Paul Hensel (3 October 1867 – 8 January 1944) was a German Lutheran theologian and politician.

Biography

Hensel was born in Gehsen (today Jeże, Poland) and visited school in Lyck. In 1886, he began to study Theology at the University of Königsberg and the University of Berlin and was a member of the Burschenschaft ''Corps Masovia''. He started to work as a Lutheran Pastor at Gehsen and

Friedrichshof Schlosshotel Kronberg (Castle Hotel Kronberg) in Kronberg im Taunus, Hesse, near Frankfurt am Main, was built between 1889 and 1893 for the dowager German Empress Victoria and originally named Schloss Friedrichshof in honour of her late husb ...

in Masuria, later also at the Lutheran congregation of San Remo and became the Superintendent of

Johannisburg Pisz (pronounced , previously also ''Jańsbork'', german: Johannisburg) is a historic town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in northern Poland, with a population of 19,466 (2016). It is the seat of Pisz County. Pisz is situated at the junct ...

. Hensel also published several publications in masurian language. Since 1891 he was engaged in several organisations of agricultural cooperatives and became a member of the supervisory board of the "Landwirtschaftliche Zentraldarlehenskasse für Deutschland" in Berlin in 1920–24. In 1913 Hensel was elected for the Conservative Party as the deputy of the constituency

Allenstein Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

3 (

Oletzko Olecko (former since 1560, colloquially also , since 1928, lt, Alėcka) is a town in northeastern Poland, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, located in Masuria near Ełk and Suwałki. It is situated at the mouth of the Lega river which flow ...

/ Lyck/

) at the Prussian Landtag until 1918 and in 1921–28 Hensel, now a member of the DNVP, was the deputy of the Allenstein 3 constituency at the Reichstag.

East Prussian plebiscite

After World War I according to the Treaty of Versailles a plebiscite in East Prussia was organised by the League of Nations to determine whether Masuria should remain as part of

Weimar German The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...

East Prussia or belong to

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. Hensel soon started to support the German side and, as Superintendent of the old-Prussian Johannisburg deanery, travelled to Versailles already in March 1919 to hand over a collection of 144.447 signatures to the Allied Powers to protest against the planned cession.Andreas Kossert: ''Ostpreußen. Geschichte und Mythos''. Munich 2005, S. 219 Hensel appealed to the foundation of the pro-German ''Masurenbund'' and the ''Arbeitsausschuß Allenstein gegen die Polengefahr'', which both joined the ''Masuren- und Ermländerbund'' in July 1919 under the presidency of Max Worgitzki. Hensel was active in the ''Ostdeutscher Heimatdienst'' and the head of the ''Committee of Lutheran parishes in Masuria''.Reichstags-Handbuch, III. Wahlperiode 1924 The plebiscite turned out a majority of over 97% to remain in East Prussia. Hensel died in Kolberg in 1944.

Publications

*Die evangelischen Masuren in ihrer kirchlichen und nationalen Eigenart, Königsberg 1908 *Die Polengefahr für die masurische Bevölkerung, Berlin 1911 *Kalendarz Królewsko-Pruski Ewangelicki, Johannisburg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hensel, Paul People from the Province of Prussia 19th-century German Lutheran clergy German National People's Party politicians University of Königsberg alumni German monarchists 1867 births 1944 deaths Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic 20th-century German Lutheran clergy