1842-1863 ). During his teaching tenure he developed and reformed the school system of Mountain School, which gained nationwide fame. In this school, teachers and priests were trained. The school days of the seminar was extended from 2 to 3 years. The organizational design of school reform, which remained in force until 1883, was approved by him and brought to final version later on behalf of the Upper Consistory. He unified the nation's primary school - high school and seminary, where both the classical and humanistic education as well as the real subjects were given equal consideration. This first profession he should hold later, as a pastor, and even more as a bishop, loyalty; after taking office in Agnetheln he promoted the construction of a new school (which now bears his name ) and worked for the expansion and the legal regulation of primary school teaching.

The 1879 adopted Hungarian Education Act, which decreed the introduction of the Hungarian language in the German - Protestant schools, aroused the attention Georg Daniel Teutschs and its employees. The unanimous protest justified by the fact that the majority of primary school children had no opportunity to use the language ever. There was concern that this measure would encourage the Magyarization.

Towards the end of his life teaching seminar from Sibiu was launched under his leadership. One major concern was him throughout his entire life of agriculture, which he firmly supports progress.

Throughout his life Teutsch were awarded various honors, as his appointment to the scholarly committee of the Germanic Museum, the presentation of the philosophical honorary doctorate from the University of Jena and the election as an honorary member of the Leipzig Schillerverein.

In this period of time as a teacher, the revolution of 1848 belongs; he was captain of Sighisoara vigilantes, who won the civil war against the run by Josef Bem Hungarian army, together with the imperial army.

Theology

After taking up his duties as a minister, according to his training in the tradition of those years, he worked for the enactment of the new church order, he has a decisive influence in 1861. The bishop's seat was moved back after his election as Bishop of Birthälm to Sibiu. According to the new church constitution Teutsch promoted in the future the cooperation between the clergy and the secular. The People's Church was completed and strengthened under his leadership as bishop. Also contributed to the visitations, which he made from 1870 to 1884. He managed the visitation of all municipalities of the country church, except one, which was closed due to typhoid fever ( Kleinalisch ). The reports, which he reported to the country's consistory on its implementation, gave the state of the church and the people at this time. They are a contemporary historical document of the first order. The result of this visitation is not uniform; His reports on the various church districts reflect an extremely colorful and varied picture and illuminate all areas of the respective visitierten community.

He could not help it, that in the course of the national movement among the peoples of Transylvania, the Magyar Lutheran churches that belonged to the Saxon church since altershehr, no longer at home felt in her, and demanded their connection to the Lutheran Magyar Church of Theißdistrikts. In the years from 1876 to 1886 took place the separation of 16 Lutheran congregations Magyar language of the German Lutheran church, alone ten of them from Kronstadt Church District.

As a theologian, he was anxious to get the nation in his opinion the finest goods, the belief in the Gospel and in him the freedom of the spirit, the pure doctrine in the sense of the Lutheran Confession. For him, it was clear that law, administrative and court alone could not explain the lower values ​​of the community.

One can observe the influence of the theologians of the mediation, the mediation between eternal and temporal goods between the various Protestant churches, the mediation between the Christian faith and the cultural creations of the human mind. This also came to meet his liberal views, because the areas of church law here was the Constitution, for which he had not used in his time as Secular been taken from a German Union Church in their construction. He described himself as a rationalist. Such as he had already in his dissertation on 3 and 4 January 1843 Confessions discussed in theological thesis the property to be rule of faith, and thus denied the existence of the devil. This was also the reason why he for the restorative movement of Catholicism could muster no sympathy later and why he rejected the restorative and religious movements in the Protestant churches.

His preaching shows how he understood the task as a pastor and preacher; he spoke in his sermons likes of the development to a higher targets out in which individuals should classify by his pursuit of a higher morality. He noted that the Reformers had opened the path for research, so that a man is put in a position, the development of his time to anticipate to bring in his work the sensuous to free obedience to the moral.

His preaching was characterized primarily morally; he spoke of the paternal love of God who accepts the repentant child again. Then there was the emphasis on the community, in a time in which the separation always made more noticeable within the community. His unbroken faith in Divine Providence, which has proven from his personal life and the fate of his own people as strong, holds in his optimistic belief few scruples and doubts about whether his path would have been right.

For him, as a former teacher, was one in the first row, the right education, the old world and of life, so that faith could be associated with them and not with the " barbarism ". Therefore, it is understandable that he was a follower of historical theology. He sought from history access to the tradition of Jesus to win and understand the way of Christianity through history. The gospel was for him a historical entity with a perpetual content, a supreme divine Spirit who had worked in every direction of human development. It was Jesus who einstünde with his warm heart for us. He was of the opinion that the New Testament speaks contrary to kick the Christianity of Christ and his writings would bring us to the development of spiritual maturity.

Towards the end of his ministry came forth his knowledge of the community of believers with the Saviour, because the human being is defined as " a touch of the divine spirit " children of God and brotherly love. He saw the historical development of mankind as a way of Remodeling earthly existence to the beginning of the kingdom, where the commandments of God, the call to love God and love of neighbor, are met. Because this happened in the church, which constitute the earthly realization of the Kingdom of God, he saw his life's work in the design of this, the People's Church, and left it to the future generations as a legacy.

Even as a bishop him many honors were bestowed. From 1870 he was Director of the Association for Transylvanian Cultural Studies, member of the Central Committee of the Gustav -Adolf Foundation from 1882, honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Law of the University of Berlin and in 1884 he was made an honorary Doctor of Philosophy Department of Jena. A special tribute was also an invitation to the inauguration of the castle church of Wittenberg in October 1892 for him.

Remembrance

2 July, Protestant calendar name.